High hopes

First regional title the goal for Little 10 champion Somonauk

Prior to the start of this season, Somonauk baseball coach Bob Honkala knew something special could happen with his Timberwolves.

First, many of the players on his team came into the spring with a sour taste in their mouths from an early exit from the basketball postseason and they were itching for success.

Second, and most importantly, Honkala knew he had pitching.

Then, as with most successful baseball seasons, a player from whom no one was quite sure what to expect came through with a fantastic year that not only added depth to the pitching staff but solidified a line up that hit over .320 as a team.

"This is a team that has their eyes set on big things and I really think it's a team that believes we haven't played our best baseball yet," Honkala said. "They see the big picture."

That picture was framed by a Little Ten championship highlighted by a 15-game winning streak. And it's been colored by a starting rotation led by senior lefty Scott Powers, who was 7-1 with a 0.94 earned run average (through Friday) with 74 strikeouts in 47.2 innings. Senior right hander Josh Rivera went 5-1 with an ERA under 2.00 and senior reliever Josh Shaw went 2-0 with four saves and an ERA under 1.60.

The surprise came in the form of sophomore Brock Kartheiser, who went 6-0 with an ERA under 1.80. Kartheiser also became the team's No. 2 hitter, hitting over .420 with 22 runs batted in.

"Brock's a guy I've brought up and he's been the complete package," Honkala said.

The Timberwolves are built on speed more than power, beginning with leadoff hitter Shayne Peterson, who entered the last week of the season with 26 stolen bases. That paled in comparison to Rivera, who swiped 48 bases. Kartheiser added 18 and Powers 10 while Steve Weismiller had 17. As a team, the Timberwolves stole 160 bases through 24 games.

"Josh and Shayne have great speed and Brock has speed that's certainly above average and let those guys run freely on the base paths and get real aggressive," Honkala said.

Because of the regular season success, the Timberwolves goals have changed. First, they wanted to win the Little Ten. But as the year wore on, the team began looking forward to its own regional within the Westminster Christian Sectional.

"They see what's coming and Somonauk hasn't won a regional ever," Honkala said. "It's a goal that we set and with that kind of in the back our minds we knew it was a goal that was achievable but a goal that was set high."

The Timberwolves will have to get past Little Ten rival Indian Creek, which finished second in the conference, to advance to the sectional where they would face the winner of the East Dubuque Regional.

"We knew pretty much all year long that what we wanted to do in baseball was we wanted to win a regional and then set that as our goal, but not be satisfied when we achieve that goal, to keep trying to move on," Honkala said. "And after that just get to the postseason and take it a game at a time."

Class 1A and 2A Baseball Postseason Preview