he past several boys’ baseball seasons have been marred with inconsistencies. Last year, the team finished with just one win in conference play, their season coming to a sudden end against Latin in the IHSA Regional Championship Game. With experienced and talented players returning to the lineup this year, the team had optimism that this was their time. As of May 11th, the Varsity squad had a 6-10 record which was not an expected start for the team.    

Of the 16 players currently rostered on the Varsity squad, all but three are upperclassmen, which gives players confidence. “Having experience on the squad is an extremely valuable intangible,” junior and captain Alex Chapman said. “It gives us some confidence in knowing that these guys have been in tough situations before and have had to handle adversity in one way or another.”

But teams that have floundered in the past have had upperclassmen experience. Still, with the baseball team this year, the upperclassmen not only have experience but talent to match. Senior and Bates College commit Casey Barr returns to the lineup this year. His pitching prowess over the season has the given the team confidence all over the field. Juniors George Heltzer and Alex Chapman return to the team as well. Chapman gives the team stability at the catching position while Heltzer is the team’s best hitter.

“Being one of the few underclassmen on the team, I’m really appreciative of not only the experience of the older guys, but also their ability to shoulder most of the workload and responsibility,” sophomore Zach Lending said. “That makes it easier for me to play more clear-headed.”

According to Chapman, in recent years the practices that the team has conducted have been lackadaisical, which led to poor performances. This year, though, the team is noticeably more dialed in. The players are concentrated in their warm up–not talking with friends about topics unrelated. Every hit, run, and throw is at full speed to help simulate a game, and the players have a notable sense of urgency in their repetitions.

While there is still joking around and time for having fun–a lot of the players joke about hitting “dingers” in their big games between repetitions–the players are attentive and willing when they need to be. Most practices in the early spring occurred in the Big Gym under artificial lighting with pads on all of the walls. While some might have used this less-than-optimal practice environment to slack off, this year’s varsity players did not.  

A more concentrated work ethic is something that second year coach Isaiah Clark has successfully instilled into the group of players. “Along with the talent that we have this year as compared to last year,” Clark said, “I can see the elevation in the increased work ethic in the boys due to their offseason training.”

Unfortunately, this work ethic and experience was not of much value to begin the season. The team began 0-5 with all 5 losses coming against non-conference opponents. To be fair, the team played much larger schools and were not expected to win most of those games, according to Chapman.

“We were looking to play some better competition before heading into conference play,” Chapman said. “We knew that these teams would likely be better than any team in the ISL, so it would be beneficial to experience that.”

The team was competitive in most of the games. “We were in a lot of the games and had opportunities to change the momentum in all of them,” Clark said, “but we couldn’t get over that hump of finishing off a win.”

The varsity squad began to turn things around with a win against U-High on April 12, but it wasn’t until a beautiful early spring day rolled around on April 25 that the players really seemed to be hitting their stride all over the field. And what better team to do that against than Latin?

The walk to the Lincoln Park baseball fields was relaxed. Most of the players were listening to music. “Everyone had the mindset that we were going to beat Latin,” Chapman said.

After a warmup that looked a lot like a typical practice for the boys–a stretch, light throwing, fielding, and finally some hitting–the nine starters took the field for Latin while the Parker squad focused in on their hitting technique.

Standing on the pitcher’s mound representing Latin on the cool, sunny afternoon was a seemingly difficult obstacle in ace Keaton Bubala. Bubala was the best Latin could offer Parker in terms of pitching.

But the Parker bats came out aggressive, and they ended the first inning having plated 5 runs. The Parker squad went through their entire batting lineup in the first inning alone, which led to Bubala’s leaving the game after the second inning due to fatigue.

The aggressive hitting was coupled perfectly with Barr’s gem of a pitching performance. As the wind began to tear through the field, Barr remained quick and assertive in his deliveries and relied on his cutter to amount an impressive stat line of 6 innings pitched, 2 hits given up, just 1 walk, and 16 strikeouts.

“I had all of my pitches working,” Barr said. “My fastball was popping, I was locating my offspeed, and when I have those things working for me, I feel I can be tough to square up, and on that day, I was.”

Regardless of the fact that the sun began to drop, and the temperatures began to cool, the Parker bats remained hot for the entire game, eventually scoring 14 runs. With the help of Barr, the squad did not allow a single run en route to a 14-0 slaughter-rule win after the 6th inning.

For Clark, the win, a momentum-changer in their season, was a direct result of their ability to practice outside and experience more game-like situations. “The fact that we’ve been able to get into a rhythm outside is huge,” Clark said. “The more that the guys have been able to see live pitching, to adjust to offspeed pitches, and be outside has really benefitted them.”   

With a current record of 4-9, 4-4 since that opening struggle, the team is just getting started. According to Clark, they’re looking to increase repetitions outside as much as possible to get ready for the state tournament, which starts on Thursday, May 18th. “Now the team is starting to learn to close games,” Clark said, “and we’re looking forward to improving before the season ends.”