With or without cooperative weather, these players and teams have been hot …
* For most of Bryan Roberts’ baseball career, he’s been considered a top-level catcher first, then a pitcher. Heading into his senior year, Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake and Roberts decided to change the focus, making the powerfully-built 6-foot-3, 210-pound Roberts predominately a pitcher.
So far the results have been astounding. In 19 innings pitched this year, Roberts has struck out 43 and walked only two while showcasing an upper-80s, lower-90s fastball and a wicked, hard-breaking curveball. In his first game of the season, Roberts K'd 10 of the 12 batters he faced and allowed no hits.
Roberts is signed to play at the University of Illinois next fall. And with his size and arm strength, he has drawn considerable interest from pro scouts this season.
* Stagg junior first baseman Justin Ringo very well may be swinging the hottest bat in the state. On Tuesday, Ringo connected for his fifth home run in three games. On Monday, Ringo hit three homers and drove in five against Hinsdale South. It’s about time Ringo saw some pitches to hit. In his first 36 at-bats of the season, he was walked 16 times. As a sophomore Ringo hit 10 homers.
* Last season, Highland star Jake Odorizzi opened the year by throwing 28 consecutive scoreless innings. Odorrizzi, the No. 1-ranked player in the state, is off to similar streak this season. Already he has thrown 21 consecutive scoreless innings and, judging by the way the right-hander has pitched this season, he may not allow a run all season. The most impressive part of Odorizzi’s early-season performance is he’s done it under a lot of pressure. The scouts are out in droves for Odorizzi, whose draft stock has continued to soar.
This season Odorizzi is 3-0 with 34 strikeouts and three walks in 21 innings. He’s allowed seven hits and has two complete games. At the plate he’s been equally as impressive: .481 BA, four homers, three doubles and eight stolen bases. Signed at Louisville as a two-way player, Odorizzi went 10-0 with 96 Ks in 69.2 innings and a 0.70 ERA and hit 13 homers, 33 extra-base hits and stole 23 bases as a junior.
* Columbia, which is the prohibitive favorite to win the Class 2A state championship, suffered a big blow when it lost Baylor-bound RHP-INF Trent Blank for the season with a fractured right foot. Blank was hitting .317 as the Eagles’ leadoff man and was 2-1 with a 0.44 ERA. Blank, who re-fractured his foot late last week in school, was an integral part in the Eagles’ state championship last year. Through Tuesday, the Eagles were 15-1.
* Herscher is off to a 13-3 start, in large part due to outfielder Zach Stetson’s hot bat. Stetson, an unsigned left-handed hitting senior, blasted his sixth homer of the season Tuesday and drove in four, upping his RBI total to 24 as the leadoff hitter. He’s also scored 25 runs and is hitting .421. …
* With a 10-1 record through Tuesday, Mundelein has been one of the biggest surprises of the season so far. Senior right-hander Eric Rohe is the biggest reason why: He improved to 5-0 on Tuesday with a 4-2 complete-game victory over Libertyville.
* After a quiet past two years, Harrisburg is again back to its dominant form. Through Tuesday, the Bulldogs were 15-1 and riding a 14-game win streak. The Bulldogs are led by two high-level prospects: junior infielder Christian Cummins and sophomore SS-RHP Reid Roper.
* Marissa HS senior ace Cale Wine is off to a 4-0 start and hasn’t allowed an earned run and only three hits in 18 innings. Marissa, located near the St. Louis metro area, is one of the top teams in Class 1A. The Meteors will be at Benedictine University this Saturday in the Driscoll Small School Invite.