Lately, St. Charles North’s Ty Heimbuch has been willing to try anything to unlock his power.
Earlier this week, Heimbuch did something he had never tried before in a search for answers.
“What’s funny is he bunted for a hit the other night,” North Stars coach Todd Genke said of Heimbuch. “It was his first bunt for a hit ever he told me.”
Whatever it takes, and Heimbuch will take the results.
The senior first baseman finally connected on his first homer of the season Thursday against Lake Park. His two-run shot in the second ignited a 14-0 DuKane Conference victory in five innings.
Ben Auer added a three-run double and an RBI single in that big second inning for host St. Charles North (17-11, 12-6), which sent 12 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs.
Langdon Straub tallied three RBIs in the inning, including a two-run single. Matt Ritchie threw three stellar innings, striking out six and allowing one hit before leaving to preserve his pitch count.
Heimbuch, meanwhile, experienced a sense of relief when he saw his homer go over the left field fence. Whether or not the bunt helped remains to be seen, but he will take it.
“I don’t know if that was what sparked me or not,” Heimbuch said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a homer. I was just trying to hit a barrel. It went over the fence luckily. I found my pitch and finally got one.”
Heimbuch is one of three seniors for the North Stars, who graduated the majority of last season’s roster. Although they’re not around the program anymore, he still reaches out to them for advice.
“I’ve taken traits from everyone as much as I can,” Heimbuch said of last year’s group. “I ask them questions to this day. I’m in contact with a bunch of them.
“It’s hard for just three people to lead. I think everyone as a whole is finding a role. When everyone is on board and we’re pulling in the same direction, it’s helping a lot.”
Heimbuch, who has been recruited by North Central College to catch, had to find a role as well.
With Straub available to catch and the North Stars needing a first baseman, Heimbuch showed his team-first attitude and tackled the challenge.
“That’s where I found my spot,” Heimbuch said. “It’s fun learning a new spot. It keeps things interesting. Hopefully, I’ll be back behind the plate at some point. Until then, I’ll do anything I can to help the team.
“Anywhere I can help the team, I’ll go there.”
Genke also has appreciated Heimbuch’s flexibility.
“He’s just a team-first guy,” Genke said. “He’ll do anything he can do. He’s a dynamic first baseman over there, too. He plays really well over there and kind of filled a hole for us.
“He’s not coming out of the lineup, so we thought that would be a good spot for him to go.”
Ritchie was dominant yet again. The lopsided score allowed Genke to get him out of the game on a limited pitch count so he could be available in the final DuKane Conference series of the season.
That three-game set against Geneva, which will determine the conference champion.
“I thought his breaking ball was unreal,” Genke said. “That’s always a benefit when you can throw that and his good fastball.”
At the same thing, Ritchie loves that he can bounce things off Heimbuch.
“Ty and I had an immediate connection,” Ritchie said. “The times he has caught me, we’ve worked very well together.”
Ritchie is one of the many young players Heimbuch is happy to help bring along.
“I feel like finally we’re all settling down and we’re getting hot at the right time,” Heimbuch said. “Everyone is stepping up, especially with all the roles we had to fill.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
