Senior pitcher Seth Gilliland knows he has the repertoire to be Waubonsie Valley’s ace.
His coach, Bryan Acevedo, knows it. His future college program, Wisconsin-Whitewater, knows it. And Gilliland is also well aware of the fact that it’s time to show the good stuff in game situations.
Wednesday was that time for him.
“I really wanted to make an impression given that I’m going to college for baseball,” Gilliland said. “It felt good to get out there and do my thing.”
The left-handed Gilliland felt good during warm-ups and it carried over for the host Warriors during a 6-2 nonconference victory over Oswego East in Aurora.
In arguably the best outing of his varsity career, Gilliland struck out seven in five scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and a walk for Waubonsie (2-1).
“I was like, ‘Let’s keep dealing, let’s keep going,’” Gilliland said
Owen Roberts and Shane Torres had two hits apiece to lead the Warriors. Seth Nielson added a two-run single as part of a four-run third inning.
Nathan Cristanujaya came through with a pinch-hit, two-run single in the seventh for Oswego East (0-2). Jacsen Tucker stole two bases.
The main driver behind Gilliland’s dominant effort, however, was the use of his curveball. He realized early on that he had it working, and he kept going to it throughout the game.
“I think it’s my most consistent off-speed pitch,” Gilliland said. “My change-up is definitely my out pitch, but I’m definitely starting to get more consistent with my curveball.
“I can throw it for a strike. I can throw it for a swing-and-miss pitch. I like it.”
Acevedo was impressed with Gilliland’s command of the curve.
“He had them out on his front foot and that was huge,” Acevedo said. “He’s definitely a three-pitch pitcher and commands the zone. (Wednesday) he just kind of put it all together, which was great.”
Acevedo knew Gilliland had it in him. He was happy to see it finally happen.
“He definitely has the ability,” Acevedo said of Gilliland. “Last year, he was slowed a little bit at the beginning of the year with an arm injury and that kind of pushed him to Saturdays.
“This year, he knows it’s his job. He really threw a nice game for us.”
Oswego East was close to getting out of the third with minimal damage. A pair of hit batsmen, though, kept the inning alive and Nielson then made the Wolves pay with a two-run single.
“That’s been our MO the past couple years,” Oswego East coach Brian Schaeffer said. “We compete and then we have one inning where they get a couple free bases and a timely hit.
“That’s what happened (Wednesday).”
Armed with the lead, Gilliland took care of the rest.
“We swung through way too many curveballs, especially his second time through the lineup when he started to throw it as his first pitch,” Schaeffer said. “We were biting on it. I think we were starting to press a little bit.”
After an uneven junior year, Gilliland had a solid summer, which caught Whitewater’s eye. He also did something that’s becoming increasingly important in the recruiting game — self-promotion.
“One thing that I’m glad I did with my parents was market myself really well,” Gilliland said. “I promoted myself to be a baseball player, not just a pitcher.”
Waubonsie’s strength appears to be on the mound this season, and it’s coming together quickly.
Roberts picked up an impressive 8-1 win over St. Charles East earlier this week. And now, Gilliland has shown that ace ability as well.
“It’s nice to see me, Owen, Nick Lambert, seeing all these guys come in as prominent starters,” Gilliland said. “And also seeing our relievers coming in and getting into the swing of things, too.
“It’s coming together really well.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
