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Sports

After Season of Success, Tigers Baseball Loses Starting Staff

Wheaton Warrenville South advanced to a regional title game this season. Now coach Tim Brylka starts summer league play looking to shore up a rotation whose top starters have graduated.

Fresh off a 20-victory season in which it advanced to a regional championship game, Wheaton Warrenville South’s baseball team started its summer season this week with an eye towards the future.

Like every prep baseball coach whose team plays summer ball, Tigers coach Tim Brylka will evaluate returning performers and look for up-and-comers whom he believes can help the varsity squad.

There’s one area of the team, however, that will likely command most of Brylka’s attention this summer. Brylka will be looking for new pitchers to replace the majority of his staff which has since graduated.

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Right-handers Jason Schuman, Jeremy Rhoades and Steve Lemm put a bulk of the 2011 pitching load on their shoulders. Schuman pitched the Tigers to the regional championship game with a one-hitter against their cross-town rivals, . He and Rhoades combined for 12 victories.

“Pitching is probably the biggest need,” Brylka said. “We’ve got some big question marks from a starting rotation standpoint. In the summer, this is a chance for pitchers to prove themselves and see if they’re deserving of a chance to get into the starting rotation.”

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Andrew Hjellming, a junior, is the Tigers’ only returning pitcher with solid starting experience.

“He’s coming back, so that’ll be nice,” Brylka said.

The Tigers also will take a hit offensively due to graduation. When Rhoades and Lemm weren’t scheduled to pitch, they usually hit third and fifth in the lineup, respectively. First baseman RJ Hoshell was a steady bat in the middle of the lineup, and Kevin Bridges hit well at the bottom of the order. Zach Jarosz also played a solid second base.

“They were great,” Brylka said. “Obviously from a production standpoint we got a lot out of those guys. RJ, his leadership has been great for our guys. Kevin had a slow start, but turned it on and got all-conference. What he brought to the plate was a nice little bonus.”

The Tigers also say goodbye to third baseman Nate Fillers, who missed most of the season with a broken finger but returned to the lineup in time to help WWS make its late-season run.

WWS won seven straight games prior to its 4-3 loss to in the regional final.

“Nate is a great leader who was hurt a lot of the year, but ended up finishing strong in the postseason,” Brylka said. “We wish the season had another month to it because we hit our stride. We didn’t play quite well early, but it was gratifying to finish the way we did.”

But the Tigers’ cubert isn’t completely bare. Junior Matt Sturgeon returns as the team’s leadoff hitter, while sophomore catcher Rich O’Neil played with the poise of a senior and came through with clutch hits. Dan Roadman, a junior, also started at short. Another junior, Mike Shelton, gave the Tigers an offensive lift during the playoffs.

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