Aurora Christian’s Hanson decides on Valpo

Updated: July 5, 2011 11:40AM

As the catcher for the Aurora Christian baseball team, Jake Hanson loves the back-and-forth mind games he gets to play with opposing hitters as he calls pitches during the course of a game.

“Bobby Kuntzendorf, our ace, I’ve been catching since I was 10 years old,” Hanson said of working with this year’s Beacon-News Player of the Year. “I always call his games. I know how he pitches and have a pretty good idea of what he wants to throw.

“It’s fun to look at the hitter and try to think what he’s thinking and then work to get him out with what you know of your pitcher and his thinking.”

It can be a battle.

When it came to making his college choice, however, Hanson didn’t have to think twice. He became the first area baseball player from the Class of 2012 to go Division I last week when he made an oral commitment to Valparaiso University coach Tracy Woodson.

“I went there for a junior day early in the winter last year and really liked it as soon as I set foot on campus,” Hanson said of the Lutheran-affiliated school that features 4,000-plus students in Northwest Indiana.

“It became my No. 1 school even before he offered me.”

Hanson, who was a first team selection (small school) to the Beacon-News All-Area team this spring after hitting .394 with a .441 on-base percentage as the leadoff man for coach Andy Zorger’s sectional finalist, also had interest from Illinois State, Butler and Bradley.

“There were no other offers yet, but there were always scouts at our games,” he said. “It’s nice to have the pressure off.”

Woodson, who spent parts of five seasons in the major leagues with the Dodgers and Cardinals, managed extensively in the minor leagues before taking the job at Valpo. The Crusaders were 25-32 overall and 14-10 in the Horizon League, but have steadily improved under Woodson and had an outfielder (Kyle Gaedele of Rolling Meadows High School) taken in the sixth round of the free agent draft in June by the San Diego Padres.

Woodson saw Hanson play against Chicago Christian earlier in the spring and then saw him three weeks ago in a summer league game while he played for the Northern Illinois Reds, a travel team that his father, Steve, has coached since Jake was 12.

Jake also plays basketball at Aurora Christian where his dad is the varsity coach.

“I called (Woodson) after that (summer league) game and they offered,” Jake Hanson said. “(Woodson) is a really nice guy and down to earth. They expect a lot out of their players. They want you to play good on the field and be good people off the field.

“I like that. It’s not only what you do on the field but the character you have and the work you do in the classroom.”

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Hanson, who plans to major in education or sports management, says Woodson recruited him as a catcher.

“It’s a position I’ve played since I started playing baseball,” he said. “I just like being involved on every play and having a say in what happens.”

He doesn’t, however, expect to continue as a leadoff hitter in spite of his success this past season, when he had 19 extra-base hits and 29 RBI.

“I was just filling a need on our team,” he said. “But I am not gonna settle for being a defensive catcher. I want to be a very good catcher and that includes running the bases well, hitting the ball hard and being thought of as a good hitter when I step into the batters box.”

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