Recently, the National Federation of State High School Associations (the governing body of most high school sports throughout the country) changed their baseball bat rules to match that of the NCAA, meaning bats made of “composite materials” will no longer be allowed and BBCOR’s (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) will be used in every high school baseball program under NFHS jurisdiction (which the vast majority of high schools are).

Basically, the new bats behave much more like the wooden bats, meaning it’s much harder to hit the ball.

Head baseball coach Gary Gustafson said power numbers throughout high school baseball are expected to undergo a sharp decline, such as the one seen in the collegiate ranks.

“The BBCOR will definitely affect how the game is played both offensively and defensively,” he said. ”We’ll definitely see more bunting and small ball.  Teams will play more of a ‘hit and run’ game.  There’ll be less home runs, and our power numbers will go down significantly.”

Back in 2011, in anticipation of the upcoming college baseball season, the NCAA (National Collegiate Association of Athletics), made the same change that the NFSA having already done away with “composite” bats in 2009, standardized the BBCOR, which stands for batted ball coefficient of Restitution, bats throughout the conferences.  As a result, “power numbers” as they are called, stooped to lows that they hadn’t been at since the mid-seventies.
In 2010, before the use the BBCOR in collegiate baseball, the average batting average was a whopping .305, but in 2012, with the use of the new bats mandated by the NCAA, the average dropped to .282.  This drop was seen across any and all batting stats, including home runs per game (which were as low as they had been since 1974), On-Base percentage, and the number of singles, doubles, and triples.

Consequently, ERA (Earned Run Average), a pitching statistic, drastically improved upon the switch.  In 2010, the average ERA among pitchers was nearly 6.0, but after the introduction of the BBCOR, average ERA dropped to almost 4.6.

What made power numbers during the pre-BBCOR era so inflated, yet ERA so lackluster?  Like the traditional wooden bats used in today’s major leagues, the BBCOR’s “sweet spot” is vastly reduced when compared to the previously used composite bats, where the sweet spot could take up most of the bat.  Furthermore, the “trampoline effect” on a BBCOR is much less than that of a composite bat, meaning the velocity of the ball increases less upon being hit with a BBCOR than it would if it were hit with another bat.

So far, Niles West baseball players have been vocal about the bat change for this season.  Even though most of the hitters miss their old power numbers, they all agree that the change was for the good of the game.  Junior baseball player Mario Sivric prefers the BBCOR over the old bats due to the element of realism they add to the game.

“[The new bats] make the games more interesting and realistic.  You can’t go up to the plate and expect to hit a bomb.  Since the sweet spot is so much smaller, it forces you to practice your hitting more,” he said.

Junior baseball player Nick Clark agrees that the new bats have drastically improved the game, but for different reasons.

“The new bats definitely speed up the game, since there are less home runs and more ground-outs.  Pitchers have benefited a lot from the change,” he said.

Still, in addition to their obvious improvement on gameplay,  there are unforeseen monetary advantages because of the switch to the BBCOR.  Although the BBCOR appears more expensive than the previous bats on the outside, according to athletic director David Rosengard, long-term, the BBCOR is a better option.

“Each bat (BBCOR) is around $250, which is more money as compared to the old composite bats, which cost around $120 to $170 .  Currently, we’re in the process of buying four to six of them for the baseball team,” Rosengard said.

According to Rosengard, the bats end up paying for themselves.

“Still, in the end, a lot of money is saved, since they’re more durable,” he said.  ”Before, the school could break a number of bats in a single season, but we don’t expect that this year, seeing as they’re more durable than the old ones.  Also, many of the kids have their own bats, so that has saved us a ton of money.”

The Varsity baseball team takes on New Trier Thursday, April 26 at 4:45 p.m. at home.

When Niles West faced up against conference rival New Trier last night at Jim Phipps Field, the temperature was just a hair over 40 degrees; the Wolves bats were almost as cold as the frigid spring air, which eventually led to a 1-0 loss to the Trevians.

Both teams pitched well and stranded most of the runners that got on base, but the Wolves sloppy play (four errors in the game), and more than a few questionable strike calls cost them the game.  With all things considered, head coach Gary Gustafson said he was happy with the team’s performance.

“We battled through all seven innings and competed well against a quality team,” he said.  ”We played well defensively and our pitching was good, but in the end, we came up a bit short.”

The only run of the contest was scored in the top of the first inning as New Trier struck first. For the next four innings, the teams traded strike out for strike out, and only racked up two more hits each.

The Wolves and Trevians both stranded runners in the top of the fifth, and New Trier stranded another in the sixth, but West went 1,2,3 in that same inning, so it was on to the seventh with any hope for victory.

In the top of the seventh, the trend continued as the Trevians stranded another runner. The Wolves half of the final inning was a bit more interesting.

After getting a strikeout to start the inning, West got a man into scoring position on a bad throw to first base. From there though, the Wolves hopes of a comeback win were killed by some questionable strike calls.

The Wolves’ second out came on a called third strike that didn’t sit to well with West’s bench, or the third base coach, and the game ended when senior Quinn Winkler struck out looking on a horrible pitch to end the game.  Still, Gustafson wasn’t too concerned with the Umpire’s calls.

“You can’t let strike and ball calls effect the outcome.  In situations like these, we just try and focus on what we can control on the field,” he said.

Each and every divisional series stretching to the maximum five games, the addition of the one-game-playoff, a controversial infield fly call, a total of eleven extra innings played, and a stunning come-from-behind series win.  While baseball has since been uprooted as the national pastime, this MLB postseason has been just what the sport has needed.  Excitement, controversy, headlines, and a plethora of stories.

Never before have teams been this evenly matched heading into the postseason.  Teams like the Washington Nationals, the Baltimore Orioles, or the Oakland A’s- teams who were seeing little to no coverage (and rightfully so) prior to this season, were catapulted into the spotlight.  To begin, the officiating crew of the Cardinals and Braves game put the “Wild” in wild card when a special infield fly rule was called, much to the Atlanta crowd’s dismay, as they quickly transformed Turner Field into a city dump.  It wasn’t exactly the way baseball legend Chipper Jones wanted to leave his career, and his quotes condemning the use of the one-game-playoff were brought to the forefront.

It definitely wasn’t the way the MLB wanted to start off the playoffs, but soon thereafter, the remaining teams put on quite the show.

The San Francisco Giants, featuring Niles West graduate George Kontos, stunned the winningest team of the season, the Nationals, in their five game series, yet the Giant’s heroics took a seat to the story of Stephen Strasburg, the National’s ace who was sidelined earlier this season due to concerns over an injury.  National’s management says they have “no regrets,” but they’d be foolish to say that Strasburg wouldn’t have given them a better chance to win the series in the long run.

In the American League side of the postseason, the Oakland A’s (who, mind you, are ranked last in payroll) nearly eliminated the Miguel Cabrera led Detroit Tigers.  Cabrera, who will undoubtedly be named AL MVP this year, as he was the first Triple Crown winner (leader in home runs, batting average, and runs batted in) since 1967, Prince Field, and Justin Verlander were able to will the Tigers to a series win after a scare from the hot A’s.

The evil empire of baseball, the New York Yankees, barely escaped the Orioles on the back of Derek Jeter, Raúl Ibañez, and CC Sabathia, and moved on to face the Tigers in the ALCS, only to lose their captain, Jeter, to a broken ankle.  While hating the Yankees is as American as eating at McDonalds, Jeter’s pain on the diamond was hard to watch.

With that, I’m locking in my 2012 World Series pick.  The Tigers will win it all for the first time since 1984, a desperate win for a desperate city.

Yes, baseball has been on this country’s backburner for the last few years, as football has stolen the show.  Long gone are the days when baseball was avidly watched by the younger generation.  For me, excitement was particularly lacking this season due to the Cub’s futility.  Still, baseball has definitely tugged on my heart once again this October, and with the Bear’s having a bye this week, well, I bet you can guess what I’ll be watching.

You know it’s spring time when baseball season approaches. The NWN had the chance to sit down with head coach Garry Gustafson and assistant coach Mitch Stern to chat about the upcoming boys’ varsity baseball season.

NWN: Tell us a little about  your team.

Stern: “We have a lot of good, returning, solid returning players and a mixture of some up-and-coming players so I think overall the mix is going to be a good one for us.”

Gustafson: “We’re going into the season with a very good work ethic and kids are working every day in practice. They’re itching to get outside with the weather being so poor, but the kids come into practice every day and they’re focused. I think they’re getting prepared for the season, and we have a good mix of kids. The chemistry should be there to put together a good season for us.”

NWN: What would you consider as a strong point for your team going into the season?

Gustafson: “We have some leadership in Kyle Colletta, a four year varsity starter. The kids are going to be pushing one another so I think we’ll get good pitching and play good defense and hopefully we’ll be able to swing the bats and score some runs for our pitching staff.”

Stern: “We’ve got solid pitching, pretty good defense behind our pitchers, and if we can hit I think we can go pretty far. Baseball is one of those sports where on any given day anybody can beat anybody, but we’ve got a pretty solid team.”

NWN: Who are some vital players this year?

Stern: “We’ve got a kid who’s been on varsity for four years (senior Kyle Colletta) since he was a freshman, and a kid who transferred in last year from New Trier (senior Seth Rosenberg) who’s a very good player. We also have some other seniors who have been waiting in the wing to get their shot, and now’s their time. A team is only as good as their seniors and their leaders, and I think we’ve got the guys to do it.”

Gustafson: “Colletta’s a kid that will go down as one of the greats to come through Niles West. He’s a leader by example and a kid that will lead for us as one of our captains.”

NWN: How do you think you stack up against other conference opponents?

Stern: “Our conference is always very difficult. We usually have several Division 1 baseball players. Pitching is always very good– every game you play you run into a good pitcher. This past summer, Maine South has been the team that made it the farthest so they’ll probably be the favorites going in, but the rest of us will be fighting to knock them off.”

Gustafson: “I think time will tell, but we’re gonna outwork and outplay most of these teams. We’ve got a fairly young team, but that doesn’t mean we’re gonna take a back-seat to anybody. I think we’ll compete with every team we play, provided we go in and outwork people and get better every day. If we do that we can compete with anybody in the conference.”

NWN: Is there a goal, record-wise, that you guys have for the end of the season?

Gustafson: “We really don’t set goals for wins and losses. You don’t know how the season is going to go injury-wise so what we’re hoping to do is just go out and play hard and compete every game. We go into every game thinking we’re going to win, and if we have that attitude we don’t need to set many lofty goals.”

Stern: “You’d be lying if in the back of your mind you didn’t want to be the State Champions. But you always work towards playing your best and then whatever happens on the field happens on the field.”

NWN: What are some marquee match-ups your team is looking forward to this year?

Stern: “I would say for sure come out in May when the weather gets nice. We’re an exciting team to watch regardless of our opponent. And certainly come out in the end of May once regionals start and the state playoffs start. That’s where it gets the most exciting- it’s win or go home!”

Gustafson: “The whole central suburban league is full of great ball games. With New Trier, and Maine South and Glenbrook South being as loaded (with talent) as they are, the 16 game conference schedule we play will be a dog fight. Every conference game will be a dog fight.”

On Wednesday evening the Wolves took to the diamond to face off against the Maine South Hawks.  Before the game, both teams’ seniors were recognized, with special attention paid to the fact that senior and starting pitcher Kyle Colletta would be the last person to wear the number two jersey for Niles West.  West alum and World Series champion George Kontos had worn this number, and it is to be retired at the end of the season.

Maine South wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.  With a man on third and two outs, the Hawks were able to steal home on a wild third strike that rolled all the way to the on deck circle.  In the bottom half of the inning West was unable to return the favor.  The second inning went much better for the Wolves defense as they retired all three batters they faced.  Unfortunately, Maine South did the same and the score still stood 1-0 Hawks through two.

After a scoreless third and a three up, three down top of the fourth, the Wolves’ bats began to heat up.  Junior Matt De La Vega hit a leadoff single before reaching second on a sacrifice bunt by Colletta, and junior Cody Pazik followed that up with a double.  De La Vega attempted to score on Pazik’s double, but collided with Maine South’s catcher at the plate, causing South’s catcher to lose his mitt.  De La Vega was called out, sparking a short protest from Wolves head coach Gary Gustafson.  The call stood, and the score remained 1-0 in favor of the team from Park Ridge.  Next up to bat was senior Seth Rosenberg, who fired a shot through the infield gap in right.  Pazik scored from second, tying the contest at one.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, the bottom half of the fourth proved to be their best inning of the day, as Maine South added two more runs in the top of the fifth.  An error on what would have been a single allowed the Hawks’ leadoff man to advance to second.  A single off the next at bat moved the man to third, and a subsequent double scored him.  South’s next batter laid down a solid bunt, allowing a man on third to get home.  The inning ended on a pop fly and a runner called out for tagging up too soon.

The Wolves again went 1-2-3 up and down, and the Hawks added another run in the top of the sixth.

The rest of the game went scoreless, securing a 4-1 victory for the Hawks.

Throughout the game, it was evident that the Wolves were outmatched, specifically on offense.

“It’s tough to win when you only put up one run.  We tried our best but they out played us, out ran us, and out hit us, so there wasn’t much more we could do,” Colletta said.

On having his number retired at the end of the year, Colletta said it was an honor to wear Kontos’ number.

“It’s really cool.  George Kontos is my neighbor and I think it’s a real honor to be the last person to wear that jersey after all the people who have worn it before me,” he said.

Gustafson, a physical education teacher, will begin his 23rd season as head baseball coach this spring. He has coached baseball 27 years at Niles West. He has put together a 402-296 record while in the driver’s seat at West.

Gustafson was the IHSBCA Coach of the Year in 1990 after leading Niles West to the summer state championship. He has also produced three regional titles and two summer regional championships along with two summer sectional championships. Gustafson has generated 21 Division 1 players and six players have signed professional contracts in his 22 years as head coach.

The Niles West News sat down with Coach Gus to discuss his reaction to his induction. Click above to hear the audio interview with the Coach.

The Girls Varsity basketball team beat Schaumburg 42-28 on Saturday, in what was a celebratory night for Niles West basketball.

Trailing 13-7 at the end of the first, with many of their shots coming from contested outside shots. Junior Julia Easter scored 6 of the Wolves opening points and had 8 on the on the night.

Heading into halftime, the Girls tied up the score at 19, with more of their shot attempts in the paint. Senior Alex Galanopoulos was scoring with ease, as she had 8 of her 16 total points in the second period alone.

Junior Katherine DeLara started the third quarter with buckets that would prove to be key. DeLara dropped in 5 straight points to give the Wolves a two point, 24-22 edge.

After this scoring surge, the Girls did not look back as they finished the third period leading 29-22, with lockdown defense and efficient offense.

In the 4th quarter, it was more of the same; the Wolves allowed only 6 points to the Saxons and they themselves scored 13 points to cap off what was a persistent performance in front of the former players at West.

Head Coach Tony Konsewicz said the honoring of former players was even greater because they were able to grab win.

“It just makes a really great event much more special being able to get our seventh victory on the season,” he said.

Konsewicz was impressed on how the Girls rebounded from a tough loss, just a day earlier.

“We had a tough game last night and to be able to bounce back and get a victory tonight says a lot about the Girls. We played two games in less than 24 hours and they really competed on a high level today.” he said.

The Wolves will tip-off next at 7:00pm on Thursday, Jan. 30 instead of Tuesday, Jan. 28 due to the weather.

The Niles West News got a chance to sit down with head varsity baseball coach Garry Gustafson and discuss the upcoming season.

NWN: How is the team looking to be this year?

Gustafson: We are working hard, but have a lot of holes to fill from last year. We have a great work ethic going into practice and I think our preseason workouts will prepare us for the season.

NWN: What are you doing to prepare for the season?

Gustafson: We have been working a lot with pitchers and we swing the bats everyday, and are doing tons of drill work to prepare our defensive players and our infield has some new faces and are looking to do very well.

NWN: Who are some key players who will contribute greatly to the team’s success?

Gustafson: We are going to look to our three captains Matt DeLaVega, Tommy Toledo, and Cody Pazik. We are expecting big things out of these three guys. In addition to the team, only the third time in school history, the varsity has brought up 1st baseman and freshman Michael Gunnart. Also, sophomore Christos Tountas has been brought up to help out our varsity squad. We have a number of guys who should be able to step up and play good baseball for us.

The Varsity Wolves team is off to a great start and is hoping to keep up the success headed into Conference play.

Video by Michelle Sproat

Last Thursday evening, the wolves hit the diamond against arch rival Niles North in what ended up being an incredibly close and low scoring game with the Vikings winning 2-1.

The game began with senior pitcher Cody Pazik striking out the side on very few pitches, but the Wolves were unable to get anything done in the bottom half of the inning. The top of the second again began with a strikeout from Pazik, but the Wolves defense allowed the first base of the game after a batter reached on an error. The Vikings stole second and reached first on a walk before a deep shot to right scored the man from second and gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead. The Wolves went quietly in the bottom half of the inning: three up, three down.

Aside from a pair of singles in the top of the third, not much offense was seen from either side until the fifth. West started off the inning strong with a pair of strikeouts by Pazik, but after yet another error and steal of second, the Wolves were in danger of allowing the game to get away from them. Fortunately West’s defense tightened up and got the last out of the inning at first to go into the sixth with the score still 1-0.

The Vikings got their leadoff man aboard on a short pop that dropped in between second and short stop, and scored him from first on an RBI double later in the inning, making the score 2-0 North. The bottom of the inning saw the Wolves only offense on the day with senior catcher Matt DeLaVega hitting a home run past the center field fence. Unfortunately, it was a solo shot and only closed the gap by one. The Wolves built off of DeLaVega’s bomb and managed to get two more men on base, but stranded them both. The Vikings went down in quick order to start off the seventh and the Wolves managed to load the bases in the bottom of the inning, but for the second inning straight stranded all of their men. It was a close game decided by the slimmest margin with the Vikings taking it 2-1.

DeLaVega was disappointed with the team’s defense and believes that cutting down on errors will go a long way to improve the team, but he is also optimistic about the rest of the season.

“I feel like since conference is coming up we are going to be seeing a lot better talent, and we will be stepping up our game a whole lot. I’m excited,” said DeLaVega.

The wind is blowing and the grass has begun to cover the torn-up ground underneath Michael Gunartt’s feet. It’s spring, more specifically baseball season, and it’s the freshman varsity baseball player’s favorite time of the year.

He looks up at the sky and sheds a tear, then looks back down at his father’s headstone. It reads across the granite, “August 15th, 1976 –  November 14th, 2012. In loving memory of a Father, Son and Friend.” It’s been two years since the unexpected loss of his father, who died of a sudden heart attack.

When Gunartt was three years old and played catch with his father for the first time, he fell in love with the game of baseball.

“I wish I could go back to 13U baseball when my dad would come to my games and support me,” he said. “My dad would give me tips on certain things and at that time I didn’t want to take his advice, but now all I need is his advice. He was right.”

His father’s death could have broken him, but instead Gunartt refuses to give up.

“I just want to be successful, and knowing that there is someone looking over me just makes me want to push myself even more,” he said.

Michael Gunartt is only the fourth freshman to play baseball at the varsity level. Photo by Emily Butera

Gunartt — who idolizes Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman – has been training for this moment since he was a young boy. He knew it would be a tough tryout, so he prepared himself for the worst. Not knowing he would have a spot on varsity in just a couple of weeks.

“I was extremely nervous for tryouts,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, which sounds crazy because I always have a bat in hand. The nerves really kicked in right before the actual tryouts started.”

During his 28-year tenure as a baseball coach, Garry Gustafson said Gunartt, who plays first base and right field, is only the fourth freshman to make the varsity team.

“He is a kid that came in baseball ready,” he said. “He just needs to get his feet wet a little. He is a strong talented kid, ever since he moved up to varsity he hasn’t looked back since. He has a great personality. He is a kid that can swing the bat, can handle the pressure when needed, the sky’s the limit for Michael.”

Senior captain Matt De La Vega said Gunartt’s place on varsity was welcomed by his teammates.

“He is a very athletic kid who has a ton of potential,” he said. “He is still is learning a bunch about the game, but I’m excited to see where he goes because I believe he will make Niles West and myself proud to see what he will accomplish as a ball player.”

Gunartt said he was thrilled to make the varsity team as a freshman.

“It’s an accomplished feeling, but it’s always been an expectation that I had to play at a high level of baseball,” Gunartt said.

Gunartt plans on focusing on school and baseball throughout high school. Distractions and setbacks aren’t even an option for him.

“I have no love life, all my love really just goes into baseball that’s my main focus,” he said. “It’s all a kid my age needs to worry about.”

Gunartt said he is disappointed that the season came slow and ended soon (the Wolves finished with a 19-13 season), but he has big plans for the next upcoming season and plans to work hard over the summer.

“It’s all I’ve even worked for,” he said. “But now it’s my turn to really step up and train myself to be the best, that’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do, make my father proud.”

Video by Katrina Nickell

Derek Jeter retired on the same field that Babe Ruth played his rookie season in 1914. It’s the same hardball theater where Ted Williams homered on his final big league swing, Sept. 28, 1960. It’s where Mickey Mantle made his last out on the same date in 1968. “The Captain” has left a huge footprint on the game of baseball we know today.

Jeter has been a faithful New York Yankee his entire career. The man is a living legend. Jeter is the only player that you would see daily on highlight reels and at charity events. The guy is the classiest baseball player to play the game. He has been in the MLB for almost two decades and there has not been a single interview with Jeter where he is talking negatively about someone, using profanity or throwing a tantrum. The guy always kept his cool and was an ideal role model. Jeter finished his career with 3,465 hits in Major League Baseball, tying Honus wagner for sixth most hits of all time. He finished his career at Fenway Park with a base-hit and an RBI. He was given a standing ovation from the fans, the Yankees dugout and even the Red Sox dugout as he trotted off the field.

Jeter was also given a retirement ceremony  on Thursday night. The scene at Yankee stadium was quite terrific with the chant of “Derek Jeter,” echoing the stadium. Derek Jeter maybe the greatest all-around baseball player in the modern era, and there is no one like him in baseball with his spectacular double plays, game clinching hits, and his “Mr.November” nickname.

It has been quite the ride. Derek Jeter couldn’t have had a better finish to a career, ending on such a high-note with not a single bad connotation with the name Jeter.

Everybody looked up to Derek Jeter no matter which team you were rooting for, there is no helping but to root for “the captain.” Thanks for the memories, Jeter.