Unlike many baseball players, Naperville Central junior Chase Reeder prefers pitching to hitting.
The Illinois State commit would take the mound every day if he could.
“I love having the ball in my hands,” Reeder said. “I love going out there and kind of being the leader of the team.
“Being one of the captains, you’ve got to go out there and be vocal, and I just do that on the mound and do that in the dugout.”
Reeder’s words may get his teammates fired up, but his arm can silence opposing offenses. The left-hander demonstrated that Wednesday by throwing five shutout innings to lift the host Redhawks to a 5-0 victory over Metea Valley in the DuPage Valley Conference Tournament semifinals.
Second-seeded Naperville Central (16-13) advanced to play top-seeded Waubonsie Valley in the final at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Aurora.
Reeder (3-2) allowed just two hits, both opposite-field singles, and three walks while striking out nine in a dominant effort.
“The great thing about our tournament is it just comes down to competitors making plays, and we had a handful of guys do that today, and it started with No. 16 (Reeder),” Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said.
Reeder had command of his entire repertoire in his first outing since tweaking his back during a game against Benet two weeks ago. It was arguably his finest performance of the season.
“I would say it’s definitely up there,” he said. “Early on, we got the change-up going and the curveball going. When I get that change-up outside to the righties, it’s a good pitch for me, and the four-seam up is also a good tactic.
“When everything’s working, it’s a good outing.”
Nobody had a better vantage point than junior catcher Aiden Clark.
“He had a great fastball,” Clark said. “Curveball had great spin, and he was really locating that change-up on the outside half. He really put it all together today.”
The sixth-seeded Mustangs (10-17) had only one base runner advance as far as third base. Aside from the two hits, they didn’t get the ball out of the infield against Reeder, who got out of a two-on, two-out situation in the top of the first by inducing a pop-up to junior first baseman Troy Kashul.
The Redhawks then scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the first against Metea Valley freshman left-hander Tyler Gluting, who struck out eight in four innings but was hurt by two errors. Clark drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the first run, and the other three runs scored on junior Roan Orlanes’ single to right, which was bobbled.
After that, it was smooth sailing for Reeder. Metea Valley had runners at first and third with two outs in the third, but Reeder got a strikeout to end it. In the fourth, a walk and an error with one out gave the Mustangs some hope, but Reeder responded by striking out the next two hitters.
Reeder said his best pitch is a circle change.
“Recently, it’s really falling off the table, and he’s locating it well,” Clark said. “And with a guy that throws harder from the left-hand slot, it’s really hard for hitters to pick up on that change-up because you don’t see it very often.”
Reeder will focus on pitching in college, but the Redhawks love his bat too. Stine recently moved him to the cleanup spot.
“Chase has been good for us all year,” Stine said. “He competes. If it was a hockey game, he’d compete. If it was bags, he would compete. Doesn’t matter what it is, he’s going to compete for us. He did it on the mound today, and he’s done it at the plate all year.”
But Reeder is truly in his element when he’s dealing from the mound.
“I just feel so much more in the zone when I’m out there on the mound rather than hitting,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love getting that big hit. I love making a play in the infield. But being on the mound is just something different.”
There has been something different about Reeder this season.
“I had to give up on basketball this year because I wanted to focus on baseball,” he said. “Got my mechanics right, and this year has been a way more impressive year than last year.
“I’ve gotten more opportunities, and I’m looking forward to next year too. I think I’m going to grow from this year and hopefully improve next year.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
