Polito's role expands for Seminoles

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Jordan Polito has been the new kid before, and the experience served him well the second time around.

The Dyer resident might have wished his new teammates were wearing name tags when he joined the Hammond Seminoles this summer.

"When I came onto the team, I didn't know one person," said Polito, who encountered a similar situation during his freshman season at Chicago's Mount Carmel High School this spring. "During the season for Carmel, there's a lot of people you don't know at all."

But Polito's name is out there now. He was promoted to Mount Carmel's varsity at the end of the season, a rarity for the tradition-rich program.

And now he's a 15-year-old making a big impact for the Seminoles, whose roster is almost always made up of just 16-year-olds.

At last check, he was 4-1 as a pitcher and hitting around .420 for the Seminoles (26-14), who open play today in the Mickey Mantle (15-16) North Central Regional in Coldewater, Mich.

"Jordan has been an all-around athlete for us," Seminoles manager Jim Nohos said. "He plays center field really well, he's been one of our top pitchers. He does the little things that nobody wants to do -- situational hitting, he's excellent on."

Polito's role is a little larger now than Nohos originally envisioned.

The Seminoles manager was familiar with Polito from several years coaching him at Dave Griffin's baseball school in Griffith.

"I knew Jordan could throw," Nohos said. "(But) I didn't know how good a baseball player Jordan was because ... him being at Mount Carmel, I didn't get to see him very much."

Polito has been as good as advertised on the mound.

"He throws about 82, 83 (mph) right now with great offspeed pitches," Nohos said. "He's able to locate three pitches (fastball, curve, changeup) really well.

"If you're able to locate two pitches, you're going to do all right. But three, that's outstanding."

Polito has also worked his way into the lineup, playing some second base and some center field.

"It's tough," he said of moving around the diamond defensively. "But the way that we do it for practice ... we do a lot of infield work."

Those workouts are no picnic, according to Polito. "I would say the toughest part -- it's got to be the practices," he said. "He works us so hard."

But not without reward. "I think it really pays off," Polito said.

It already is, and Nohos can't help but think about what the versatile 15-year-old is capable of down the road.

"Next year there's no doubt he'll be the ace of the staff and be the leader of the team," the manager said.

But first things first: this week's 10-team regional, which features clubs from Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan and wraps up on Sunday.

The Seminoles feature a potent lineup anchored by Highland's Kenny Mahala and John Livingston and Lake Central's Frank Pluskota. Mahala, Pulido and South Central's Sean Manaea lead the starting rotation.

"If we can put it all together, we're going to be tough to beat," Nohos said. "We know we can hit it. ... That's not the question. The question is if we are going to be able to catch it.

"If we can catch it, we should go to the (Mickey Mantle) World Series. If we can't catch it, we're going to have a hard time." But if Polito and his new buddies have anything to say about it, that won't be the case.