Ryan Eiermann, it appears, can do more than pitch.
The Naperville Central junior burst onto the area baseball scene last spring. He was the DuPage Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and Naperville Sun Player of the Year on the strength of his golden left arm.
Now, he’s showing what he can do with a bat.
In 16 plate appearances, Eiermann is hitting .417 (5-for-12) with three doubles and three RBIs. He had a key RBI double in a 4-1 win Friday at O’Fallon.
It was part of a 3-1 spring trip downstate for the Redhawks (6-2).
“I knew I was going to get a chance to hit more this season,” said Eiermann, a TCU recruit. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
He did last spring, going 8-1 with a 0.56 ERA. Eiermann wasn’t asked to do much at the plate, though.
He only got eight plate appearances, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Nonetheless, Naperville Central coach Mike Stock isn’t surprised to see Eiermann having early success.
“Ryan is a very good baseball player and he loves to compete,” Stock said. “He could be in the lineup at first base when he’s not pitching, or he could DH.”
Growing up, Eiermann batted in Little League and travel ball. He likes the extra responsibility.
“I get bored being just a pitcher,” Eiermann said. “If I’m struggling on the mound, I can take that anger out in the box.”
Eiermann will be exclusively on the mound in college. While playing travel ball this year, he only pitched. High school is a different dynamic.
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Central needs everyone to contribute to replace the production of Bobby McMillen, who’s playing football for Iowa State.
“With this group of guys it doesn’t need to be a single person,” Eiermann said. “Our mind-set is this is our year.”
The Redhawks will find out early if that’s true when they open DVC play this week with a series against defending champion Glenbard North. The Panthers swept three games from Central last spring.
Ringlein raking: Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Ringlein seems to have made a seamless transition from swinging a hockey stick to taking cuts with a baseball bat.
Ringlein is off to a hot start, going 8-for-12 with four RBIs and four runs for Neuqua (2-1) during its trip to Memphis, Tenn.
“He squared everything up,” Neuqua coach Robin Renner said of Ringlein. “He had a really good summer and a good spring last year. He missed some days of practice early for hockey, but hasn’t missed a beat.”
Ringlein isn’t the only Wildcat off to a good start. James Gargano went 6-for-12 with four runs.
“We didn’t see the top-level pitching we usually do, but (31) hits in (19) innings is still impressive,” Renner said.
Welcome to the DVC: If Waubonsie Valley (5-1) has the DVC’s deepest pitching staff, it could get its toughest test this week with a three-game series against Lake Park.
The Lancers (4-0) won a Class 4A regional last spring and return the conference’s most experienced lineup. Lake Park scored 31 runs in three games in South Carolina last week.
“They have a good senior class,” Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Acevedo should feel good going in. A pitching staff led by Brandon Petersen, Jason Neville and Alex Schram has already thrown three shutouts with a 1.67 ERA, 43 strikeouts and just six walks in 42 innings.
“We knew that pitching would be our strength,” Acevedo said. “We still feel we haven’t played our best baseball.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.