The more things change, the more they stay the same, a perfect description for this year’s Elmhurst/River Forest 14U baseball team. The coaching staff may be new, but the results are not when it comes to the Illini Junior League state tournament. For the fourth consecutive year – and fifth time in six years, Elmhurst/River Forest took home the championship, defeating Burbank 10-1 in the finals, July 23. Roshan Vitha had three hits, with Mario Iveljic, Tiago Rangel (three RBI), Ayden San Roman, and Tyler Welch each adding two. On the mound, Iveljic went the distance, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
“The boys played so well. It made it really fun,” said Elmhurst/River Forest coach Rob Fleming.
While the majority of the team is from Elmhurst, River Forest has four players: Will Bartolucci, Jon Ellis, Daniel Goggin, and Jimmy Madden. Both Bartolucci and Ellis missed last week’s game with injuries, and it’s unclear whether they’ll be able to return later this postseason.
“Jon is a great pitcher, but he’s been out with a hamstring pull and been in the dugout with us. Will played in the district series, but then started football at Fenwick and in the first day or two, he broke his thumb. He’s a strong hitter,” Fleming said.
“Jimmy and Daniel are great. Jimmy pitched in two state games and got a big three-run double (against Burbank), which really helped us win. We’ve been lucky to have these guys.”
Fleming added that there were no issues adding the River Forest players to the team. In fact, he thought the chemistry developed quickly.
“We had to go through the process of qualifying. The kids from Elmhurst already knew each other. We got the River Forest players, and the boys got to know and get comfortable playing with each other,” Fleming said. “They’re just having fun.”
Elmhurst/River Forest 14U’s recent success has created high expectations for the program. But Fleming says the players and coaches welcome them.
“These kids know previous teams have won regionals and went to the World Series. They’re really hungry to get there themselves,” he said. “It looks like it’s an easy thing to do, but it’s not. They know there’s going to be some tough competition at the (Junior League Central) regional.”
Elmhurst/River Forest has a bye in the double-elimination Central Regional, July 29-August 2. The club opens play on July 30 against the winner of the tournament’s first game, Missouri or Wisconsin.
Fleming knows his team needs to be ready for the first game, particularly if Wisconsin is the opponent.
“Wisconsin’s really good, and they know that. They know them from travel ball,” Fleming said. “It’s going to be tough.”
In order for Elmhurst/River Forest to punch a ticket to the World Series this week, Fleming says getting effective pitching will be important.
“The one thing we’ve been slightly worried about is pitching. We don’t have a lights-out pitcher, we’re just relying on our guys having good performances and they have been so far,” he said. “And we’ve got to keep hitting; if our pitching isn’t going to be lights-out, we’ve gotta score runs. We turned on the run production at state; if we continue to do that, we’ll be OK.”