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Baseball: Lucente dealing with Hinsdale Central’s ‘ups and downs’
Hinsdale Central's Sam Lucente reaches for the ball at shortstop against Glenbard West. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 29, 2012 8:40AM
It’s not what Sam Lucente expected of his senior season at Hinsdale Central: the team’s longest winning streak being only three games.
It happened two times, but both feats came in March.
Hinsdale Central hosts East Aurora in the IHSA Class 3A Bolingbrook Regional quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. May 21. The winner plays Neuqua Valley at 4:30 p.m. May 23.
The Red Devils hosted Neuqua Valley on March 21 and lost 11-0.
“It seems like we’ve had our ups and downs,” said Lucente, Central’s starting shortstop and a two-year varsity player.
After suffering a 7-3 defeat at Lyons Township on May 5, the Red Devils (9-17, 3-8 West Suburban Silver) had lost nine of last 10 games. A 2-1 win over Addison Trail in eight innings on May 10 eased the pain.
Lucente will continue his baseball career next season at NCAA Division III DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. He attended an offseason showcase and was spotted by a DePauw coach.
Lucente is one of Hinsdale Central’s top batters, usually hitting third or fourth in the lineup for coach Justin Cronin.
He has replaced former star Matt Anderson at shortstop.
“He was a good leader last year, and now I follow his footsteps,” Lucente said.
To make a run in the playoffs, Hinsdale Central’s pitching and defense will need to improve. The Red Devils won their first three games of the season during a spring break trip to Florida, and later swept Proviso West in a three-game series.
“Things are going better since the beginning of the season. We’ve improved on a lot of things,” Lucente said. “It’s been frustrating this being my last season as a senior. We’re capable of coming back, but we’ve lost 10 games by two runs or one.”
