When Kaneland’s Nolan Claeson found out he was going down to the sophomore team, it could have gone one of two ways last season.
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He was with the varsity through spring break. When someone else won the job to play first base regularly, Claeson got sent down. In the wake of that news, he chose the positive direction.
“It was a lot of motivation for me,” Claeson said, looking back to last spring. “Just keep working and find your way. I got moved back down. It hurt. I went back and did well on sophomore.
“It was a good thing for me in the long run, to be able to go through that in a good way. It’s very rewarding.”
If Claeson has more games like he had Wednesday against St. Charles East, he won’t have to worry about losing that spot anytime soon. The junior first baseman produced a pair of RBI doubles and scored twice for the Knights in 6-5 nonconference win.
Colton Ludwig also drove in two runs for Kaneland (2-4-1). Kanon Baxley allowed a solo homer to Gavin Fuscone in the seventh, but struck out the other five batters he faced to nail down the save.
Mason Daros recorded two hits and scored a run for St. Charles East (6-3), while Niko Vahmistrovs hit a two-run homer.
Claeson doubled in Aidan Whildin and scored in the second inning to give Kaneland a 2-1 lead. He then doubled in Caleb Cornell and scored in the fifth to hand Kaneland a 6-4 lead.
“I had two strikes on me,” Claeson said of his second double. “I knew I had to do my job, get the guy in with one out. I needed to put the ball in play. I didn’t expect to get a double out of that.”
Kaneland coach Brian Aversa loves to see a player bouncing back from adversity.
“He’s coming around,” Aversa said of Claeson. “Good job by him stepping up when we needed it. Yeah, he contributed well (Wednesday), so we’re happy for him.”
Aversa knows how disappointing it can be to lose a position battle. He has been happy with how Claeson handled it, however.
“Just his response,” Aversa said. “He’s been working hard. It’s paying off finally. We’re happy to see it. He got moved up as a sophomore for football. He’s just a good athlete.
“He’s someone we’ve been working with and he’s coming around.”
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Claeson pointed out that the Knights’ energy helped keep them in a back-and-forth game on a windy day.
“Just staying up, staying active in the dugout and cheering on your teammates was the biggest thing,” Claeson said. “If you’re dead, you’re not going to do anything. It ruins the whole mood.”
The homer from Vahmistrovs in the third tied the game at 3-3.
“He’s been coming around,” St. Charles East coach Derek Sutor said. “He started to swing the bat more on our spring trip. He’s starting to heat up.”
Dylan McCabe walked and scored in the fourth to give the Saints a 4-3 lead. Even after surrendering the lead and facing the flamethrowing Baxley, St. Charles East never felt out of it.
“End of the day, there were tons of positives to take from this game,” Sutor said. “Our guys have the capability to keep us in the game through all the ups and downs.”
Aversa expects the pitching staff to be Kaneland’s strength this season. With several positions up in the air, including first base, performances like Claeson’s help.
“He’s battling for a position,” Aversa said. “We have a lot of guys battling for spots. I think a lot of guys after our trip are starting to settle in like, ‘OK, this is big boy ball. We have to get going now.’”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.