Wheaton High School Players Showcase Their Skills

LINCOLNSHIRE—Wheaton North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South. It’s one of the fiercest rivalries in suburban high school athletics.

Last Friday and Saturday, however, a handful of baseball players from Wheaton North and WWS put their rivalry on the shelf and actually were teammates.

Catcher Ryan Jordan, pitcher-infielder Ed Norris, infielder Kevin Fahy and outfielder Jake Schieber—all part of this spring’s DuPage Valley Conference champion Falcons—teamed up with Tigers players Andrew Hjellming (pitcher), Matt Sturgeon (outfield), Ryan Kelly (first base) and Torey Willsey (third base) at the annual Northwest Suburban Baseball Tournament held at Stevenson High School.

They were all part of the DuPage Valley team, one of eight all-star teams from different suburban conferences that showcased next year’s senior class. Other participating conferences included the West Suburban, East Suburban Catholic, Central Suburban, Fox Valley, North Suburban, Upstate Eight and Mid Suburban.

The schools’ two baseball coaches, Dan Schoessling of Wheaton North and Tim Brylka of WWS, helped coach the DuPage squad.

Players on each squad saw action in two games—one game on Friday; the other on Saturday—and each player was timed in the 60-yard dash prior to Friday’s games. Dozens of baseball coaches and scouts from various colleges and universities throughout the Midwest could be seen behind the backstops at both Stevenson baseball fields taking notes and aiming their JUGS radar guns to determine a pitcher’s velocity.

Even though the DuPage Valley fell to the West Suburban team on Friday, 4-3, Falcon and Tiger players made an impact.

Hjellming, a starting pitcher for a Tigers team that defeated the Falcons in and won 20 games during 2011, pitched two innings for the DuPage Valley—and got some help from two Falcons along the way.

In the seventh inning, Jordan threw out a West Suburban baserunner who attempted to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt. Schieber also made a nice running catch of a foul fly ball down the right field line.

Both plays helped Hjellming keep the West Suburban team off the scoreboard that inning.

Hjellming smiled when reminded afterward that two players on the cross-town rival team helped bail him out.

“Down in the heart, I don’t know if I like it,” he laughed, “but they’re good people.”

Hjellming likely will become the Tigers’ No. 1 starter next spring as three of WWS’ top pitchers—Jeremy Rhoades, Jason Schuman and Steve Lemm—have graduated. And he’s hoping that will be the case.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I would love to be the anchor for the pitching staff, do good things for them and kind of be a leader.”

Like many high school ballplayers, Hjellming is doing double duty this summer. He’s pitching for the Tigers’ summer league team and playing travel ball on the weekends. Hjellming is part of Team Fastball USA in Schaumburg.

Schieber also plays summer ball for Wheaton North and competes with the Lockport-based Illinois Sparks. He’s coming off a productive spring campaign in which he led the Falcons in home runs and RBIs—a noteworthy accomplishment considering that recently graduated senior Jeff Schalk is the school’s all-time home run and RBI leader.

“I had a great year last year and I’m really happy with it,” said Wheaton North’s 2011 MVP who hit eight homers and had 30 RBIs. “We had a young lineup this year and we’ve got a lot of guys coming back next year.”

Schieber leads a batting order that returns Jordan, Norris, leadoff hitter Ryan Kent, third baseman John Peltz (both Peltz and Kent are sophomores), first baseman Micah Penn and Fahy, who singled in the fourth inning of Friday’s game.

Pitching-wise, the Falcons find themselves in a similar situation as the Tigers. Graduation took Wheaton North’s two top starters, Eric Scandora and Craig Berberich, along with Schalk and Andrew Mamlic.

Norris did see some innings during the spring and could become the Falcons’ go-to pitcher in 2012. He pitched for DuPage Valley late in the game Friday.

“Pitching is going to be the only priority we’re going to have to really be worried about right now,” Schieber said.

Schieber said he enjoyed playing in the Northwest tourney and was grateful for the opportunity.

“This is great,” he said. “You’re going up against the best of the best. All the conferences are here and it’s just a good way to look and see all the competition that you’re going to play in the future and who you’re going to play next year.”