St. Laurence’s Jordan Ogean has a knack for making big defensive plays in key situations.
They tend to be memorable for her teammates, but when you add them up by the junior third baseman, you come up with something special for everyone — a conference title.
“It’s just her intuition,” Vikings coach Teagan Walsh said. “It’s one thing to catch the ball, but knowing what to do secondary, that’s just huge.”
Case in point, on April 23, the Vikings beat Providence 6-5 in part because Ogean caught a liner off the bat of Ella Kucala and then alertly threw to first base to double off Reagan Sincak.
That ended the second inning and squelched a would-be rally.
Sophomore first baseman Vanessa Kates was on the receiving end of that play, and to her, it’s become sort of a ho-hum situation. It’s just what Ogean does with regularity.
“There’s a lot of plays where balls should have been hit past and runners should have scored but she stopped the ball,” Kates said. “She honestly saved us a lot of times in close innings where it could have been a game changer.
“She was that one facet that allowed us stay in the game and get victories that allowed us to win conference.”
Despite graduating nine seniors, St. Laurence (15-8, 10-3) have won the GCAC Red.
Ogean had to grow up fast this spring, with only three seniors on the roster and a host of freshmen and sophomores getting bumped up to varsity.
“We pushed through,” Ogean said. “I mean, there were some games where we lost and then we won the second time we saw them, which I thought was huge, and that definitely helped us.”
For example, on April 6, the Vikings lost 6-4 to Providence on the road but then came back to hold off the Celtics 6-5 in the April 23 game. The Celtics ended up as the GCAC Red runner-up.
Here’s what’s unique about Ogean, who was brought up to varsity as a sophomore. While she handles third with nary an issue for St. Laurence, she plays second base for her travel team.
The reason was simple. Walsh had a need for a third baseman last season and Ogean was willing to play there. It was an adjustment, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
“Learning to play third honestly wasn’t too bad because it’s about all reaction,” she said. “You have the mechanics down, so it’s just reaction at that point.”
From Walsh’s standpoint, her athleticism allows her to move well and make plays.
“She’s a vacuum cleaner,” Walsh said with a laugh. “That’s really the only way I can describe her.”
Leadership is another area in which Ogean has excelled, according to Kates.
“In the field, a lot of times when we come together in a circle, she’s always up,” Kates said. “No matter how bad an inning is going, no matter how bad an at-bat has gone, she’s always there to pick up people.”
When it comes to leadership, Ogean believes picking up a struggling teammate is indeed crucial. Work ethic, however, is just as important to her. She can push her teammates as well as pull them up, as long as everyone is adhering to the team’s standards.
Ogean is also thinking about playing in college. She’s doing all the right things, posting highlights on social media and interacting with coaches. But she’s in no hurry to make any decisions.
She’s considering a medical career in nursing or anesthesiology, but a unique quirk is she would like to attend a school outside of Illinois, mostly because of the weather.
“Nothing is set in stone,” she said.
Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
