Payton powers Rita after USA tryout

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Not that Mark Payton really needed it, but he gained some fuel for the fire last week.

The St. Rita senior-to-be got a taste of baseball at the next level when he played in USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars in Cary, N.C., which served as a tryout for the 18-and-under national team.

"It was interesting, it was hard," Payton said after helping the Mustangs split a South Suburban Summer League doubleheader with visiting Mount Carmel on Tuesday. "Illinois high school baseball is really good, but you're not seeing 90 (mph pitching) consistently.

"I go out there, I'm seeing 94, 96 every game. It's going to help throughout the rest of the year, next year."

Payton, one of three Illinois players in the event (Brother Rice's Kevin Koziol and Wauconda's Jeff Jackson were the others), had just three hits in 16 at-bats playing center field for the American Legion team.

But all of his hits went for extra bases (homer, two triples) and he also walked five times and was hit by a pitch twice. That adds up to a .625 slugging percentage and a .435 on-base percentage -- plus, he was error-free.

Hitters in the eight-team event faced a double whammy. Not only were the pitchers throwing harder than what they'd been used to, but players had to go from aluminum bats in the spring to wood for this tourney.

"At the beginning, it was tough," Payton said. "It was more like a strength issue. I got used to it by the end of the week. I started hitting the ball a lot better."

Though he didn't make the cut of 34 players and 10 alternates for the 18-and-under team trials in September, Payton wasn't down.

"I wasn't really prepared to go out there yet," he said. "If I make it, great ... if I don't make it, no big deal. I'm (still) in the top hundred kids in the nation. All these kids out there were first-round, second-round draft picks and I was happy to play with them."

That said, Payton also was glad to be back home on Tuesday. The Mustangs dropped the opener to Mount Carmel 10-2 before winning the five-inning nightcap 11-3.

As usual, Mustangs coach Mike Zunica batted every player in uniform as he continued the evaluation process. Payton got just four plate appearances and saw exactly two strikes, drawing three walks. But he didn't waste his rare opportunities, drilling a two-run homer over the right-field fence to account for Rita's scoring in the opener.

"It was fun coming back here and getting it done," he said.

That the Mustangs didn't quite get it done in the state tournament, losing the Class 4A title game to New Trier a few weeks ago -- that still gnaws at Payton.

"It's not going to be over till next year when we take the field," he said. "It helps to be wearing a Rita shirt and playing on this field. But it's not going to be over till we play our first game (of 2010)."

Payton wasn't the only Mustang to have a good day. Dane Kempke got the win in Game 2, striking out five and walking none in three shutout innings. Zach Soria and Shane Conlon had back-to-back, two-run singles in a six-run first inning in the nightcap.

Brad Myjak paced Mount Carmel to the opening win, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. John Kravetz added a double and two RBI for the Caravan, while Jake Breaky threw four shutout innings for the victory.