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38 | June 20, 2019 | the mokena messenger sports mokenamessenger.com One LW grad is good, two is better for UIC baseball STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Mokena native and LW East graduate Ryan O’Reilly was one of the most-used pitchers in UIC’s bullpen. PHOTOs COURTESY OF UIC ATHLETICS Lincoln-Way North graduate Ryan Fredrickson had a memorable final collegiate season at UIC. Ryan O’Reilly persevered through the setbacks and kept working hard to make his baseball dreams come true. The Mokena native and Lincoln-Way East graduate met one of his ultimate goals this spring: pitching, and having success, at the NCAA Division I level. O’Reilly helped Illinois- Chicago win the Horizon League and play in the NCAA Tournament. In his first season with the Flames, he became a mainstay in the bullpen and one of the most dependable relievers on the team. “I felt like if I came in here and was able to do whatever was asked me of to the best of my abilities, that good things would happen,” O’Reilly said. “I feel like for the most part I’ve done a great job with that. I’ve had great support from my coaches and teammates and that’s made things a lot easier.” Joey Fredrickson, a Lincoln-Way North graduate, also played a prominent role on the team as a starting pitcher. Lincoln-Way East graduate Jake Pomykalski was also a part of the Flames’ staff but made just one appearance during his redshirt freshman season. For O’Reilly, developing a big role at UIC was a huge step on a journey which began with two seasons at Triton College, a junior college in River Grove. O’Reilly became Triton’s top pitcher in 2018, leading the team in innings pitched (57 1/3) and strikeouts (60), and compiling a 3.30 ERA. He pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 11 in a regional championship win over South Suburban to send Triton to nationals. All that attracted the attention of the UIC coaching staff. “It’s always been a goal of mine just to compete at this level,” O’Reilly said. “It feels really good. Going from high school, to the grind through junior college, to here, it’s nice seeing all the hard work pay off. It’s satisfying. I’m really proud of all the hard work I put in to be able to play at this level.” O’Reilly ranked third on UIC in appearances, pitching 21 times out of the bullpen. He had a 4.10 ERA and struck out 19 in 26 1/3 innings pitched. He made the transition from junior college to Division I pretty smoothly. “It’s a big change,” he said. “The talent got a lot better. My teammates pushed me to a higher limit. The biggest challenge was just adapting to more games, more practices, workouts, 5 a.m. lifts. At the junior college, it just didn’t really compare to the grind that there is here. “It’s a lot tougher, but it made me better.” The Flames had a tough start to the season, winning just one of their first eight games. They rebounded late in the season, entered the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 2 seed, and won the championship to earn their spot in the NCAA Tournament. “To come back and do what we did is great,” O’Reilly said. “No one thought we were capable of doing this, but everyone on the team believed we could compete and make it to a regional.” UIC’s season ended at the Louisville Regional, as the Flames went 0-2 with losses to the host Cardinals and Indiana. A memorable final chapter Fredrickson was a fifthyear senior who made the most out of his final season of college baseball. In his second year with UIC, the Lincoln-Way North graduate cracked the starting rotation. “All through my baseball carer, I’d never been a reliever up until last season,” he said. “I knew I’m at my best when I’m starting. Last year was a big transition. I knew going into this year that I had to fight for that starter’s role and I knew I wanted it.” Fredrickson finished second on the team in wins as he went 6-5 with a 4.57 ERA. He was also second in innings pitched with 84 2/3. “I like being a guy coaches can depend on, getting into later innings, they won’t have to worry about if they should put me in for another inning,” he said. “I think I’ve shown there’s not going to be a lot of things that are going to get to me during the game.’’ Like O’Reilly, Fredrickson began his career at a junior college, pitching two seasons at BlackHawk College in Moline. “It’s been a really great ride,” he said. “Out of high school, I had aspirations to play at the highest level of college baseball. I would have liked to take that route out of high school. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but I knew going the junior college route wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I knew I just had to work even harder, and my work ethic went up while I was at juco and helped me get here.” Fredrickson continued a family tradition. His parents, Jim and Wendy, were both gymnasts at UIC. “It’s cool to hear the stories about what it was like when they went to UIC and how things have changed so much,” Fredrickson said. “There are some things that haven’t changed, too.”
mokenamessenger.com sports the mokena messenger | June 20, 2019 | 39 fastbreak Girls Basketball Lincoln-Way Central looking for summer improvement steve millar/22nd Century Media 1st and 3 THREE YOUNG STARS WITH BRIGHT FUTURES 1. Megan Hutchinson Hutchinson (above) had a huge first high school season as a sophomore for Lincoln-Way Central soccer, pouring in 31 goals and adding nine assists despite missing several games due to an injury. She’s already committed to Purdue. 2. Ryan Kraft Another LW Central star who’s already committed to a Big 10 school despite just finishing his sophomore season. Kraft, who’s headed to Indiana, hit .365 with four home runs and 25 RBI and went 4-0 as a pitcher. 3. Erika Ho Ho, a LW East student, was second in goals on the Lincoln-Way co-op girls lacrosse teams as a freshman this spring. JOE BIELANSKI, Editorial Intern The Lincoln-Way Central Knights look to use the summer to build off of last year. In 2018-19, the Knights girls’ basketball team went 13-15 overall and 5-7 in conference play while battling injuries most of the season. They lost their playoff opener, a regional semifinal against Homewood-Flossmoor. The summer league is a great way to build team chemistry and iron out any wrinkles going into the season. Central coach Dave Campanile understands the importance of these offseason games to get the team ready to start off on the right foot. “The summer is big for us,” Campanile said. “We always talk about the first day of camp, and the first thing I say is, ‘The 2019- 2020 season starts today. It doesn’t start in October, it doesn’t start on November first, it starts June first.’” Campanile plans to use the summer season to evaluate the team and help determine its strengths and weaknesses. “Summer basketball is very big for us, to be able to get that momentum and give us a better idea of who we can count on,” Campanile said. “We really want to build on our league, when we go away to team camp and figure Lincoln-Way Central’s Regan LoConte hopes to continue to develop as a team leader over the summer. out our identity.” Campanile hopes leadership will continue to develop over the summer. “We had some good senior leaders here,” Campanile said. “Not even just senior leadership, but returning varsity leaders. Haley Stoklosa and Regan LoConte did a really great job.” The Knights will also rely on some newcomers, as well as underclassmen who are moving into a bigger role. “We have had a couple of young players step up,” Campanile said. “It’s good to have that competition during the summer and have players be competing against each other.” Returning senior and leader Regan LoConte looks to have an even bigger impact with the team. LoConte is a sharpshooting, three-point specialist who hit 79 shots from beyond the arc last season. She averaged 12.4 points per game and 1.8 steals. “I would say since I’m a senior, I feel like I have to step up for us as a leader,” LoConte said. “I want to make sure my teammates feel comfortable and I want to get the ball to my teammates when they’re open and be more of a vocal leader.” Also looking to be a leader on the team, returning junior Haley Stoklosa looks forward to the season ahead and the challenges it will bring. One of the Knights’ toughest tasks will be filling the void left by Abi Baumgartner, who was the inside complement to LoConte’s outside game last season. Baumgartner, who’s headed to play basketball at Wisconsin- Whitewater, averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds last season. Stoklosa had a big sophomore season and is a versatile player for the Knights. “Definitely these games allow us to see how our team plays, since a lot of seniors left this year,” Stoklosa said. “Playing against these teams in the future, we can see how we are able to get open to be able to score.” The Knights opened the summer schedule with a win over crosstown rival Providence and look to use that momentum going Rising junior Haley Stoklosa will be counted on heavily by Lincoln-Way Central next season. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTOS into the rest of the summer season. “[These games] also allow us to see how we will play defense on them,” Stoklosa said. “There’s only four seniors on the team this year, it helps us get to know the team and be able to bond like we did last year.” This summer, LoConte hopes that playing together can help create a chemistry that will help the Knights in the regular season. “Last year we were able to know what our teammates were saying without them actually saying anything,” LoConte said. “We became that close, so we just want to be able to get the plays down and work as a team more since there is new players.” LISTEN UP “It feels really good. Going from high school, to the grind through junior college, to here, it’s nice seeing all the hard work pay off. It’s satisfying.” Ryan O’Reilly – Mokena native and LW East graduate, on pitching at UIC this spring Tune In Football, Saturday, June 22 Richards 7-on-7 • Get your first glimpse of the 2019 Lincoln-Way East football team at the annual 7-on-7 competition. Index 36 - Team 22 Girls Soccer 35 - Athlete of the Week FASTBREAK is compiled by Sports Editor Steve Millar, s.millar@22ndcm.com.
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