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Disabato: Joey Filomeno, Kyle Funkhouser headed to Omaha

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:09:05 -0500

During the summer after his freshman year at St. Rita, Joey Filomeno road-tripped to Omaha, Neb., with his travel team for a tournament. On one of those days he went to watch Miami and Georgia play in the NCAA College World Series. Filomeno recalls it like it was yesterday, though it was 2008. “Jemile Weeks of Miami led off the game with a jack (homer), which landed about 10 feet from me,” said Filomeno, a 2011 St. Rita graduate. “The place went nuts. It was amazing. I remember just standing there and watching it all. From that moment, a goal …

Disabato: In victory, heavy hearts for Mount Carmel

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:21:10 -0500

How appropriate the final out of Mount Carmel’s Class 4A state championship Saturday was a pop-up that reached toward the clear-blue heavens before landing softly in first baseman Malik Carpenter’s glove. Somewhere up above, beyond downtown Joliet’s aging skyline, Tony Morsovillo, Stevie Bajenski and Kevin Kennelly were smiling down on Silver Cross Field and the 2,458 fans, most of whom were Caravan supporters, smiled right back. Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry, however, had tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat when asked what first came to mind once the final out was recorded and the Caravan’s 2-1 …

Disabato: Sam Travis, Chris Sujka enjoying historic ride with Indiana baseball

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 02:07:23 -0500

As a kid, Sam Travis would watch the NCAA College World Series on television and dream of one day playing in it. He’s two wins away from realizing that dream. Travis and his Indiana University teammates are one of 16 teams to have advanced to Super Regional play, a first in the program’s history. Indiana’s inclusion also marks the first time a Big Ten team has advanced to Super Regionals since Michigan in 2007. The Hoosiers will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to play Florida State in a best-of-3 series that begins at 11 a.m. Saturday. If the Hoosiers can overtake …

Disabato: Local baseball sectional match-ups akin to hitting lottery

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:46:54 -0500

When the IHSA released the state baseball playoff pairings a few weeks back, some fans and coaches complained about the difficulty of local regional match-ups. I could sympathize. First-round regional games between 20-game winners Lincoln-Way West and Lemont, Catholic League Blue foes Providence and Brother Rice and neighborhood rivals Marian Catholic and Homewood-Flossmoor resembled championship affairs, not playoff openers. But as long as the IHSA prioritizes regional representation ahead of having the best teams competing at the state finals in Joliet on June 7 and 8, the trend of localized first-round barn burners is sure to continue. As I see …

Disabato: Jameson Lamb forges on despite fireworks accident

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:12:10 -0500

Moments after finishing a summer league game on July 3, 2012, Homewood-Flossmoor coach Todd Sippel gathered his team, as he does after every game, to discuss the players’ performance. However, before allowing his team to depart, Sippel had an additional message for his players on the eve of Independence Day, knowing the potential pitfalls Fourth of July celebrations can produce. “Be careful,” Sippel said to his players. Jameson Lamb remembers those words all too well. “I remember it clearly,” said Lamb, who is just days away from completing his junior year at H-F. “He also told us to be safe …

Disabato: Lincoln-Way North’s Kevin Smith ready to face former St. Laurence teammates

Thu, 16 May 2013 02:11:21 -0500

As if the prospect of the Nos. 1 and 2 baseball teams playing Thursday isn’t enough to make the heart flutter with excitement, the added turbulence of a player facing his old teammates for the first time certainly should. Not just any player, mind you, but one who started on the varsity for three seasons and was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Catholic League Blue as a junior in 2012. That would be Kevin Smith, who transferred to Lincoln-Way North from St. Laurence in June. The young man can play the game at a level few others can, …

Disabato: Trinity Christian College making history on baseball diamond

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:01:56 -0500

When Rick Tilquist was a freshman in 2009 at Trinity Christian College, there were 15 players in the baseball program. That’s not enough players to have a scrimmage game against one another. “Most of them, basically, were all freshman,” Tilquist said. In other words, the baseball program was going through a rebuilding process. The lack of numbers, however, didn’t prevent that group from making a bold prediction. “We said, ‘We’re going to put Trinity on the map,’ ” Tilquist said. It may have taken a little longer than expected, but the young men have lived up to their word. Trinity …

Disabato: Andrew to name baseball field after Frank Ganser

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 06:10:41 -0500

When you think of Andrew’s baseball program, what comes to mind first is Frank Ganser. That’s how it should be — and always will. Ganser was the face of the program, and with his shiny silver hair and bright blue eyes, Andrew could have fared far worse. Ganser transformed a little-known program that played its first varsity game in 1979 into a respected and feared powerhouse. While doing so, he also turned a glorified cow pasture into the region’s first Field of Dreams. Ganser’s blood, sweat and tears remain ingrained in that field — along with many of the greatest …

Disabato: Lincoln-Way North pitcher Mike Miller in dominant form

Wed, 29 May 2013 06:18:25 -0500

The velocity of Mike Miller’s fastball won’t cause scouts, pro or otherwise, to scurry for their radar gun. Generally, heaters that hover in the low to mid-80s (mph), like his does, rarely do. What Miller, the ace of a loaded Lincoln-Way North pitching staff, does that causes scouts, fans, opposing hitters and, I’d suppose, teammates to shake their heads in wonderment is his ability to locate that fastball, along with his curveball and slider, with the precision of an artist. When Miller pitches, it’s more Picasso than powder river. Up and down. Inside corner and outside corner. Any pitch, anywhere …

Disabato: Chicago Christian baseball on record-setting pace

Sat, 25 May 2013 06:34:19 -0500

Eric Brauer readily acknowledges he didn’t see this type of season coming from his club. And why would he? Chicago Christian graduated from its 2012 team its top two pitchers and starters at shortstop, center field, right field and catcher. This is a school of approximately 400 students. If anything, the Knights should have been in rebuild mode this soggy spring. Instead, Chicago Christian is off to the best start in school history, having won 18 of its first 20 games. “No, definitely not,” Brauer said when asked if he expected his squad to be this strong. “We graduated three …

Disabato: Southland youth baseball players inspired by ‘42’

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:14:24 -0500

I wonder if Jackie Robinson ever imagined some 66 years after he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball that his courageous story would continue to inspire people. That because of the way he handled bigotry and ignorance — with dignity and grace — he would be looked up to by generations long after his death in 1972. Let’s be clear: Robinson is an American hero whose impact exceeded sports — it was a major step in the civil rights revolution in America. The movie “42,” which primarily focuses on Robinson’s first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, …

Disabato: Krob brothers enjoying unique experience at Argo

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:25:22 -0500

When Brendan Krob was in seventh grade, he remembers a conversation he had with his oldest brother, Ryan, then a sophomore at Argo. “My (other) brother Dustin (a freshman at the time) was just moved up to the varsity,” Krob said. “Me and Ryan were in the back seat of my dad’s car and Dustin was in the front seat with my dad. Ryan told me to keep working hard, and that his last year in high school he wanted me to be on the varsity with him and Dustin. I never forgot him telling me that. It motivated me.” …

Disabato: IHSA comes down hard on Seton boys basketball program

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:36:52 -0500

Remember the old Road Runner cartoons when an anvil would fall from a mountain top onto the head of an unsuspecting Wile E. Coyote? I assume that’s how Seton felt Wednesday when the IHSA announced the sanctions imposed on the Sting’s boys basketball program. Coach Brandon Thomas will not be allowed to coach Seton in the next two IHSA state playoff series, and he’ll also be on probation for the entire 2013-14 season. That’s hardly a slap on the wrist, folks. More like an old-school crack upside the head. A price had to be paid for the actions of Thomas …

Disabato: St. Rita’s Mike Costanzo overpowering hitters

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:48:55 -0500

Growing up, Mike Costanzo looked up to Mark Buehrle. So much, in fact, that Costanzo wears No. 56, just like Buehrle, on the back of his St. Rita baseball jersey. The two share a few common traits, beyond being left-handed pitchers. The most obvious is their ability to get batters out without the benefit of an overpowering fastball. It’s something Costanzo not only admires about Buehrle, the former White Sox ace and current Toronto Blue Jay, but something he can relate to. “I never threw as hard as anyone else growing up, and he didn’t either,” said Costanzo, a Mount …

Disabato: St. Laurence pitching staff firing goose eggs

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:30:23 -0500

Dominate: to rule over; govern; control. Yep, that about sums up the performance of St. Laurence’s pitching staff through eight games. Sit down, my devoted reader, or the power of said staff’s statistics I’m about to reveal might just knock you on your keister. Ready? In 49 innings through Thursday, the Vikings have yet to allow an earned run. Zero. Zilch. Nada. They’ve given up two runs — both unearned. A team ERA of 0.00. The Vikings have allowed just 21 hits, 17 walks and struck out 70 over those 49 innings — numbers that would make Sandy Koufax take …

Disabato: Rich Central baseball no longer flying under the radar

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:23:12 -0500

Corey Stallings prefers his team fly under the radar, away from the distractions the spotlight produces. At least that’s what he told me. After landing in the SouthtownStar’s Preseason Baseball Top 10 in 2011 and ’12, Rich Central found itself on the outside looking in when this year’s rankings were released March 18. “That’s OK. We don’t mind not having the spotlight on us,” Stallings told me. “We’ll fly under the radar and surprise some people.” The Olympians’ days of relative anonymity are over. It took Rich Central two weeks to take residence in the Top 10, sitting at No. …

Disabato: Stagg grad Justin Ringo enjoying baseball success as Stanford senior

Thu, 02 May 2013 06:03:38 -0500

He hit .163 as a freshman, .125 as a sophomore and .182 as a junior — seasons that would cause many players to contemplate waving the white flag, either by transferring to another college or, possibly, giving up baseball. Quitting, however, isn’t in Justin Ringo’s vocabulary. One of the greatest pure hitters the Southland ever has produced, Ringo, a 2009 Stagg graduate, remained devoted and diligent despite his struggles, never once considering leaving Pac-12 power Stanford or hanging up his spikes. It’s a good thing he didn’t. Ringo, in his senior season, is hitting .323, with 20 hits, three doubles, …

Disabato: St. Rita grad Mark Payton a big hit at Texas

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:40:15 -0500

Mark Payton has heard all the wisecracks about his height — or lack thereof. It’s been a constant throughout life for the 5-foot-8 Orland Park resident. For the most part, Payton, a junior outfielder at the University of Texas, has been able to remain focused and avoid the urge to respond verbally to hecklers. He prefers to let his bat do the talking. This season, Payton’s Marucci bat is talking — to the tune of a team-best .406 batting average through Thursday. He also leads the Longhorns in triples (4), RBI (15) and slugging percentage (.580) through 20 games. “It’s …