Lyons Township High School senior Nate Anderson begins his fourth varsity baseball season with extra enthusiasm after working with new pitching coach Ryan McWilliams at B.S.F. Pitching Performance in Lockport.
The left-handed starter has developed a slider to accompany his four-seam and two-seam fastballs and change-up.
“I’ve been working on that for years and I finally got it down so I’m super excited to use it in games,” Anderson said. “I just kept messing with the pitch grips and then finally I kept throwing one that was consistently getting the break that I wanted.”
The Lions will boast one of the strongest starting staffs in the state – Anderson, senior Brady Chambers and junior Tucker King – as they hope to extend their longest streak of consecutive regional titles since four straight from 2011-14.
After winning their second straight regional in 2023, the Lions lost 7-3 to state runner-up Mt. Carmel in the Class 4A Mt. Carmel Sectional semifinals to finish 25-10 overall after a 13-5 record in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division for second behind Downers Grove North.
“Everyone on our team is super hungry,” said Chambers, also a fourth-year varsity starting pitcher. “We just want to compete as hard as we can and get as far as we can in the state series. We’ve just got to compete as a team and if we all stay together, I think we have a really good chance of winning a lot of games.”
Chambers, who will play at Michigan State, earned All-WSC Silver honors in 2023 after a 4-2 record with a 2.69 earned-run average and 54 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched.
Anderson (3-1, 2.66 ERA, 53 strikeouts in 47.1 innings) was all-conference in 2022 and will play at John A. Logan College in downstate Carterville.
Already committed to Cincinnati, King was 4-0 in his first varsity season with a 3.04 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 46 innings and has bulked up 15 pounds.
“I think our rotation is one of the best in the state and we’ve got some young guys in the lineup that can really provide for us,” Anderson said.
The starters form the kind of “three-headed monster” LTHS coach Kevin Diete recalled in 2019, the last time the Lions won the Silver.
“We’re definitely going to lean on them a little bit, just in terms of pitching and defense, keep us in games. We’ve just got to find some runs to help support them,” Diete said.
“We’re always going to have high expectations. All of these guys are working really hard. I’m anxious to see what these guys can do.”
In the field, seniors Mike Mango (.321 batting average, 16 runs batted in, 11 stolen bases in 2023) and Ryan Jackson (.283, 11 RBI) and junior Luke Nicholaus (.303, 24 RBI) also are returning starters.
Jackson, the Lions’ starting quarterback in the fall, will play football at St. Thomas. Jackson moves to center field to replace graduated standout Frederick Ragsdale III, now playing at Kent State.
Mango, who will play at Harper College, was the starting shortstop and pitched. The left-handed Nicholaus will be an outfielder/designated hitter/pitcher.
Three more seniors saw varsity action – infielder Joey Severson, headed to MIT, catcher Quinn Mateja, who will play at Morton College, and first baseman/pitcher Jake Shumaker. Varsity newcomers are seniors Ryan Good, Will Greifenkamp, Brack Hyde, Roark McCarthy and Sam Ruden, juniors Noah Fitzgerald, Blake Pisciotti, Mercer Krantz, Cam Clarke, Jaden Gonzalez, Luka Luburic and Mac McCarthy and freshman Blake Ragsdale, Frederick’s younger brother who already has committed to Texas Christian.
The Lions haven’t won a sectional since their 2012 second-place 4A state finisher. Two-time reigning 3A state champion Nazareth Academy may also be a new sectional opponent.
“That sectional title is the goal. We need one of those,” King said. “Our bats might not have as much power as last year but we’re definitely going to compete, compete, compete.”