St. Laurence’s Luke Stulga had many successful trips to the plate this season, but perhaps more important was how he handled the ones that ended in failure.
A senior outfielder who often lets his emotions fly on the field, Stulga admits he let slumps hit him a bit too hard in the past. This spring, he became a steady leader with the mental strength to shake off a bad day.
“Over the years, it’s always a mental battle with yourself when you’re not succeeding, and it’s about realizing you can’t get in your head because it’s going to make it worse,” Stulga said. “That all comes with maturity.
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“Everyone’s going to go through slumps, and it’s about minimizing them, because at the end of the day, they’re inevitable. This year, when I slumped, I figured out ways to get out of it quicker than ever before. I didn’t let it take a hold of me.”
The result was a monster season for Stulga. The 2023 Daily Southtown Baseball Player of the Year hit .431 with 46 runs, 25 stolen bases, eight home runs and 55 RBIs.
Stulga, an Illinois State recruit, was a power-hitting machine for the Vikings (30-9), who advanced to a Class 3A sectional final before losing to eventual state champion Nazareth.
Adding 21 doubles and eight triples for a whopping 37 extra-base hits in 130 at-bats, he had nearly twice as many extra-base hits as his 19 singles.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a player with more extra-base hits than singles,” St. Laurence coach Pete Lotus said. “That’s pretty crazy.”
Stulga produced one of the greatest seasons in program history.
Matt McCormick was named the 2019 Daily Southtown Baseball Player of the Year and won multiple statewide awards as a senior when he hit .419 with nine homers and 51 RBIs.
“Luke had all those extra-base hits and then he stole 25 bases, too,” Lotus said. “Matt McCormick was truly special, and from a hitting perspective, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. But in terms of a full offensive performance, including base running, Luke’s season was really special.”
Stulga went to the plate intent on doing damage.
“I kept getting stronger in the weight room, and I knew my role on the team was as an RBI guy in the three hole,” he said. “I just knew that’s what the team needed from me was to stretch the fence and get the ball out there and get runners in.
“On some balls where the outfielders were slow to get to it, I’d stretch a single into a double and stuff like that helped, just being heads up and taking advantage of those chances.”
The batters in front of Stulga figured out quickly good things were going to happen if they could get on, according to senior shortstop Jesse Contreras.
“I knew Luke was going to drive me in pretty much every time,” Contreras said.
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As good as Stulga was offensively, Lotus was especially proud of how far Stulga came defensively in his high school career after moving from third base to the outfield as a sophomore.
“One of the things I truly appreciate about Luke and will always talk to other players about is how he made that transition,” Lotus said. “It wasn’t easy, but he worked really hard at it while being uncomfortable. Then it got to the point where he made himself one of the best outfielders I’ve ever coached.”
As he gets set to head to Normal, Stulga is confident he will continue to produce in college.
“I think I have a chance to go in there and make an impact early on in my college career,” he said. “I didn’t want to go somewhere and potentially be riding the bench for a long time.
“I want to go in there, prove myself early and try to make it on the field as quickly as possible.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.