When St. Charles East senior John Carroll stood on the triple jump runway at Friday’s Kane County Meet, he had more vocal support than other participants.
Only part of it had to do with the meet being held at Carroll’s school. Teammates stopped by to root Carroll on — his baseball teammates, that is.
Carroll is one of those rare high school athletes who crosses over in sports during the same season. He is a second baseman by day, triple jumper by night.
“I’m very lucky to have teammates and coaches who are very supportive if I have to miss a practice here or there,” Carroll said. “My main focus is baseball, but sometimes I find a couple minutes to do some triple jumping drills with the jumping coach.”
Carroll does more than dabble at triple jump. The only triple jumper to beat Carroll at the county meet was West Aurora’s DaVion Cross, who took second at last year’s Class 3A state meet.
More Top Picks Best Pop Up Canopy Tents
Carroll went a personal-record 44 feet, 8.5 inches. State-qualifying standard at a sectional meet is 44-4.
“Any time you can get a kid to be in multiple sports, that’s what we love,” St. Charles East baseball coach Len Asquini said.
Many coaches say this, but they mean different sports in different seasons.
“He tried to do it last year, and the timing and the game dates didn’t work out,” Asquini said. “But this year I’m happy for him and for the track team because it’s all been able to be worked out.
“If we would have been rained out and had to play Streamwood, he wouldn’t have been able to jump at county.”
Because Carroll is more of a baseball player, he has to squeeze in practices when he can. Jumps coach Bradley Kaplan has worked with him during physical education class.
“I originally joined indoor track when I was a junior just to get in shape for baseball,” Carroll said. “And then I ended up finding an event I was pretty good at.”
The spring sports season is looking up in two different ways for Carroll. Mired in a 1-for-19 batting slump at the outset, Carroll has gone on a 20-for-55 stretch and raised his average to .284 from different spots near the top of the batting order.
“He’s really starting to see the ball well now,” Asquini said. “His approach at the plate is looking better.”
Carroll has eight RBIs his last seven games and ended last week with a pair of three-hit efforts in three games, including Saturday’s 8-5 comeback victory over Glenbard East.
“I started off pretty slow, and that was disappointing,” Carroll said. “But I feel like I’ve been in a groove lately.
“It seems like all our bats are coming around.”
The Saints (18-6, 14-3) trail St. Charles North by two games in the Upstate Eight River race. They’ve averaged 8.5 runs the past 13 games heading into Tuesday’s series with Elgin.
Defense and the pitching trio of Niko Klebosits (6-0, 1.26 ERA), Drew Conn (5-2, 2.16) and Keegan Kochis (3-1, 1.22) kept the Saints close to North.
“When we come out entirely focused, we know we’re a tough team to beat,” Carroll said. “Our pitching and defense are going to be there almost every time. The offense has to hold up.”
Carroll also hopes the weather holds up and limits baseball rescheduling.
The Saints currently have Friday, May 19 as a baseball off date. It’s also the day of the track sectional.
“The county meet was only my second outdoor meet of the year,” Carroll said. “After (44-8.5), I have to say I’m wondering what I’m capable of.”
Twitter @genechamberlai2
More Top Picks Best Snow Boots For Men Under 100