Daniel Pacella is feeling confident and locked in at the plate early in his senior season.
That bodes well for the Mundelein first baseman, given his impressive offensive production after a slow start in 2021.
“Last year I started off not as hot as I was hoping,” Pacella said. “This year I’m feeling a lot more comfortable. I’ve been trying to simplify my swing to not strike out as much and just be sure to put the ball in play. I want to shorten up as much as possible and just make the defense work.”
Pacella’s approach is paying dividends. The Illinois State recruit hit .467 with two home runs, five RBIs and six runs as Mundelein won four of its first five games.
When you look at Pacella’s final numbers from last season, when he hit .419 with nine homers and 33 RBIs, it’s hard to believe he started it in a prolonged slump.
“I was committed to Kentucky and feeling like I was one of the big-time recruits in the area and thinking I had to prove myself,” Pacella said. “I put way too much pressure on myself, and that wasn’t a good thing.”
Pacella said he and Mundelein coach Randy Lerner had a conversation that helped him relax and go back to the basics.
“Coach told me that everybody knows what I can do, and if I just focus on putting the ball in play, good things will happen,” Pacella said. “Once I realized that, I started rolling, and my confidence started building.
“Once the conference season started, I was putting some really good swings together. That was kind of the changing point for me.”
Pacella was named the North Suburban Conference co-player of the year.
“He’s a student of the game,” Lerner said. “He really tries to study his swing and analyze the flaws and the things that could beat him. He goes to the cages and tries to figure out how to simplify his swing.
“He has so much raw strength and talent, so being able to refine some of those things has really helped him progress.”
Pacella also decided not to attend Kentucky.
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“I decommitted from Kentucky for personal reasons,” he said. “I was just looking for a place where I felt more comfortable with the school. I was feeling like I wanted to stay closer to home. Illinois State gave me a great opportunity, and I took it right away.”
Lerner called Pacella “a great leader,” and that’s something Pacella is taking seriously this season.
“Last year I felt like we had a team chemistry issue, and me and (Lerner) felt like if we could get that together this year, we’d really be unstoppable,” Pacella said.
“So this year I’ve been focusing on that team building. Ever since we started practicing, we’ve been going out whenever we can to grab lunch together and just doing little things to build that bond.”
Pacella said it’s making a difference, which he saw when the Mustangs went 3-1 at a tournament in Tennessee.
“It’s definitely paying off,” Pacella said. “We went on our spring break trip, and you could see the bond we have. You could see the brotherhood we’ve made.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.