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sports
THe North shore weekend
6/14 – 6/15/14
Razor sharp Earvolino delivers quality relief work for Trevians
‘Side’ show: New Trier junior reliever Andrew Earvolino picked up a save in his team’s 4-3 win over Loyola Academy in the Class 4A sectional semifinal on June 5.
■ by kevin reiterman
sports@northshoreweekend.com An unsuspecting Andrew Earvolino got Big-Leagued. While being interviewed by reporters near the New Trier High School dugout, the ace relief pitcher got his face splattered with shaving cream. Compliments of a teammate: Max Thoma. “Max is the jokester on the team,” said a stunned, but delighted, Earvolino, following New Trier’s 4-3 win over Loyola Academy in the Class 4A sectional final on June 5. Thoma simply was taking a page out of the Major League celebration book. Have shaving cream, will lather. Meanwhile, Earvolino has taken a page out of Dan Quisenberry’s book. Or, Kent Tekulve’s. Or, Ted Abernathy’s. Earvolino is Mr. Submariner. In a game played at the Munz Athletic Campus in Glenview, the New Trier righthander came up with a sublime performance against the host Ramblers. Talk about a close shave. With things tensing up in the top of the seventh — 2 on, 0 outs in a 1-run game — Earvolino calmly came out of the bullpen and used his unique drop and drive delivery to record two strikeouts. The junior left the potential tying run on
third to make a winner out of NT starter Drew Fischer. This was not Earvolino’s first quality outing — far from it. He finished the spring with a 0.00 earned run average. “Not allowing an earned run in 20-plus innings,” said NT head coach Mike Napolean, “is kind of ridiculous.” But the fresh-faced Earvolino did record a first against the Ramblers. “This was,” he said, “the first time that I’ve ever had shaving cream on my face.” Earvolino also was a late-inning specialist in the sectional title game on June 7. In a losing cause — Evanston eliminated the Trevians from postseason by a 3-2 score — the 5-foot-8, 140-pounder once again was on top of his game. Earvolino put out a fire in the top of the sixth, when he got Evanston’s No. 3 hitter, Eli Otting, who has belted 12 home runs this spring, to pop out with the bases loaded. He also worked a scoreless seventh inning — with one strikeout — to keep the game within reach. “I’ve grown accustomed to these kinds of situations,” said Earvolino, who allowed only 16 hits in 21.1 innings with 17 Ks and six walks. But he can’t lie. “I had some butterflies,” said Earvolino, referring to the sectional semifinal game.
“It was pretty intense.” Earvolino is effective, yes. Overpowering? Hardly. There’s no hum on his 75 mile-per-hour fastball. But there’s plenty of break. And he delivers his pitches with plenty of deception. “It’s kind of funny,” said New Trier catcher Logan Wible. “When he’s warming up, you hear the other team do some chirping. They’re getting antsy. They can’t wait to face him. And then, he throws the ball right past them. His stuff is tough to hit.” Getting hitters out runs in Earvolino’s family. His cousin, Jeff Snell, was a hurler at New Trier. He went on to pitch — submarine style — at Division I Lafayette College for four years with great effectiveness (18 career saves). Throwing submarine style is relatively new for Earvolino. He made the change after huddling with his pitching coach, Paul Kosinski of The Strike Zone Baseball Academy in Glenview, last year. The change of delivery has changed his course. Earvolino now is the cream of NT’s relief corps. Notable: Hitting stars were hard to come by for New Trier (21-18) in its 3-2 setback to Evanston (23-13-1). The Trevians were shut out on two hits through 6 2/3 innings.
photography by joel lerner
But senior catcher Logan Wible pumped some life into his team, when he drilled a pitch thrown by Evanston starter Russel Snapp over the left-field fence. Snap, crackle and pop. “With two outs, I didn’t think he was going to throw me something off speed,” said Wible, who will try to walk on at Illinois State University next season. “I was looking for a fastball away. After popping out in my last atbat, I was just trying to level out my swing.” “It was nice to see that (Wible’s homer),” said NT head coach Mike Napolean. “He put us on the board after six miserable innings.” The Trevians didn’t play pristine baseball. The infield committed four errors. That was not the case in the sectional semifinal game against Loyola. The Trevians made just one error, while the offense came up with timely hitting. First baseman Matt Boscow led the team’s sevenhit attack by going 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly. Grant Klenovich and Frank Nicholas had RBI singles, while Wible brought a run in on sac fly. New Trier placed three seniors on the allCSL South team: pitcher Matt Cohen, shortstop Sammy Visconti and third baseman Matt McCaffrey. Scott Hammes and Andrew Earvolino will represent the Trevians at the Showcase Tournament at St. Charles North next weekend. ■