After filling in wherever he was needed last spring, senior catcher Matt Reilly earned a certain level of consistency coming into this season for Metea Valley.
As a result, Reilly is back being a full-time starter at his natural position behind the plate, and he has helped the Mustangs get off to a pretty good start.
“It’s nice to know what position you’re going to play and that it’s going to be every day,” Reilly said. “It’s nice to have that comfort. I’ve caught for the past five years so I’m pretty comfortable with it.
“And pretty confident in myself.”
Reilly showed off that confidence Tuesday afternoon, hitting a two-run, inside-the-park home run to propel Metea to a 7-2 nonconference win over Larkin at Judson’s Hoffer Field in Elgin.
Tyler Kalnicky (1-0) earned the pitching win for the Mustangs (6-1), striking out four in six innings while scattering two runs on seven hits and two walks. Michael Willhite drove in two runs and scored twice, while Tyler Gluting and Connor Lavery each scored a pair of runs.
Adrian Gasca went 3-for-3 to lead Larkin (0-7).
Reilly, meanwhile, leads the Mustangs with a team-best nine RBIs. He’s also scored seven runs, is hitting .350 out of the third spot in the batting order and takes command of the team on the field.
“Matt has an interesting combination of speed and power, so it’s a good fit,” Metea coach Steve Colombe said of Reilly batting third. “He’s one of the leaders of the team. He’s ready for that role.”
Perhaps more important is his role behind the plate. Empowered to be the team leader as the permanent catcher, Reilly has been a steadying force behind Metea’s hot play in the early going.
“He does a great job behind the plate,” Colombe said of Reilly. “He does a great job with the pitching staff, moves guys around. It’s a good spot for him.
“With the strength of our team being pitching, you need a catcher who can catch them, keep them mentally focused. When there’s adversity, he’s really good at making sure he helps them.”
Reilly said his vocal nature behind the plate comes naturally. He enjoys coordinating the team defensively, barking out adjustments and generally offering encouragement.
“I have a little bit of that inside of me, wanting to command and be a leader,” Reilly said. “I also know as a catcher you’re the only person that can see the entire field and know what’s going on.
“I take pride in making sure everybody knows where to go with the ball and what they’re doing.”
Kalnicky doesn’t take that for granted.
Getting some chances to pitch in his first varsity season due to some minor injuries, Kalnicky has leaned on Reilly to guide him through his starts, even though it’s not always through words.
“I might have something to say to him (between innings), but we pretty much leave each other alone,” Kalnicky said.
The communication can be sporadic, but when words are exchanged, they are meaningful.
“I brought up, ‘I’ll just throw him a cutter on 0-2,’” Kalnicky said. “I proceeded to make a horrible pitch, and then we didn’t throw it again the entire game.”
That’s also part of Reilly’s job, understanding what his pitchers need and when to push things.
That’s in addition to the Illinois Institute of Technology recruit helping to control the running game for Metea and being one of the team’s top offensive players.
“It’s exciting knowing I can come into this season catching every day,” Reilly said. “I’m hoping I can just keep on rolling with the success — just keep finding barrels and finding open space.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
