There may not be an obvious connection between wrestling and baseball, but St. Laurence’s Mike Gentile feels the experience he gets on the mat in the winter helps him on the field in the spring.
More Top Picks Best Pillows For Neck Pain Without Pain
“You can’t be stiff in wrestling, so it loosens me up,” Gentile said. “It makes me more calm and patient at the plate.
“You have to have that strong mentality in wrestling, and that helps a lot in baseball. Especially in the field too, it helps with playing loose and having fun.”
Gentile, a senior third baseman/outfielder and an Upper Iowa recruit, is hoping to cap a busy and successful final year at St. Laurence with a baseball state championship.
Gentile is a three-sport athlete who earned all-conference honors last fall in the Catholic League Orange as a safety in football. In wrestling, he was a state qualifier who won two matches at the state meet.
St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus loves the competitive mentality Gentile brings.
“One thing he’s always been is a tough and dependable kid,” Lotus said of Gentile. “He’s used to competing all the time. It’s hard to replace that. He has that experience in football and wrestling, which are both demanding sports.
“Mike does a lot. He practices a lot. He weight trains a lot. He has a great work ethic, and that rubs off on guys.”
Gentile is certainly a busy guy, but he would have it any other way.
“I don’t like to be home doing nothing all day,” he said. “I like having something to do and going with the flow. I go to the gym anytime I can too.
“Sometimes, it’s a lot to balance, but you just have to have time management and it all works out.”
Gentile feels there are huge advantages to being a multisport athlete.
“I love playing all three sports,” he said. “I think playing all of them, a bit of every sport helps with me something in the other sports.
“You can tell wrestling helps me out with football and it loosens me up for baseball. They all pay off for other sports.”
Baseball, though, always has been Gentile’s greatest passion.
“I started baseball when I was 3 years old with T-ball and then actual kids pitching started at 6,” he said. “Baseball has always been my main sport. As soon I stepped on the field with baseball, I knew I wanted to do that in college.
“It’s been my favorite my whole life.”
In his varsity debut — after his sophomore season was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic — Gentile started every game last year for the Vikings.
He hit .293 with two home runs and 22 RBIs as St. Laurence went 27-9 and finished third in Class 3A.
“He can play infield, outfield, he runs really well,” Lotus said of Gentile. “He is really versatile. He can hit anywhere in the lineup too.
“He can be the guy who does the little things like move guys over or steal bases, but he also has some pop and he can drive in runs.”
Lotus said Gentile sometimes was hurt by trying to hit home runs last season. Gentile has worked a lot on his approach.
“Last year, I struggled a bit with consistency,” Gentile said. “It’s about staying short to the baseball, not trying to do too much, getting base hits and letting my teammates move me over and drive me in.”
More Top Picks Tubers
For Gentile, it’s all about helping his team have success.
“I want to be a guy coaches can count on to do jobs for the team,” he said. “I want to be there to lay a bunt down, move a guy over, steal bases, do whatever I can to help the team win and hopefully have a great season.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.