Diamond Notes: Week 9
May 20, 2022
Each week, IHSA coaches around the state submit to us their nominations for the PBR Illinois Player of the Week honor. On Wednesday, we awarded the Week 9 POTW honor to RHP/INF Christian Mitchelle (Plainfield East, 2022; Central Michigan), who finished the week going 14-for-20 at the plate with three home runs, three doubles, nine RBIs, 10 runs scored and six walks - also firing a complete game with only three hits, no earned runs and four strikeouts on the mound to notch the win.
There were a number of other impressive performances that were in the mix for the award and deserve recognition. Here’s a look at some of the most notable.
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Luke Adams 3B / OF / Hinsdale Central, IL / 2022The Michigan State commit went 9-for-12 at the plate this past week with a home run, double, three RBIs, seven runs scored and five stolen bases - also walking once and not striking out a single time. Adams also supplied some clutch innings on the mound; coming out of the 'pen in the third inning against conference foe Downers Grove North and firing 4.1 shutout innings with no hits or walks and four strikeouts - helping the Red Devils to move into a tie for first place in the conference at the time. On the season, Adams is hitting .565 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and is slugging .985 with an OPS of 1.6000. |
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Connor Bain OF / Triad, IL / 2022The Drury commit put together an 8-for-19 week at the plate that included three home runs, eight RBIs and three runs scored. Bain homered twice against Civic Memorial, with one being to tie the game and the other to walk the game off. His third home run came against Alton Marquette and was a grand slam, resulting in five RBIs on the day. |
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Colin Barczi C / Naperville Central, IL / 2023The Vanderbilt commit went 7-for-11 at the plate this past week with two home runs, a triple, double, four RBIs and nine runs scored - slashing .636/.714/1.454 with an OPS of 2.169 on the week. On the season, Barczi is now 35-for-71 with 11 home runs, four triples, eight doubles, 24 RBIs, 40 runs scored and has walked 25 times - slashing .493/.633/1.183 with an OPS of 1.816. |
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Tyler Bartczak RHP / OF / Shepard, IL / 2022The Concordia-Wisconsin commit had an impressive week on both sides of the ball; going 8-for-17 with a home run, two doubles, a walk, 11 RBIs and five runs scored - also appearing in two games on the mound and collecting a perfect 2-0 record. On Monday, the right-hander helped Shepard to their third Perfect Game in school history as they took down Argo by the score of 15-0; going two innings and recording every out via the strikeout. He toed the rubber again on Thursday, going six innings this time with 13 strikeouts and just three baserunners allowed (1BB, 2H), allowing just one earned run in a 9-2 win over Bremen. |
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Hayden Brazelton OF / LHP / St. Joseph-Ogden , IL / 2022The Kaskaskia commit went 9-for-18 this past week to set the St. Joseph-Ogden single season hit record with 55, now up to 57 - also setting the single season runs record with 63 on the year. On top of reaching these accolades, Brazelton also recorded a home run, two doubles, seven RBIs and six runs scored. He then hopped on the mound to fire four innings of relief with six strikeouts to clinch the IPC Conference Championship. |
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Jackson Breaux / Conant, IL / 2023The Conant junior had a dominant stretch on the bump last week, firing 12.1 innings with a perfect 3-0 record (two starts, one relief), only allowing two earned runs throughout the week while striking out nine to zero walks. His most dominant start came on Saturday, where he fired a complete game on just 70 pitches. |
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Griffin Brown C / 1B / Lockport , IL / 2022The Black Hawk JC commit went 7-for-17 this past week with two doubles, three RBIs, five runs scored, two hit-by-pitches and two walks. Brown has been one of the top run producers for the Porters so far this year, and this week proved to be no different. Assistant Coach Brandon Morrone has nothing but good things to say about Brown; "Griffin is on base all the time, working great AB's and being a key producer at the top of the order." - Coach Morrone. |
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Andrew Gallegos C / 1B / Naperville Central , IL / 2023The Uncommitted junior put up some impressive numbers last week; going 10-for-16 with two home runs, three doubles, nine RBIs, seven runs scored and slashing .625/.667/1.188 with an OPS of 1.854. On the season, Gallegos is slashing .371/.546/.700 with an OPS of 1.246 - also boasting five home runs, eight doubles, 25 RBIs, 29 runs scored, 22 walks and five hit-by-pitches. |
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Andrew Ivy Jr OF / LHP / Brother Rice, IL / 2022The Arizona Western commit went 10-for-16 last week with a home run, triple, two doubles, five RBIs, eight runs scored and three stolen bases - helping the Crusaders to a perfect 5-0 week with wins over St. Laurence (2), Lemont, Loyola and Marist. One of the biggest moments of the week for Ivy came in the 13-11 slugfest win over St. Laurence; Laurence scored nine runs in one inning to cut the Crusaders' lead down to one run. Ivy would then step up in the following half inning and blast a two run home run to put Brother Rice up by three. |
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Victor Izquierdo 1B / C / Lockport, IL / 2022The Navy commit went 5-for-15 on the week with a home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two hit-by-pitches, five walks and three stolen bases. Assistant Coach Morrone had this to say about Izquierdo - "Numbers cannot really do justice to what Victor has been doing for us, and he had another week of getting on base at a .500+ clip. Victor is always on base, and he had another great week of driving in runs where opportunities were given to him, while also swiping a few stolen bases in the process. VIctor has also been an absolutely excellent first baseman, and he had some HUGE plays defensively for us this week picking up seemingly every ball that was thrown in the dirt". |
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Fabian Jaime C / RHP / Kelly, IL / 2022The Kelly senior tossed a no-hitter against Lake View in the first round of the CPL playoffs on Friday the 13th, collecting 10 strikeouts along the way. Jaime also turned in an impressive week at the plate, going 5-for-10 with a home run, eight RBIs and six runs scored, |
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Michael Kelly SS / Libertyville , IL / 2022The Libertyville shortstop put together a 7-for-12 week at the plate to go along with a home run, double, five RBIs and five runs scored. Kelly supplied elite defense up the middle for the No. 13 team in the state, and has been doing so all year long - proving to play a large role in Libertyville's overall success and 11-1 record in the NSC. |
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Anthony Martinez RHP / SS / Lockport, IL / 2023The uncommitted junior and Week 8 Player of the Week put together yet another noteworthy stretch, going 8-for-16 with a home run, two doubles, five RBIs, six runs scored and three stolen bases - also notching a two-inning save with no runs allowed and three strikeouts. Assistant Coach Morrone had this to say about Martinez - "Anthony Martinez had another big week for the Porters. He has been seeing the ball very well the past few weeks; being a huge part of generating some big offensive numbers for our lineup. He has also been running the bases well, and locked down a save on the mound in a tight game against Lemont". |
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Andrew Pyszka SS / C / Putnam County, IL / 2023Pyszka has been instrumental in Putnam County's success this season, helping them to an overall record of 23-8. Last week, Pyszka went 16-for-21 with two home runs, a triple, four doubles, 15 RBIs, 10 runs scored and six stolen bases - collecting a weekly average of .762, an OBP of .773, SLG percentage of 1.333 and an OPS of 2.106. On the season, Pyszka is now hitting .500 with four home runs, two triples, 14 doubles, 28 RBIs, 56 runs scored, 21 walks and 45 stolen bases - also turning in an OBP of .600, SLG percentage of .783 and an OPS of 1.383. |
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Ryan Robinson C / 2B / Rochester, IL / 2022The Illinois-Wesleyan commit went 7-for-19 last week with a home run, triple, double and seven RBIs. His biggest moment came when he slugged a go-ahead home run on Saturday in a 10-9 victory over Coal City. |
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Shai Robinson SS / Homewood-Flossmoor , IL / 2022The Illinois State commit helped Homewood-Flossmoor to a perfect 6-0 record last week, going 11-for-16 with two home runs, two doubles, 14 RBIs and 10 runs scored. His biggest game of the week cam against Blue Island Eisenhower, where he went 3-for-4 with a home run, double, four RBIs and three runs scored. |
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Blake Scroggins RHP / SS / Mulberry Grove , IL / 2022The uncommitted senior put together an impressive week on both sides of the ball last week. On the mound, he went seven innings with six hits, one earned run, 13 strikeouts and just two walks. At the plate, Scroggins went a perfect 5-for-5 with a home run, triple, double, two singles and six RBIs. On the season, Scroggins is now hitting .586 through 58 at-bats. |
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Jack Skidmore RHP / Naperville Central, IL / 2022The Lincoln Trail JC commit had a dominant outing against Metea Valley last week, leading Central to a 9-2 victory on the mound. The right-hander fired five innings while striking out 12 with only two walks, three hits and one earned run - also dumping in 65% strikes throughout the outing. On the season, Skidmore is now 6-1 with a 2.12 ERA, 36.1 IP, 62 strikeouts, 16 walks and a .201 BAA. |
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Blake Stempowski 3B / SS / Geneva, IL / 2022The McHenry County commit helped Geneva to a 6-1 record over their seven game stretch last week; going 16-for-26 with two home runs, four doubles, 12 RBIs, 13 runs scored and only striking out once. A highlight of his week was a 3 run home run in the top of the eighth inning against Wheaton North. Geneva was up 5-4 after a bases loaded ground out - Stempowski then stepped up and cleared the bases on the first pitch of the at-bat, helping Geneva to an eventual 8-4 win. On the season, Stempowski is hitting .469 with three home runs, four triples, 14 doubles, 28 RBIs and 36 runs scored. |
Neuqua Valley
+ Tyler Auer, Of, 2022
Auer went 12-for-22 this past week with a home run, triple, four doubles, 14 RBIs and five runs scored - also slashing .600/.955. His biggest game came against No. 3 St. Laurence where he had five RBIs in 9-4 victory, going 3-for-4 with a double and a triple.
+ Justin Nonnenmann, OF, 2022
Nonnenmann went 10-for-19 last week with four doubles, seven RBIs and eight runs scored - including a game-tying, bases clearing three RBI double against conference rival Waubonsie Valley. On the week, Nonnenmann slashed .526/.571/.737.
+ Trevor Morris, 2B/SS, 2022
Morris went 11-for-24 last week with a home run, five doubles, nine RBIs and 11 runs scored. He also played reliable defense at shortstop after filling in for four conference games.
+ Josh Wenz, 3B, 2023
Wenz went 10-for-22 last week with a home run, triple, three doubles, 10 RBIs and eight runs scored - also slashing .455/.538/.818 while helping Neuqua to a perfect 6-0 week.
+ Mark Wagner, C, 2023
Wagner went 6-for-13 on the week - slashing .462/.588/.462.
+ Noah Castillo, RHP, 2022
In his first varsity appearance of the year, Castillo went five innings in relief vs. Marmion Academy; earning his first varsity win with five innings, four hits, one earned run and two strikeouts on only 53 pitches.
Lindblom
+ Shawn Coy, LHP, 2022
Coy went a perfect 2-0 on the week including a win on Senior Night against Washington and a dominant performance in the second round of the City Playoffs against Whitney Young. In total, Coy threw 11 innings with five hits, two earned runs, 17 strikeouts and just five walks - also going 5-for-13 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs, two runs score and a stolen base.
+ Antwan Harvey Jr, INF, 2023
Harvey put the cherry on his stellar week with a walk-off double over Whitney Young - finishing the week 5-for-13 with a home run, two doubles, thee RBIs, two runs scored, two walks and one stolen base.
+ Andrew Crenshaw, INF, 2024
Crenshaw went 7-for-11 last week with a double, three RBIs, four runs scored, two stolen bases, one hit-by-pitch and a walk.
+ Jaime Garza, RHP, 2023
Garza went 1-0 on the mound last week - tossing four scoreless frames against Washington while allowing just one hit, no runs and striking out two against two walks.