White is Young's Mr. Consistency

Whitney Young third baseman Troy White plays catch during practice.
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times)

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Watch Whitney Young third baseman Troy White for one game, and he isn’t going to overly impress.

Offensively, he’ll probably have a few base hits, maybe a run, maybe an RBI. His speed or power won’t overwhelm you. Defensively, he’ll make every play that comes his way and commit no errors. Still, his arm and quickness won’t blow you away.

Come back a second time, you’ll see the same performance again. Third, fourth, fifth … White will do it every time.

“When you come out for one game, you wanted to be wowed,” Young coach Chris Cassidy said. “It’s tough for Troy to do that right away. He’ll have two hits in a game and play rock solid at third. And it’s like, ‘Well, he didn’t throw 100 MPH; he didn’t steal a lot of bases; he’s not really fast.

“But to have that consistency … You’ll get the exact same performance from him over and over and over again. He’s so solid. If a coach looked at him over time, you can’t not like the kid. He’s a guy I think you can put at third base as a freshman in college and not worry about third base for the next four years in your program.”

Cassidy goes as far as calling White, 6-foot, 190-pound senior, the best third baseman in the state.

So far this season, White hasn’t done anything to disprove that.

In the opening week of the season, the Dolphins traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. for a tournament. Against high-caliber pitchers, including an Arkansas recruit, White went 9-for-16 with two doubles and 7 RBI. He also committed no errors and was named to the all-tournament team.

It all began on the right note as well. In his first at-bat, he singled right up the middle.

“The competition was so great down there,” White said. “We’re hoping to come back here and tear it up.”

That includes leading Young to the state quarterfinals. A year ago, White and the Dolphins fell just short of that, losing 3-2 to St. Rita.

“We want to be the first Public League team to make it downstate since the automatic bid was taken away,” White said.

White’s teammates will follow his lead. Although not a vocal leader, White is the guy who everyone on the team respects the most.

It was something Cassidy noticed in the offseason.

“We look at our guys and we see who the team is gravitating to,” Cassidy said. “It’s a pretty easy decision for us as to who the captain is going to be. He’s there all the time; the younger guys come to him; the older kids respect him.”

Cassidy just hopes the colleges will give him respect as well. So far, White has an offer from Division II Lewis University and a number of other schools looking at him.

Cassidy hopes it’s just a matter of time before others notice what’s already has.

“He’s just consistent straight through,” Cassidy said. “I think he can play at any D-I college.”