Community Corner

Kremer: Host the Toast of Joliet West Baseball

Jake Herron and Quinn Ahern—the two aces standing at the head of Joliet West's deep pitching staff—credit assistant Joe Host for helping them reach new heights on the mound.

Big arms and big hearts.

Jake Herron and Quinn Ahern always could blow the ball by hitters and battle deep into tight ballgames.

The thing that’s different this season is they’ve matured into team leaders at Joliet West and refined their mechanics under pitching coach Joe Host. The Tigers, 5-1 heading into Thursday’s game vs. top-ranked Lincoln-Way North, are roaring with a pair of senior aces at the head of a deep pitching staff.

Find out what's happening in Shorewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

And, it goes without saying that pitching is the name of the game in baseball. Always has been, always will be.

Joliet West coach John Karczewski has a background in pitching. Yet, he felt like he wasn’t developing his team’s pitching staff as well as he could have because he also was running drills for the rest of the Tigers.

Find out what's happening in Shorewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Baseball's 'Coach K' brought in Host last year.

Herron, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound right-hander, went 5-0 in the Southwest Suburban Blue with a 0.38 ERA and led Joliet West to a share of the conference title. He struck out 99. Ahern, a 6-0, 190-pound right-hander, went 4-2 and won one big game after another, including a crucial victory over Lincoln-Way East in the stretch run.

Both credit Host for helping them turn the corner.

“He’s the difference-maker on the team—100 percent,” Herron said. “I don’t want to just talk about pitching, but last year that’s what kept us in games for the most part, no matter who was on the mound.

“We have 12 guys who will go out and compete. In my sophomore year, we didn’t have a pitching coach. ‘Karch’ tried to be head coach and pitching coach, but it didn’t work out all the time. When he was trying to work with the hitters, we were in the pitching room trying to do our thing. We had a solid staff, but it was nothing great.

“I had kind of a rough sophomore year. Then, this guy—Coach Host—came in my junior year. I didn’t know who he was and he just changed everything with me. It’s like what Quinn (Ahern) said with the mental approach.

“That’s the big thing. If you can make the other guy think more than you’re thinking, you’ll have an advantage out there. You always want to make him think, ‘What’s coming here?’ Always keep him guessing and, then, never show your emotion out there, never let them know if they get to you.”

Herron took a one-hitter into the seventh inning of Joliet West’s 5-4 victory over Lincoln-Way West on Tuesday. He lost his bid for a shutout after issuing a walk and yielding a two-run homer. His teammates stepped up to preserve the win.

Karczewski said Zach Thomas, Michael Browning and Dane Procarione are next in line behind Herron and Ahern in Joliet West’s pitching pecking order—at least for now. While all bring the goods, few can match Herron’s heat. His fastball topped out at 90-mph on a strikeout of Joliet Catholic Academy’s Chris Tschida in a summer state playoff game.

The extra velocity comes as a result of Herron’s work with Host.

“He’s changed a couple of things with my form,” Herron said. “Him and Coach Markelz (Butch Markelz), the Lockport pitching coach, they teach pretty much the same philosophy and they used to coach together. I’ve gone to Coach Markelz since I was in seventh grade for pitching lessons.

“So, it’s nice to be able to go with him in the winter and then come here with Coach Host in the spring. Until he came, I never pitched out of the windup. I was straight stretch. Then, with my balance point, I get a little lazy and don’t lift my leg up all the way sometimes and then always extending my stride and keeping the front side up.”

Karczewski and Host go way back.

“When I coached at Lockport under Jimmy Hall and getting to see Butch Markelz do his magic out there, Joe was there, too," Karczewski said. "He was the head sophomore coach when I was the head freshman coach. We were just picking those guys’ brains all the time.

“Lockport’s always had great pitchers. Joe (Host) took that over to St. Charles East. I kind of developed that and started working with guys here. It’s all about work-ethic and developing a philosophy that guys can buy into, but, like I said I did well with the pitchers here, but he has taken it to that next level.

“Last year—with Jake’s stats—he just dominated everybody. Hopefully we can get more of that this year from the two guys at the top.”

Ahern’s fastball has been clocked in the mid- to upper-80s. He also throws a slider and changeup. He squats nearly 500 pounds in the weight room.

Host has armed him with another kind of power.

“He came in and showed me a lot of new stuff—a lot of stuff I hadn’t heard before,” Ahern said. “Good stuff with balance and keeping a good mindset on the mound. He keeps me right and makes sure I don’t get out of control.”

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: ShorewoodILPatch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here