De La Salle’s Kaleb Navarro is a versatile talent who brings multiple perspectives to every game.
The senior pitcher also doubles as the starting catcher, giving him a rare and strategically invaluable view in front of the plate as the team’s ace and then from behind the plate as well.
It sounds like a perfect combination.
“It helps me a lot because I know what to expect and how a pitcher is thinking all that time,” Navarro said. “I not only learn from catching my own pitchers but also from being one myself.”
Navarro definitely had some help Monday, but his two-RBI double during a five-run fifth inning boosted the Meteors to a 7-4 victory over St. Laurence in a Catholic League crossover in Burbank.
Senior reliever Javy Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run and secured the win by pitching the final four innings for De La Salle (5-1). He struck out one, allowing only three hits and two earned runs.
Senior outfielder Corey Les homered for St. Laurence (3-3), with additional RBI support from senior infielders Connor Marino and Daniel Coyle and sophomore catcher Enrique Villanueva.
Navarro, a St. Xavier recruit, went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. He also tagged out Marino trying to steal home on a wild pitch, and his opposite-field drive with the bases loaded built a 7-2 lead.
“I knew it was a big at-bat,” Navarro said. “We’d just gone up one run, but I knew we needed more and that it wouldn’t be enough against a team like this.
“We’re not allowed to hit batting practice at away games, so I came in early this morning at 6 a.m. to hit and that really helped.”
Navarro also helped soothe the nerves of Rodriguez with the Vikings threatening in each of the final three innings.
“A lot of our pitchers get really amped up during the innings, and my job is just to calm them down and get the ball right back to them,” he said. “As a pitcher, I know how they think.
“They like rhythm, so I just stand up and whip the ball right back to them.”
Navarro and Rodriguez are the only returning starters from last season’s team that reached a Class 3A supersectional.
“We’ve been together since freshman year, and we knew each other before that,” Rodriguez said of Navarro. “He’s a great teammate, but the funny thing is he never really says anything to me.
“He just signals to keep rolling and do my thing.”
De La Salle coach Glenn Kubek recognized during a winter drill in Navarro’s freshman season that he was capable of doing more than just catch.
“I have all the confidence in him, whether he’s on the mound or up at the plate,” Kubeck said. “He came in as a catcher only, but I saw him throw and I asked him if ever pitched before and he said, ‘A couple of times.’ He made himself into a pitcher with his confidence and belief in himself.”
Last season as a junior, Navarro hit .366 with16 runs, three homers and 24 RBIs. Through the first two weeks this spring, he’s hitting .450 and is 2-0 with a 0.91 ERA.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Navarro has prototypical size and arm strength. He was the quarterback on the football team that was forced to cancel its season due to a lack of available players.
Now, the athlete known around the school as Mr. Meteor wants to make certain his final sports season is long and memorable. That is the beauty and a challenge.
“Baseball is a sport about failure and I’m a person that hates failure, so I always want to do better,” he said. “Confronting failure just makes me want to go back out and work even harder every time.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
