St. Rita’s Chris McGrath said that his father, Tom, is his idol.
Even though Tom didn’t play baseball much, the senior pitcher said he learned valuable lessons about his work ethic from his father.
“My dad is my role model,” McGrath said. “He never played ball, but I model myself after him. He works hard. He’s a tradesman and worked his way up in the ranks and, yeah, he’s my idol.”
That work ethic has helped Chris go a long way in the Mustangs’ program.
“He kind of came in unheralded as a freshman,” coach John Nee said. “He was a small guy and really put the time in the weight room, and you see his ‘velo’ expand each year and so has his confidence. Now, he’s confident enough to do what he is doing.”
What McGrath is doing is a little bit of everything. Nee considers McGrath to be the ace of the staff as a starter but called on him for closing duty Saturday in a 6-5 Catholic League Blue victory over host Brother Rice in Chicago.
McGrath responded by getting out of an inherited bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and getting out of another bases-loaded jam in the seventh before saving the game for Nick Antonowicz and St. Rita (13-7, 3-2).
Jackson Stanek drove in three runs with two singles and a walk with the bases loaded for the Mustangs in a game that featured 17 walks and four hit batters.
Nolan Ramoley hit his team-high third home run for Brother Rice (10-10, 4-1) and scored twice.
McGrath, who is heading next season to Rock Valley, didn’t mind getting the call to put out the fire in an important league and rivalry game.
“You have to always be ready,” he said. “I was available for a limited amount of pitches. I know this team always has my back and I have their back.”
Nee didn’t hesitate to put McGrath in during a dicey situation.
“He has a lot of experience and we have tremendous confidence in him.” Nee said of McGrath. “We told him that if we had a lead going into the seventh, he would close it out.
“But we needed him to get us the last out in the sixth. He’s a senior, and you count on seniors in big moments. I felt good putting him into that tough spot.”
The Mustangs have been riding on a bumpy roller coaster in the league, losing 3-1 to Mount Carme, then beating the Caravan 7-2, before losing to St. Laurence 10-0 and then beating the Vikings 1-0 in eight innings.
Stanek was happy with the win over Brother Rice.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “But we have to be better in certain areas. We’ve been struggling, so it’s nice that we could get a few hits.”
Stanek, a Southeastern Illinois recruit, is leading the Mustangs with a .475 average and 20 RBIs.
“I’m an aggressive hitter, and I don’t like to fall behind,” he said. “I try to stay as calm as I can.”
McGrath, meanwhile, showed some calm after he walked and hit a batter and the defense committed an error to allow Brother Rice to load the bases in the seventh.
“You can’t let that get in your head,” McGarth said. “The next batter — you have to work on him.”
While McGrath said he will pitch whenever he’s needed, he does prefer to be out on the mound for the first inning.
“I like starting,” he said. “You can go the distance. You get to throw more. The pressure is not always on, even though I do like it when the pressure is on.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
