When you’re having as hot of a season as Marmion’s Ethan Flores, your reputation precedes you.
What that means is the junior catcher isn’t seeing a whole lot to hit in most of his at-bats.
That’s led to this approach at the plate all spring.
“When I get up there, I’m sitting curveball,” Flores said. “I don’t see a lot of fastballs. I just sit curveball and try to attack early by the third pitch. I feel like I see more strikes early in the count.
“And when I attack early, it’s led to success.”
Flores saw success with that approach Tuesday in a 5-2 Chicago Catholic White victory over Aurora Central Catholic. He ripped an RBI double during a four-run third inning and scored.
In the fifth, Flores led off with a double and scored again for Marmion (11-10, 5-6).
Seth Vaghy added a two-run single to help the Cadets. Winning pitcher Charlie Schweiner worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Sam Carroll went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for ACC (10-14, 3-7).
Going back to his time managing in the minor leagues, Marmion coach Aaron Nieckula has preached approach at the plate. That’s why he’s so impressed with what Flores brings to the team.
“He doesn’t strike out much,” Nieckula said of Flores. “He puts the ball in play — lays off stuff out of the zone. He has a really good eye and gets himself into hitters’ counts.
“When he gets his pitch, he doesn’t miss it too often. He’s been our staple in the three hole.”
It took a few innings for the Cadets to adjust to left-hander Cayden Lohrey and his steady diet of off-speed pitches. But after a walk and a hit batter in the third flipped the lineup back over, Flores and Co. were ready.
Vaghy produced the two-run single and then Flores drove him in with a double. By the end of the inning, the Cadets were up 4-1.
“That guy liked to mess with your timing,” Flores said. “It took awhile. The first at-bat was a little shaky. We eased into it and did our job. It felt good to do something for my team, get some RBIs.”
ACC coach Rich Swann was pleased overall, however, with Lohrey’s performance.
“I thought he did a good job,” Swann said. “He’s had a pretty good year for us. He seems to have an ‘inning’ during the game. He didn’t pitch bad that inning, but you walk the eight hitter and hit the nine man and then you give up two hits, bad things happen.
“(Flores) is really swinging the bat well. We were aware of his abilities for sure.”
Coming into the spring, Flores laid out his goals for his junior year, which is a big platform season in terms of his ambitions of playing in college.
“My goal was to hit over .300 on the year, and right now I’m hitting .500,” Flores said. “It’s really boosted my confidence, and I feel good going into the playoffs.
“Honestly, I don’t know what the future holds for me right now, but hopefully it’s good.”
Nieckula doesn’t think Flores will have anything to worry about in that regard.
“I’m not only happy with his performance, but how he prepares, the stuff behind the scenes that people don’t see,” Nieckula said. “He’s a great vocal leader to the team, plays the game the right way, all the things that are intangibles that help elevate the ballclub.
“I definitely see him playing at the next level.”
That’s the next goal for Flores, too.
“I want to play college baseball, but I don’t know where yet,” Flores said. “I’m excited to see what schools start reaching out to me and where I’m going to go.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
