Sauk Valley Baseball Player of the Year: Newman’s Brendan Tunink

Brendan Tunink is not afraid to dream big.

The Newman Central Catholic baseball star and pro prospect has helped put the Comets on the map over his four years on the team.

At the core of his success has been hard work and an obsession with baseball and getting better. He helped lead Newman to its first two state appearances the last two years and broke all of the school’s career records during its best run in program history. He was an all-state player for three straight years.

Daily life revolves around baseball for Tunink, who has been named Sauk Valley Media Baseball Player of the Year.

“Every morning I go downstairs and just turn on YouTube and watch baseball highlights for two or three hours while I’m eating my breakfast,” he said. “That’s like a daily habit of mine.”

Then it’s off to the weight room or texting a coach asking to go hit.

“Then I’ll come home and sit on the couch and watch some more baseball,” he said. “My whole day is just basically baseball. Just watching, learning, everything.”

He will study players’ swings and how they approach an at-bat in different counts, visualizing what he would do in that situation. MLB rookie Wyatt Langford of the Texas Rangers is a go-to player he likes to watch at the moment.

Major League Baseball player was always Tunink’s dream job as a kid growing up. That started to become a potential reality as MLB scouts started coming to watch him play.

Tunink, who committed to the University of Notre Dame baseball program, was one of 300 players from across the country at last month’s MLB draft combine in Arizona.

“I did pretty well, and I feel pretty confident after that,” he said. “I showed my skills pretty well. … That was really special to go out there, and I’m definitely feeling way more relieved and confident that I went there and I did good there.”

He’s been scouted as an outfielder with the potential to hit for more power as he puts on weight. The lefty could be drafted anywhere from the third round on in the MLB First-Year Player Draft on July 14-16.

Coach Kenny Koerner said four teams seem to be really interested in Tunink – the Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers and Padres.

“I never thought in a million years that this would be happening,” Tunink said.

Big tuna, younger brother

Nicknamed “the big tuna,” Tunink got the nickname his second day of practice after his last name was mispronounced.

“It sounded like tuna, and it just stuck,” he said. “I used to be the little tuna when I couldn’t hit a home run, and then it kind of changed to big tuna once I started hitting home runs.”

Tunink grew up with two older sisters, Kirsten and Sarah, and an older brother, Kyle. They were all involved in sports. Kyle was a two-time state wrestling medalist and won state his senior year in 2019. Brendan looked up to Kyle and took after his work ethic and determination in wrestling.

“It was second to none,” said Brendan, who also wrestled up to his freshman year. “He knew what it was like to work hard, so that was really cool watching him achieve his goal, especially winning a state championship.

“That helped me not only want to work harder for baseball, but I wanted to try to beat him. I wanted to be just as good if not better.”

Tunink believes his hard work and determination have been the biggest factors in his success.

“Most times people don’t see all the hard work that you put in,” he said. “They just see the success or the failures. They don’t see those countless hours that you go to the baseball field, three hours in practice hitting or fielding. They don’t see the weight room.”

Having natural talent also helps for Tunink, who is about 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, but there is no substitute for effort.

“You’ve got to work hard,” he said. “No matter how talented you are, the hard work and dedication will definitely outweigh the pure athleticism.”

That includes eating the right foods and taking supplements and drinking shakes. Anything he can do to become a healthier athlete.

“You’ve got to be consistent,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, that’s for sure.”

Prior to Tunink’s freshman year, the Comets had only four regional baseball titles. They were sometimes overlooked as a school in Class 1A. Tunink helped change that narrative, as Newman won four straight regional and sectional titles, reaching state the last two years. They placed third in 1A last year and fourth this year after moving up to 2A.

“You’ve got to have a chip on your shoulder,” said. “We don’t care how small we are, how many players we have on our team. As long as we’ve got confidence at the plate, we can compete with them.”

Tunkink put himself to a higher standard as one of two seniors on this year’s roster and the focal point of opposing teams’ attention.

He hit .524 in 84 at-bats, drawing 39 walks with a .683 on-base percentage. He slugged .893 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs, also stealing 37 bases. He hit 18 home runs a year ago after none as a freshman and four as a sophomore.

For his career, he went 18-0 on the mound with a 1.20 ERA, striking out 204 in just over 134 innings pitched. He pitched only 16⅔ innings this season and allowed two earned runs. He hit .476 for his career with a .604 on-base percentage and slugged .889, hitting 29 home runs with 33 doubles and 10 triples. He scored 155 runs and drew 91 walks, stealing 87 bases. He had speed in center field defensively. Newman went 83-32 during his career, a .722 winning percentage.

Playing on a team that relied on a number of younger players this year, Koerner encouraged Tunink to be more of a vocal leader.

“I have to look presentable and look like a leader every game,” he said. “I think it also helped the younger kids to see that leadership and to make them want to be that leader on our team when they are seniors or juniors.”

‘He put Newman baseball on the map’

Tunink said his travel baseball coach with the Dixon Rebels, Agim Selmani, along with his hitting coach, Tray Hannam, have been two big influences, along with Koerner. Tunink says they are always a text away either to hit or help with the mental aspects of baseball.

Tunink has left the baseball program in a better place, and he’s made his mark on the field and in the record books.

“He put Newman baseball on the map across the state,” Koerner said. “It seems like anywhere I go now, people know Newman baseball, people know Brendan Tunink.

“I think Brendan said it best: Kids shouldn’t be afraid to dream. It doesn’t matter if you live in Chicago or wherever you’re at. If you put the work in and develop your skill set, you can do anything.”

Koerner said he hasn’t seen a kid want to practice as much as Tunink does.

“He’s taking lessons all over, from Chicago to the Quad Cities on a weekly basis,” he said. “He’s always seeking out to get better. And he does. He loves baseball. The kid just wants to play baseball, and it’s contagious. … It’s really helped me in getting kids to come early and stay late because they see Brendan doing it.”

Koerner said Tunink is the best high school player he’s seen in person and coached.

“From a Newman standpoint, he leaves a legacy of not only being a great player, but showing kids and others how hard you have to work to get there,” Koerner said. “Nothing came easy for Brendan. He was a skinny kid as a freshman and really didn’t have any chances of any of this happening.

“He bought into nutrition, he bought into weightlifting, and then he bought into just working as hard as he could every day at his craft.”

It all comes down to belief and hard work.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it,” Tunink said. “You’ve got to believe it in your mind, and that’s all you need. … As long as you work hard and you’re determined to make sacrifices to do all this stuff to make your dream become a reality.

“Anyone can dream. They just have to do it.”