Hubs baseball team season recap

Rochelle eyes larger goals after earning first conference title since 2006

Russell Hodges
Posted 5/29/18

The Hubs varsity baseball team may have fallen just short of its quest for a regional championship, but after the Rochelle boys earned the school’s first conference title since 2006 while recording nearly twice as many wins as losses, head coach Jarrod Reynolds has plenty of optimism for the program’s future.

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Hubs baseball team season recap

Rochelle eyes larger goals after earning first conference title since 2006

Posted

ROCHELLE — The Hubs varsity baseball team may have fallen just short of its quest for a regional championship, but after the Rochelle boys earned the school’s first conference title since 2006 while recording nearly twice as many wins as losses, head coach Jarrod Reynolds has plenty of optimism for the program’s future.

Behind four All-Conference First Team honorees including Johnny Beck, Zack Bernardin, Brandon Johnson and Johnny Kisner, the Hubs finished 14-8 during the 2018 season with a 9-3 record in the Northern Illinois Big 12 West. Rochelle hit just under .320 on the year with 16 home runs while averaging close to seven runs per game.

“We didn’t have an easy out in our lineup,” Reynolds said. “We didn’t get cheated at the plate and we had a lot of guys who were able to do damage. We want to see our players continue getting stronger in the future to build up their bat speed… I’d love to see us hit 50 home runs in a season.”

Beck headlined the Rochelle pitching staff this season, finishing 7-1 with 100 strikeouts in just 58 innings of work. Johnson spearheaded the Hubs on offense, hitting .487 with a .611 on-base percentage and .937 slugging percentage. Johnson totaled 31 hits including seven homers while leading the Hubs in runs and RBIs.

“Johnny is one of the best high school pitchers I’ve seen,” Reynolds said. “Brandon was amazing offensively… Our program philosophy is to hit the ball and throw the ball harder than everyone else. We need to get to work and make that a reality. We need all of the kids to play long toss and get our arms stronger. Long toss is the most important thing we can do as a baseball community.”

Seniors who will be departing the program include All-Conference Honorable Mention recipients Noah Mershon and Riley Lodico. Lawson Simmons, Blake Albers and Kisner are also leaving the team. Juniors and underclassmen eligible to return next season include Bernardin, Beck, Brandon Johnson, Cody Johnson, Hayden Jones, Gavin Ansteth and Louie Mancinas.

“Cody really helped control our running game behind the plate,” Reynolds said. “Zack has an impressive season at shortstop and Hayden was a big part of the middle of our order. Gavin hit the ball really well for us as well… We had contributions from all of the kids on our roster. We had a really good year.”