By Chris Parker
Wheaton baseball will be lookin for a bounce-back season with four starters and seven lettermen returning.
Head coach Tucker Dermott identified Elijah Holenda (senior first base/DH), Truman Thompson (senior third base/pitcher), Hayden Royer (junior pitcher/utility) and Devin Bateman (junior shortstop/outfield/catcher) as team leaders.
Dermott on Holenda: “Elijah is a hard-working kid that will do whatever you ask him to do and give everything he has. He has been starting for three seasons now and I expect him to continue to lead by example. Need a big offensive season from him.”
Dermott on Thompson: “Truman has come a long way in his baseball career. He was predominantly a JV player until he came on late last spring and last fall. He is a middle of the order bat and one of our rotation arms.”
Dermott on Royer: “Hayden was at every summer workout and is one of the most dedicated workers I have. He has continued to improve on the mound and at the plate.”
Dermott on Bateman: “Devin has been either an all-conference or all-district selection for me every year. He plays with a lot of grit and fire. My expectations are high for him, and I will use him all over the diamond. Will need him to give us stability at key spots.”
Thompson, Royer and junior Preston Johnson will be the team’s top pitchers.
The infield will feature Holenda at first, Camren Brattin (junior) at second base and Thompson at third. Bateman and Michael Hang (junior) will see time at shortstop depending on who is on the mound.
Catcher is still to be determined.
The outfield will feature Fernando Gonzalez in centerfield with Johnson and Austin Cox in right field. Gonzalez is an all-state track athlete who picked up baseball for the first time last year. He has made great improvements according to Dermott.
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Left field is an open competition.
“Left field will be another position battle spot,” Dermott said. “I have multiple guys who can rotate there and can get innings for us in that spot. We have a few newcomers that could compete there or on the infield. It will really come down to what guys step up and force my hand to make adjustments and rotate spots for guys.”
Wheaton will find strength in versatility this season.
“For starters, I think we will be very multiple with who plays where and can rotate depending on who is on the mound. With smaller numbers, it’s a must, but something that will help us,” Dermott said. “Lastly, it will be the first time that I will have a consistent starting rotation, since my first season at Wheaton. It has been a lot of mixing and matching and trying to figure out how to get consistent innings. I will be able to rely on a few guys to eat innings and I’m really excited to have them. If they are successful, it could drastically change our outlook from past seasons.”
Dermott will look for more consistency out of this year’s team.
“We need to be more consistent,” Dermott said. “Whether that be in the box, on the mound, or on the field. We have shown flashes of playing above what most expect us to be. It really does start on the mound however. If we don’t throw strikes, innings get long, and we lose our confidence and momentum. That in turn affects all other aspects of the game. Our offense goes flat, defense gets lazy and games get away from us. If we show up and keep ourselves in the game early, we will improve significantly.”
Doing the little things right will be a big focus for the 2023 Wheaton Bulldogs.
“I think we will be a well-rounded team,” Dermott said. “I don’t care if we have an awesome statistical output this year because if it doesn’t show up in the win column, it doesn’t matter. We need to be sufficient in all aspects of the game, hitting, defense, pitching, baserunning, and baseball IQ. Moving a runner over with a well-placed single, hitting a cutoff and throwing a runner out, or pitching to contact and getting out of a jam, all of those things might not show up in a box score but matter. I expect us to excel at those things.”
Wheaton opens the season on Mar. 17 at Galena.
“I think every team has the same goals and aspirations, win conference, win districts, etc,” Dermott said.
“For us, I want each player to improve and get better every day we show up. It sounds cliche, but I want to make sure that we don’t leave games saying we didn’t show up and gave no effort. Control what we can and compete. It’s what I ask of our players and why my expectations for them are to be better players than they were a year ago at this time. If each guy improves themselves and shows up ready to work, then it will help our team as a whole if we all have that same mindset. We should be a scrappy bunch that can surprise people.”
