If Portage junior pitcher Kaleb Hacker is laughing on the mound, it may be because a teammate just called him “Chucky.”
But the 6-foot-7, 240-pound right-hander said he sometimes needs those heckles from teammates to keep him from venturing too far inside his head.
“I’ll still beat myself up a lot when I walk one or two guys, and that’s kind of been my issue for the last two years,” Hacker said. “So that loosens me up a little bit.”
It worked again Wednesday, when Hacker turned in another quality outing while guiding Portage to a 5-0 win over Merrillville in a Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional opener.
Hacker struck out six in five shutout innings for the Indians (12-12-2), who will play Chesterton (15-12) in the sectional semifinals on Friday. His victory against Merrillville (5-23) improved his record to 5-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.77 in a team-leading 42 2/3 innings.
Portage coach Shane Prance said wins like that, the team’s first in the postseason since 2019, should give Hacker a boost.
“It’s just confidence,” Prance said. “Throwing him in a game like this and getting this win under this belt helps him know he can do it when he just trusts his stuff and goes for it. Sometimes he is his harshest critic. Getting him to be confident is half the battle.”
Hacker’s teammates have been happy to help with that half of the battle. Among them is junior pitcher Hunter Cole, who is 3-2 with a team-best 2.23 ERA this season. Cole said he has found that joking with Hacker has been one way to keep his spirits up, even if that means bringing up an inside joke from earlier in Hacker’s career when a picture of him looked like the villainous doll from the “Child’s Play” movies.
“We just heckle him a little bit, humble him, and then he throws his game,” Cole said. “He can get in his head a lot, but as soon as he gets out of there, he starts throwing strikes and ends up being a really good ballplayer.”
Hacker handles the other half of the battle, putting in all the physical work necessary to become a pitcher worthy of a postseason start. Extra hours in the weight room helped him increase the velocity of his fastball from 86 mph last summer to 90 mph.
“That’s a big improvement,” he said. “But I still have a long way to go.”
Hacker said his work continued throughout the winter months, even while he was part of a basketball team that won its first sectional title since 2001. There were plenty of late-night workouts following basketball practices or games.
Hacker said his frequent self-critiques are a symptom of his passion for sports.
“I’ve always been that way,” he said. “Ever since I was younger, I always wanted to be better.”
But Hacker has made a believer out of Prance.
“He just has to trust his stuff within the strike zone because when he’s in the zone, he’s dominant,” Prance said. “He has a high ceiling, and he isn’t close to reaching it.”
Whenever Hacker makes his next appearance on the mound, he will know what to do.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said. “Just go out there and throw.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
