The Morton College Panthers have been playing outstanding baseball in April and they have started to earn some recognition.
This week they were ranked No. 24 in the latest PBR Poll (Prep Baseball Report Poll), after receiving votes the previous week. This comes off winning eight of their past 10 games entering the busy week that had eight scheduled matchups, four of which are Skyway competition.
Receiving accolades is something head coach Chris Wido has enjoyed but knows there is plenty of work still ahead.
"Being ranked is nice. The boys earned it. It's great to be recognized for our guy's hard work. But we also understand that with success and accolades come higher expectations. Teams are going to be gunning for us and we need to rise to the challenge. There's still half a season to go and a lot can change if we don't stay hungry,'' said Wido.
One of the reasons for success has been the upside they bring to the dish from an offensive perspective. They were able to win six games in a row and the hitters certainly left their mark.
''Our offense continues to roll. We do such a great job of straining well at-bats together and passing it onto the next guy up. It takes the pressure off everyone to know that they don't have to do "too much" when the guy up next has their back,'' Wido praised.
In areas of improvement and growth, the pitching department has been a pleasant surprise over the latest games and Wido knows that they will need to continue throwing to allow their defense to make key stops late in ball games.
"Pitching-wise we need to get back to pounding the zone and forcing the opposition to put the ball in play. We have arguably the best middle infield defense in Tommy Schroeder and David Burch, our pitchers need to let those two make plays behind them. Looking at the season with 56 games in the season, you need a full pitching staff, not just 2-to 3 guys. It was great to see Ruben Hurtado and Ludovic Messier step up (vs. College of Lake County) and keep us in that ballgame. They both did an outstanding job," Wido said.
There have been a few occasions where the Panthers were trailing early in games and while most teams may start to press at the plate, not Morton College. Their offensive abilities never eliminate their chances of winning whether they have an early lead or are chasing an unforeseen deficit.
"Where we were offensively right now, falling behind 2-0 in any game out of the gates, our demeanor never changes. We don't panic, we don't start to press, because we know our offense is capable of putting up a big number at any time. Our approach is "one good at-bat at a time, you don't have to be the guy, just be a guy,'' Wido said.
They have been heating up, with several extra-base hits shown against Elgin Community College. It isn't always about the home run ball, but being able to provide production during situational hitting. After splitting a pair against College of Lake County, the Panther head ball coach still had plenty of positivity to share after coming up just short of sweeping their doubleheader.
''Even though we didn't get as many hits as we've become used to, it's great to see guys battling, working counts, and being able to put the ball in play. Good things happen when you put the ball in play and make the defense work,'' said Wido.
A baseball season is such a marathon where there are plenty of ups and downs that there will be times of adversity. The starters may not be superstars in every outing, but baseball is a failed sport after all.
They bounced back after suffering a heartbreaker to College of Lake County in extra innings (eight), 6-5. They quickly turned it around minutes later and ended up winning game two, 6-4.
''Game one was a punch in the gut to lose in extras. Our talk prior to game two was that we had two choices. We could sit there and dwell on the first game and take our frustrations into game two, or we could regroup and get back to playing our brand of baseball. The guys responded well and got the job done in game two,'' Wido said.
The Panthers then swept Moraine Valley in their doubleheader, which was instrumental in putting together an impressive conference record. They couldn't have done it without their pitching.
"Sunny Patel did exactly what we asked all of our pitchers to do. Compete in the zone and give us a chance to win the ballgame. And Luke Ostien, who has been one of our best relievers, made his first start today and did an outstanding job of getting ahead in the count and throwing strikes," says Wido.
They were trailing by three runs going into the bottom of the seventh inning and found a way to get three runners on base. Tommy Schroeder drew a walk and Alex Brodie reached on a sharp hit ball that was ruled an error. Logan Romasanta then drew a walk to load the bases for Julio Trevino.
The on-base machine performed like a king, getting on base for a fourth consecutive time when it mattered most. Trevino cleared the bases with the game-tying runs on his three-run double.
There was no time to celebrate yet, as the Panthers were the home team. Diego Da Rin then knocked in Darrius Little, who pinch ran for Trevino, and the walk-off celebration was officially complete. Morton won 7-6 and would go on and win the following game, 8-6.
Sweeping doubleheaders are huge for a confidence boost after losing a few close ones in the previous days, but the skills continued to flourish. The comeback was impressive and Wido was thrilled for his squad.
"We say it all the time but you truly can never count this team out. We always find a way to rally in the last inning. Even when we're not getting hits we're always putting together quality at-bats and making pitchers work. When you can do that, good things will happen," Wido stated.
The victory moved the Panthers to 6-2 in the Skyway Conference, which is currently second behind only undefeated McHenry (8-0).
Next up for the Panthers is a well-deserved day of rest on Wednesday which is followed by a Thursday (South Suburban College) and Friday (Kankakee) nine-inning, single-game matchup.
