Baseball: Huntley’s Ryan Quinlan finds right fit with Eastern Illinois

Once Eastern Illinois University’s baseball coaches saw Huntley senior Ryan Quinlan play over the summer, they were sold.

Panthers coaches saw a left-handed-hitting infielder who hits the ball hard and enjoys his time in the weight room.

Once Quinlan talked with the EIU coaches and visited the Charleston campus, he, too, was sold.

Quinlan announced via Twitter on Thursday that he was committing to Eastern to play on a baseball scholarship. In the spring, Quinlan hit .345 with four homers and 30 RBIs for the 31-5 Red Raiders, who won the Fox Valley Conference championship.

Quinlan had a .500 on-base percentage and a 1.040 OPS while playing second base. He was a Northwest Herald All-Area honorable-mention selection.

Quinlan produced well over the summer for the GRB Rays 17U team, which finished 36-9-2.

“We were traveling all around the Midwest,” Quinlan said. “Late in the summer, [Eastern] assistant Derek Francis reached out in a text and was interested. We wrapped up our last tournament and [he] wanted me to see the campus, and that’s when I committed.”

Quinlan, the eighth D-I commit on his travel team, had spoken with other D-I coaches and had visits set up, but he canceled because he liked Eastern.

“We’re real excited for him,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “This was something he set as a goal, and through all his hard work and dedication, through the years, it’s good to see it paid off for him. He had a really, really good summer and got on their radar.”

Jakubowski thought a Prep Baseball Report showcase last winter helped get Quinlan’s name out to college coaches.

“With the tournaments they played in, he got a lot of exposure,” Jakubowski said. “I guarantee he got on their radar based on the PRB events, then they come out and see him and they liked what they saw. They saw him a little bit more.”

Quinlan is 5-foot-11, 185 pounds and exhibits high exit velocity with his swings.

“He’s well put together. He has a really, really solid core,” Jakubowski said. “He’s strong in the lower half. He has quick hands and keeps his hands inside the baseball. When he hits it on the barrel, it has a different sound to it.”

Quinlan often lifts weights in the basement at his family’s home. Sometimes he lifts with Ryan and Brayden Bakes, Huntley’s twin brothers who also are committed to D-I schools. Ryan is headed to South Carolina, Brayden to Wichita State.

“It’s just putting in a lot of the work,” Quinlan said. “At times I don’t feel motivated, but I have to have that one goal and push myself to my limits. Luckily I was able to and get noticed.

“I love lifting. I lift six times a week, try to. In the summer it was a little difficult and may have to do it at hotel gyms. But I love working out.”