Mount Carmel pitcher Ian Tosi has a ton of incentive to succeed.
The sophomore left-hander experienced the opposite feeling to end last season, giving up a walk against Catholic League rival Brother Rice in a Class 4A regional championship loss.
“The disappointment definitely lasted awhile,” Tosi said. “It’s definitely a lot of motivation this year.
“We’ve got a lot of teams to punch back.”
Tosi had plenty of punch-outs in Wednesday’s season opener. He struck out 12 and allowed just one hit as the Caravan came up with a 10-0 nonconference win over Bremen in six innings.
Tim Harrigan had two hits and TJ McQuillan drove in a pair runs for Mount Carmel (1-0) at Ozinga Field in Crestwood. Freshman second baseman Aiden Licea-Gonzales had the lone hit off Tosi.
Flash back to last May, however. Tosi, a freshman in a red-hot situation, gave up a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Brother Rice won 6-5 to take the Class 4A Whitney Young Regional title.
The Crusaders went on to finish second in the state.
“I was ready for that spot,” Tosi said. “We were preparing for a deep run. We had the lead, and we gave it up. It was just a heartbreaking loss.”
Mount Carmel coach Brian Hurry made sure Tosi was going to use that setback as a positive.
“I definitely didn’t tell him to forget it,” Hurry said. “I think it was a great learning experience for him to go through all of that as a freshman. I haven’t had many freshmen who were in that position.
“It speaks to his talent. Learn from it. We’re not going to dwell on it or feel sorry for ourselves. He has a number of starts from last year he wants to take into this season. That’s going to pay dividends and play a role in his success.”
In the first inning, Tosi had a Bremen batter muttering about the southpaw’s “nasty” pitches.
“He has an arm — a good arm,” McQuillan said of Tosi. “I would not want to face him. I did face him in an intrasquad game. I hit a popup. I’ll take the swing, but he’s an awesome pitcher.
“We have so many awesome pitchers on this team.”
Hurry likes Tosi’s ability to throw different pitches.
“He throws strikes and commands both sides of the plate,” Hurry said. “At the high school level, that’s pretty tough on a hitter.”
McQuillan, a third baseman and one of four straight hitters at the top of Mount Carmel’s lineup to bat left-handed, is ranked as the third-best sophomore in the state by Prep Baseball Report.
He hit five home runs as a freshman and had a couple of ear-splitting deep outs Wednesday at Ozinga Field that likely would have been homers at most high school fields.
“I can’t complain about it — I him them right on the barrel,” McQuillan said. “Hopefully, those will either drop or go over (the fence) later in the season.”
Mount Carmel has a strong sophomore class, and emerging stars in Tosi and McQuillan could keep the Caravan thriving.
Tosi was coming off the flu and wasn’t feeling 100% when he threw his gem against Bremen. Afterward, Hurry’s postgame marching orders to Tosi were to get some sleep and drink fluids.
“I felt good to be out there for opening day because I was sick,” Tosi said. “I tried my best to be competitive for the team.
“I was pretty bad for about a week. At first, I was wondering how I was going to feel for the opener. I was trying my best to come back as quick as I could.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
