Lilja rides D-fence for Lincoln-Way East

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A free spirit batting in the leadoff slot keeps everybody in the Lincoln-Way East baseball camp loose.

Senior Tom Lilja also contributes the home run pop of a 3-hitter and a Roberto Clemente-like arm in right field.

Lilja, since he first cracked the starting lineup a year ago, has thrown out half a dozen baserunners, including one at home plate in East's 3-2 loss to Minooka on Monday.

"It's nice to get the opportunity to take advantage of those times because they don't come around too often," he said. "The one against Minooka the other day was just a shallow groundball to right field. The kid was rounding third, and we got him."

Lilja's nonchalant description of his own defensive work belies the value of his steady play in the outfield. His throws can shift momentum, say nothing of pumping life into the Griffins' dugout.

"It's better taking runs away from people than scoring them yourself, in my opinion," he said.

East, after going 22-10 last season and 12-3 in the SouthWest Suburban Red, good for first place, is in the business of playing a takeaway game. Lilja's not the only one capable of delivering a defensive web gem. On the left side of the infield, the Griffins boast bookend Big Ten recruits.

Senior John Lorenz is entrenched at third base. He signed with Michigan after batting .422 as a junior with 9 home runs and 45 RBIs. He likely will play shortstop next season for the Wolverines. The reason he doesn't play short for East is because coach Paul Babcock has the luxury of trotting out Illinois commitment Brandon Hohl to play the glamor position for the Griffins. Hohl is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior who reminds many of Lorenz.

"It's definitely pretty cool," Lorenz said of playing next to Hohl. "When I found out he had committed, I was pretty happy for him. We feel like we're representing the Big Ten pretty well on the left side. This summer we played for the high school, but that was about it as far as playing together.

"He does everything well. He's a very good fielder. He's got a good arm. And he can really hit the ball.

"I don't like to compare myself with anybody or think of myself as being this 'great' player. I'm always trying to get better. He's a good player. And I think we're going to hold down the left side pretty well this year."

East returns five other full- or part-time starters and two other college-bound recruits. First baseman Andrew Wendt, second baseman Lloyd Burchett, center fielder Matt Lysik and pitchers Josh Folgers and Nick Santefort cut their teeth in the varsity ranks last year.

Folgers, a left-hander who will attend Kankakee Community College, posted a 4-1 record. His fastball has been clocked in the low-to-mid 80s. He returns to anchor a pitching staff that also will include Lorenz, Dietrich Enns and Brian Russell. Russell is a hard-throwing closer-type who will attend Davidson.

"I got a lot of experience last year," Folgers said. "I had two seniors in front of me who taught me a lot -- Chris Macek and Ryan August. They sort of took me under their wings, and I think I'm ready this year to have a pretty good season."

August is pitching now at Heartland Community College and Macek at Northern Iowa.

Lorenz broke a bone in his wrist playing basketball and spent nearly two months working to rehab from the injury. He poked a hit up the middle in his first at-bat and immediately let out a huge sigh of relief. The show of emotion was as if to say, "OK, let's go."

"In that (basketball) game, my hand got hit weird a couple times," Lorenz said. "It was at Lockport. I kept playing. The pain was just too much. Then, the next day I got X-rays. I broke the fourth metacarpal. I was in cast for two weeks. Then, I did about two or three weeks of rehab. I did it all on my own, just kind of working on strength with my hands, squeezing balls and icing, stuff like that.

"They told me I was good to go. So, I started hitting in practice last week. My first game was Monday. In my first at-bat, I got a hit. So, it felt good to get that out of the way. It was a single. I was kind of nervous. I didn't know what to expect. It was the first time I had faced a live pitcher. And I just stuck my bat out there and got a hit. That was a really good confidence builder."

"We've got a good returning nucleus, some other guys that played quite a bit and then some good, talented juniors that are just good competitors," Babcock said. "They won their conference as well at the sophomore level. They know how to win. They know how to compete. That's what we're looking for.

"In our conference -- really, with baseball in this area -- you better be able to play every single game. I've told our kids when we've been successful what it's come down to is location. Jason Helbling, our pitching coach, I think is just outstanding. He calls the pitches. And, when our pitchers can throw the pitches with command and in the location that he calls, we're tough. When they're a little off, we get hit.

"I think we've got a nice, solid defense. When it comes down to baseball, it's pitching and defense. I think we're going to be able to put up enough runs to carry us through a lot of situations. In the first couple of games, I've seen a willingness on our part to fight. We came back to win (Tuesday, 9-8 over Thornton Fractional South in nine innings). We showed some character. If things are close, if we get behind, we scored three runs with two outs, and that's a sign of a good ballclub as well. I don't think these kids are going to panic too much.

"They know they can rely on some of their talent, but working hard is the key thing."