Prep Baseball

Tri-Cities All-Area baseball team

Posted June 09, 2011 12:00 am

Wes Benjamin

By John Lemon

jlemon@dailyherald.com

Wes Benjamin,

St. Charles East

The Kansas-bound left-hander leaves St. Charles East as one of the best pitchers the tradition-rich program has ever seen. Two-time All-Area selection compiled a 25-5 record in his three seasons, capped by a 10-2 mark this year that included a pair of regional victories. Finished with a 1.61 ERA, 95 strikeouts and 17 walks in 71 innings pitched. All-conference, all-area selection. “He’s improved on being a leader and a role model for the rest of the guys,” Saints coach Dave Haskins said. “He’s improved on his pickoff moves at a huge rate. Just a great person, great young man. Very pleased with his efforts on and off the field.”

John Brodner,

St. Charles North

This junior stepped up as the impact bat in the middle of the St. Charles North lineup, leading the North Stars with 9 home runs and 39 RBI while batting .434 with 30 runs. Started the year at shortstop and struggled initially, but coach Todd Genke praised his error-free defense down the stretch when the North Stars kept themselves alive for a conference championship all the way to the final day of the regular season. Other coaches agreed about Brodner’s impact, voting him to the Upstate Eight all-conference team. “John had an excellent season,” Genke said. “He led us in almost every offensive category.”

Bobby Kuntzendorf,

Aurora Christian

Aurora Christian won 29 games this season and reached the Class 2A sectional championship game, and the Eagles have Kuntendorf to thank for much of their success. He finished 9-1, the only loss coming in the sectional final, with a 1.26 ERA and 128 strikeouts and a 0.84 WHIP. Also was a force at the plate with a .381 average, 30 runs, 8 home runs and 37 RBI. Had a breakout week with 5 homers the first week in May. “He has been our go-to guy on the mound, every time he goes out there, we have a chance to win and are confident that we can win,” Eagles coach Andy Zorger said. “He finds a way to miss bats, even if he doesn’t have his best command. He has been dominate at times and at times just effective enough to keep the other team off balance.”

John Munyon,

St. Charles North

One of the best two-way players around, Munyon led St. Charles North in hitting this year with a .443 average and 47 hits, including 9 doubles and a pair of home runs. Scored 26 runs and drove in 24. On the mound, Munyon was 6-1 with a 3.82 ERA. The senior fanned 42 and walked 14 in his 42 1/3 innings. Pitched his first complete game late in the year in a key victory over St. Charles East and the Saints’ ace Wes Benjamin. Earned all-conference honors. “John played extremely well all year,” St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. “He leads our team. He is a two-way player who has pitched in all of our big games.”

Tony Rallo,

St. Charles East

This hard-hitting left-handed first baseman slugged the baseball like no player in St. Charles East history. Set school records with 3 grand slams, 14 home runs and 60 RBI. Earned all-conference and received the second most votes as any first baseman in the state for all-state honors. Also hit .480. Quite an accomplishment under any circumstance, let alone coming back from an injury that sidelined him for part of his junior year. “He’s been amazing,” Saints coach Dave Haskins said. “Only struck out 4 times for a guy cleanup, he’s been pitched around, intentionally walked a couple times. He’s been fun to be around for two years.” Will play next year at Judson.

Luke Rojas,

St. Charles East

An Upstate Eight All-Conference selection. Rojas didn’t move out of the No. 3 hole or shortstop position all season for the 27-11 conference and regional champion Saints. Set a school record for getting hit by a pitch. Also put up big numbers offensively with a .398 batting average and 6 home runs. His coach Dave Haskins could recall in vivid detail some of his highlight plays at shortstop, including throwing a runner out from his knees against Dundee-Crown in a game he ended with a walk-off double. Will play next year at Olivet-Nazarene. “He hits the ball well to both sides of the field,” Haskins said.

Michael Rutas,

Batavia

This senior right-hander didn’t get as much run support as some of the other top pitchers in the area, but he was in the middle of most of Batavia’s biggest wins of the year. That included a 1-0 no-hitter over Streamwood when Rutas outdueled Josh Harris to hand previously 14-0 Streamwood its first loss. Rutas tossed 3 other shutouts. Finished 5-4 with a 2.52 ERA and 71 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .188 batting average. All-conference selection, team MVP and winner of Batavia’s Golden Glove Award, which is a combination of fielding percentage and web gems. “Michael was a man who performed well in the spotlight,” Batavia coach Matt Holm said. “He was calm, cool, composed and a true confidence builder when he was on the mound.”

Tim Tarter,

Marmion

While he’s going to UIC because of his dominance as a left-handed pitcher, Tarter also supplied a big bat in the middle of Marmion’s lineup. He hit .330 with 14 RBI as the Cadets won their third straight conference championship and second straight regional title. Tarter threw a 1-hitter in that regional championship win and followed with a 2-1 sectional semifinal victory over Rochelle, part of a 10-0 season on the mound with a microscopic 0.67 ERA, and 67 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched. “He’s a great pitcher,” Marmion coach Dave Rakow said. “He only gave up 5 earned runs all year.”

Bobby Thorson,

Kaneland

Not many players can impact a game at the plate or on the mound like this Kaneland senior. Thorson takes a 6-3 record to state this weekend with a 0.71 ERA, including a 2-1 win over Sycamore to give the Knights their first regional title, and a 6-3 victory over Marmion for their first sectional championship. At the plate this two-time All-Area selection is hitting .406 with 8 home runs and 48 RBI, a .500 on-base percentage and .772 slugging percentage. “There’s times he’s won the game at the plate and on the mound,” Kaneland coach Brian Aversa said. “He’s a special player and deserves all the accolades he’s getting. He’s a silent killer. He doesn’t say much. He’s a leader by example and comes out and just kills the ball.”

Matt Williams,

Geneva

Geneva coach Matt Hahn was joking when he said Williams could be a world class Ping-Pong player if he wanted. Or was he joking? Because Williams can do it all. The quarterback on Geneva’s football team who is headed to Northern Illinois to play football, Williams made an equally big impact in baseball this spring in leading Geneva to its sixth 20-win season in the last seven years. Williams went 4-2 on the mound with a 2.27 ERA. At the plate Williams hit .358 with 12 home runs, 28 RBI, 29 runs and 10 stolen bases. His home run total trailed only St. Charles East record-setter Tony Rallo for the area lead.

2011 Baseball All-area roster

Player School Pos. Yr.

Wes Benjamin St. Charles East P Sr.

John Brodner St. Charles North 3B Jr.

Bobby Kuntzendorf Aurora Christian P Jr.

John Munyon St. Charles North 1B/P Sr.

*Tony Rallo St. Charles East 1B Sr.

Luke Rojas St. Charles East SS Sr.

Michael Rutas Batavia P Sr.

Tim Tarter Marmion P/1B Sr.

Bobby Thorson Kaneland P/1B Sr.

Matt Williams Geneva 2B/P Jr.

Second team

Player School Pos. Yr.

Kyle Davidson Kaneland SS/P Sr.

Andrew Elliot St. Charles North OF Sr.

Mitch Endriukaitis Geneva SS So.

Chris Hipchen Geneva CF Sr.

Joe Hoscheit St. Charles East OF/P So.

Jake Johansmeier St. Charles North INF/P Jr.

Kyle Kozak Marmion C Jr.

Matt Miller Aurora Central P/SS So.

Danny Seiton Batavia SS Jr.

Richie Renner West Aurora SS/3B Jr.

* — Honorary captain

Special mention

Joe Camiliere (sr., CF, Kaneland); Dan Ditusa (sr., P, St. Charles East); Jordan Hayes (jr., 3B, St. Charles East); Brent Minta (sr., OF/P/C, Aurora Christian); Jordan Touro (so., P, Geneva).

Honorable mention

Ben Allison (sr., P, Batavia); Jake Bergren (sr., OF, St. Charles North); Brad Bernhard (sr., 1B, Geneva); Sam Burnoski (jr., 3B/OF, Batavia); Jay Clark (sr., C, Batavia); Drew French (sr., 3B/P, Kaneland); A.J. Friedman (jr., CF, Marmion); Tyler Friel (sr., P/3B, Marmion); Jake Hanson (jr. C, Aurora Christian); Ryan Harreld (Aurora Central); Josh Haugen (jr., SS, Aurora Christian); Mitch Holtz (jr., P/OF, Aurora Christian); Johnny Hondlik (jr., P/DH, St. Charles East); Braden Hrack (sr., 2B, Batavia); Ryan Jones (sr., P, St. Charles North); Sam Komel (sr., 1B/P, Kaneland); Corey Landers (sr., LF, Kaneland); Cody Love (sr., P, West Aurora); Josh Loynachan (sr., P, St. Charles North); Kenny McCracken (jr., DH, Aurora Christian); Jordan Meyer (sr., OF, Marmion); Mike Monaghan (sr., 3B/P, Geneva); Nick Pappas (jr., P/1B, Batavia); Jake Razo (jr., RF, Kaneland); Ricky Rivera (jr., OF, West Aurora); Dirk Schmitt (sr., OF, St. Charles North); Ryan Shaffrey (sr., OF, St. Charles East); Brian Sobieski (so., C, St. Charles East); John Swiderski (sr., C, Geneva); Matt Thomas (sr., C, St. Charles North); Phil Warner (sr., P, St. Charles North).

The kids can play

Top freshmen and sophomores

Mitch Endriukaitis, Geneva; Jordan Touro, Geneva; Brian Sobieski, St. Charles East

The winners

Conference champions

Aurora Christian, Kaneland, Marmion, St. Charles East

Regional champions

Aurora Christian, Kaneland, Marmion, St. Charles East

Sectional and supersectional champions

Kaneland

The future

Teams to watch in 2012