With only one 20-win season in the four years since it tied a program record for victories with 30 in 2010, Naperville North enters the 2015 season with designs on getting back to that benchmark.
That goal starts with the belief that a customarily strong lineup in recent years will return to form this year than it showed through a 17-16 season last year.
The graduation of Ryan Krainz and Danny Riley, who hit .392 and .359, respectively, creates opportunities for the likes of Mark Khoury, Alex Garon, Steve Dudas, Christian Robert and Sam Siebers to lead the way.
Khoury hit .313 with a team-high 22 RBI and Garon hit .287 in the midst of knocking in 16 runs while scoring 16 times in 2014.
In Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler’s view, the production from the senior duo of Khoury and Garon should be expected to be there consistently for the Huskies this year while getting Siebers’ .301 average and 15 RBI back from last year is a boon, as well.
Getting consistent production from guys like Robert, a middle infielder who hit .242 as a junior last year in limited time behind Krainz, and Dudas, a senior outfielder who hit .281 in 2014, will only help Naperville North towards that end.
“We feel pretty good. We feel pretty good about this (lineup). We think that because of the experience they had last year, we are definitely going to hit much better than we did as a team last year and put up some runs,” Hunckler said. “We got speed coming back. We’re certainly like everybody else in that we need our pitching to have a great year for us. But I think, offensively, we’ll be fine.”
The offense will be asked to help support a pitching staff that brings back two of their top three pitchers from last season, with Kurt Krejci’s team-high seven wins and 2.82 ERA in 62 innings having departed.
The five wins and 2.61 ERA in 59 innings they got from left-hander Rob Leonard are also gone to graduation.
Luke Brennan and Morgan Reid will be the guys Hunckler and pitching coach Mark Lindo will be relying upon to help lead a staff that has multiple other guys to fill in the other spots.
Brennan went 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA in 51 1/3 innings last year as the No. 3 on the staff while Reid went 3-1, compiling a 2.74 ERA in his 15 1/3 innings of work.
“We’re just like we’ve done most recently. We’re going to mix and match different people and with that, we’ll do what we have to do in an effort to be successful,” Hunckler said. “But I think because of his starts last year, we’ll be leaning on Luke Brennan to be our No. 1 and then with the other guys, it’s just going to be a matter of pitching well.”
Naperville North last won a DuPage Valley Conference title in 2008, but the following two years provides a blueprint to where the Huskies want to get back to.
A 25-win season in 2009 and a 30-win season in 2010, which tied the 1997 team for the most wins in program history, highlighted by the program’s first regional title since 2004, shows that Naperville North is capable of playing with the likes of Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley and the other programs in the area.
As the Huskies begin anew to start and get back towards the top of the DVC and work towards getting another regional title, a 20-win campaign would be a good way to start.
“I think our goal is to get back to 20 wins. Anything after that is gravy. But I think that that’s always been like a minimum goal for us is to win 20 games,” Hunckler said. “So that’s where we’re at again. We know it’s going to be an uphill challenge, but I have a great deal of faith in these kids.”
