Baseball notes: McHenry’s new park offers convenience with area’s first turf infield

McHenry baseball players walk outside the main campus building each day and thoroughly enjoy every aspect of their new field, from its location to maintenance.

For the previous 15 seasons, the Warriors were the only area team with a lighted field, as they played at Petersen Park off McCullom Lake Road, a 2.8-mile drive that takes about seven minutes.

The convenience of no travel and limited setup and postgame infield work, since the infield has artificial turf and the outfield is grass, gives McHenry a lot more time to work on baseball.

“I love it,” Warriors coach Brian Rockweiler said. “The amount of practice time we get, the reps, walk right outside the school. The kids love it. It seems like we get so much more done because we have this. We don’t have to spend time getting things ready at the end or at the beginning. It’s definitely a bonus.”

After games and practices, baseball coaches and players manicure the dirt, tamp the mound and plate areas to keep those level, which requires a good bit of time. With the artificial surface, the only maintenance will be mowing outfield grass and taking care of the warning track.

There is a seating area behind home plate and easy access for fans from the south parking lot. The dugouts are immaculate, and the bullpens have artificial turf and are spacious.

McHenry may become the favorite road trip of Fox Valley Conference teams.

“Our dugouts are really nice,” McHenry infielder-pitcher Ryan Nagel said. “Our bullpens are massive. You can fit three in there if you want to. [The turf is] consistent. On rainy days it might be a little slippery, but you know you’re going to get the game in.

“It’s wonderful. I got my first ground balls of the year so far, and it’s much nicer to know what the ball’s going to do, and you’re not going to have to adjust to a random hop. It’s not going to go left or right.”

The park’s dimensions are 315 feet down each line and 375 to center field. In June, construction on the Warriors’ new softball field will begin. Left field of the softball field will back up to right field of the baseball field. The softball field also will get an artificial-turf infield and grass outfield.

“I love it,” Warriors pitcher Brandon Shannon said. “The turf’s really nice, and I like the mound and bullpens.”

Many high school players have competed on turf fields during summers with their travel teams, so the experience is not totally new.

“I feel like it plays a little slower than some turf I’ve played on at other places,” Nagel said. “The ground balls seem to die down a little bit.”

McHenry athletic director Chris Madson said the Warriors will host a Class 4A regional this season and likely will put in to host in a lot of years coming up.

Scalding-hot start: Crystal Lake South senior first baseman CJ Regillio is off to an other-worldly start to the season. After three games, Regillio had four home runs and 14 RBIs for the 3-0 Gators.

On Regillio’s first at-bat of the season, he hit a grand slam against Boylan. On his third at-bat, he hit another.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you,” Regillio said, when asked how he has done it. “Our offense is going really great, lots of base runners.

“It feels pretty good, but all the guys in front of me are getting on base and doing the little stuff like bunting and dirt-ball reads to get extra bases and to help out with the big stuff. It’s really fun.”

Regillio also homered in South’s next two games, wins over Richmond-Burton and Woodstock, both three-run shots.

What makes his power surge more remarkable is that until March 4, Regillio still was playing with the Gators’ basketball team in the Class 3A Hoffman Estates Supersectional, where it lost to eventual state champion DePaul Prep.

Regillio and center fielder James Carlson were the two baseball starters who played hoops.

“I was a little concerned with those guys coming off the basketball season, how fresh they would be,” Gators baseball coach Brian Bogda said. “Before our first game, those guys only had three or four practices in. The weather was so nice and we were out.

“[Regillio] is feeling a little bit of the success from the basketball season and he’s been on time right now. He’s doing a nice job of staying back and using all fields to drive the ball. I’m happy for him, he’s doing a great job.”

Regillio played with Carlson on Illinois Phenom last summer and plans on attending Missouri next year.

“I made the decision I wasn’t going to play [baseball] in college, so I didn’t really practice a whole lot during basketball season,” Regillio said. “I kind of rolled right into baseball.”

Bogda likes that Regillio’s grand slams were hit to center field, his third homer was to right (opposite) field and his fourth was to left.

“Those guys, unless they were doing some stuff on their own, the grind of the end of the basketball season makes it tough for them to find time,” Bogda said. “You don’t want them to get hurt.

“[Regillio] finished the year last year on a nice note. He’s a great kid. He continues to use his body well and generates a ton of power. He’s a big, strong kid. He’s done a nice job staying balanced and waiting back and doing a really good job.”

Rockets’ ace: Richmond-Burton senior Ryan Junge produced a solid season last year with a 5-3 record, 4.26 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings. In two starts this season, Junge has almost half his strikeouts from last season and has not allowed a run.

Junge is 2-0 with 18 strikeouts and one walk, and has allowed only two hits. He beat Round Lake 7-0 with a no-hitter, then beat Marian Central 11-0 with a two-hitter.

“Ryan has had a tremendous offseason and it has carried over into the regular season,” Rockets coach Mike Giese said. “I am very happy for him because he works very hard. He is locked in right now. He gives us a chance every time he steps on the mound and that’s all we can ask.”

Hitting the road: Eight local teams will do some traveling on their spring breaks for a week full of baseball next week.

Cary-Grove, Jacobs, Prairie Ridge and Woodstock are headed downstate to Marion Stadium, a popular place for Illinois teams where they find slightly warmer temperatures and an all-turf field.

Johnsburg will be in Memphis, Tennessee, at USA Stadium Complex.

Crystal Lake South enjoyed its trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, last season so much that it is headed back to Grand Park Athletic Complex, which has a group of turf fields. Burlington Central also will be playing in Myrtle Beach at the Cal Ripken Experience.

R-B will travel to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for games next week.