As a junior last season, Jack Hughes established himself near the top of Marmion’s rotation.
The goals for this offseason were simple — take the next step and become the Cadets’ ace.
“He wants to take what he did last year and take it into this year and be that kind of commanding guy out there on the mound,” Marmion assistant coach Will Dorjath said. “Any time we put him out there, he’ll give us a chance to win. He’s done a lot of work to get to that spot.
“The role ahead is, ‘Hey, I want to be that No. 1. I want to face all the best teams I can.’ It’s been great to see.”
If Tuesday’s season debut is any indication of the future, Hughes appears to be well on his way.
Limited to just three innings in his first outing, the senior left-hander stuck out six and scattered four hits and a walk as the Cadets held on for an 8-7 win at Waubonsie Valley in Aurora.
Charlie Zebig reached base four times and scored three runs for Marmion (1-0-1). Emmit Collins scored twice. Josh Hung hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to pull Waubonsie (0-1) within a run. Shane Torres went 2-for-3, while Hung and Hiroshy Wong each scored twice.
In the offseason, the 6-foot-4 Hughes went back to Mark Sheehan, his original pitching coach from Canes Illinois Baseball. Hughes sits in the low 80s with his two-seam fastball.
He worked hard to develop and refine his change-up, a pitch that he said he didn’t have the feel for Tuesday. He also throws a slider he developed two years ago and a knuckle-curve.
“Last year, I was a big contact guy,” Hughes said. “The new turf field (at Marmion) helped. This year, I’ve been trying to work on getting more strikeouts. I’m still a contact pitcher, but I’ve been working on throwing harder and getting more swings and misses.
“This is a really good first step. It gives me a lot of confidence.”
After Hughes allowed a leadoff double to Torres in the bottom of the first inning, four of his next five outs were strikeouts — all swinging.
Hughes struck out two more in the third before ceding to the bullpen as everybody tries to build up arm strength early in the spring.
“He looked really good,” Dorjath said. “He calmed down after the first inning and battled back and threw a lot of first-pitch strikes, got ahead in the count. The hitters did their job, put pressure on them and kept going.”
The Cadets were up 1-0 before Hughes even took the mound Tuesday. A five-run third, all unearned runs, opened a 7-0 lead.
“He threw well,” Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said of Hughes. “Our approach was a little off, trying to pull him too much. We hit more balls off the cap of the bat than the barrel.
“We were out in front. He changed speeds well. He got us quite a bit out on our front foot.”
Waubonsie, however, rallied during the middle innings, capped by Hung’s homer.
“He played really well his sophomore year,” Acevedo said of Hung. “He had a down year for him last year. To get him off to a good start is a good thing.”
Funky closer Eddie Morvice got the final four outs to help Marmion hang on.
These are the types of teams Hughes wants to showcase his stuff against this season. He also gets plenty of chances to see high-level opponents in the Catholic League.
“I like seeing the Providences and the St. Laurences on the schedule,” Hughes said. “You circle them on the schedule. You want those games.”
Sounds like an ace to Dorjath.
“All the guys are in behind him,” Dorjath said. “Jack’s on the mound, we have a chance to win.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
