Latest news with #Andrean
Chicago Tribune
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Arianna Vianello isn't ‘trying to be perfect' anymore. Without that pressure, she delivers for Whiting.
Whiting's Arianna Vianello saw the bigger picture. By taking a step back, the senior catcher took steps forward. 'This year, it's just my mentality,' Vianello said. 'I really got my head in order. Previous years, I was always trying to be perfect, and I always wanted to be perfect. This year, it's my last season, I don't plan to go further with softball, so I wanted to make the best of what I had left.' Indeed, in her fourth season as a starter, Vianello has delivered her most productive one yet. She's hitting .465 with four doubles, a triple, two homers, 23 RBIs and 20 runs scored, leading the Oilers in four of those categories. She has helped Whiting (6-9, 4-6), which will play either Andrean or Boone Grove in the semifinals of the Class 2A Boone Grove Sectional on May 27, double its total victories from last season and eclipse its wins in the Greater South Shore Conference. 'Ari's playing with a lot less pressure, and she's having fun and she's enjoying herself,' Whiting coach Kelly Morando said. 'This team has a very good team dynamic and camaraderie, and she feeds off of that, and all the girls feed off of that. 'She's been a great captain. Overall, she just doesn't have that pressure, and she wants to go out having fun, and it's showing.' Sophomore shortstop Lily Morando also noted Vianello's leadership skills for a team that includes Vianello's cousin Aliyah, a freshman. 'She really brings a voice to the team,' Lily Morando said. 'As one of the captains, you expect that. But it's more than that, and she really shows it on the field. She tells us not to get in our heads. She'll be the one still cheering in the dugout even if we're down by 10. She's just really a voice for us.' Vianello isn't anchored behind the plate. She has seen some time in the outfield this season, and she played mostly at third base as a freshman. 'I can count on her wherever we need her,' Kelly Morando said. 'She's going to track down the ball. She's going to get the ball in. She's going to be a solid position for us wherever she's needed. 'Even this year, she's flopped between catching and outfield here and there. She gives us some speed in the outfield.' Vianello prepares for any situation. 'I keep my mind super focused,' she said. 'When I go up to bat, I always keep my mechanics on the top of my head. When I'm behind the plate, I'm always thinking. I'm always thinking about what's coming next.' What's coming next for Vianello, who spends the first half of her school days studying cosmetology at the Hammond Area Career Center and works at a salon on the weekends as part of the program, is studying medical diagnostic sonography at IU Indianapolis. She received inquiries from multiple colleges about the possibility of playing, but she said, 'I think I'm done with softball.' She also played basketball and cheered throughout high school. She even played volleyball as a freshman. As the time remaining on this season dwindles, Vianello, who already was named the softball team's most valuable player as a sophomore and junior, is determined to continue maximizing it. 'It's definitely been my best year throughout my entire career of softball,' she said. 'Not even just our skill and playing-wise, but just our attitudes and our relationships together. 'As long as we keep our attitudes up and keep working as a team together, we can really accomplish anything.'
Chicago Tribune
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Andrean's Sadie Drousias prepared for this. ‘I've never pitched as much as I did in the offseason.' It shows.
Andrean junior Sadie Drousias lived in pitcher's circles during the offseason. Every minute that Drousias had available was devoted to preparing to be the 59ers' top pitcher this season after ace Abbey Bond graduated last year. 'In my entire life, I've never pitched as much as I did in the offseason from my sophomore year to my junior year,' Drousias said. 'Pretty much every day it was just pitching, pitching, pitching.' It's a role Drousias owns for Andrean (10-6, 4-4), which is in third place in the Northwest Crossroads Conference and hopes to make a postseason run after its Class 2A sectional semifinal exit last year. She's 6-4 in 57 innings of work, having already surpassed her 55 1/3 innings as a sophomore and her 56 1/3 innings as a freshman. With Bond pitching for Purdue Northwest, Drousias has taken the reins. 'I know she worked super hard in the offseason, and I'm really proud of the progress she's made,' Andrean coach Miranda Elish said. 'I don't think she pitched all that much before she came here, but she knew that was a possibility down the road in her career, she prepared for it and she's ready for it.' Drousias has also been a key part of the 59ers' offense. She's hitting .444 with five doubles and two home runs, and she's in a three-way tie for the team lead with 18 RBIs. She said a more selective approach at the plate has helped fuel her success there. 'I'm looking for the pitch that I want to hit,' she said. 'Those other years, I'd just swing at the first thing I saw.' Drousias knows batters will make contact against her too. Her work in the circle is more about placement than power. She has struck out just 45 this season. 'Some people are going to hit the ball,' she said. 'But if my spots are on point, then we should be able to get the routine plays that we need so we can go far.' It took some time for that message to get through to Drousias, according to junior shortstop Aubrey Grasha. They play on the same travel team, and Grasha said Drousias had to be convinced that she didn't need to strike out all 21 batters every game. 'She's taken a step back and is realizing that she doesn't have to put so much pressure on herself,' Grasha said. 'She's not a strikeout pitcher, so she's going to put balls in play, and her defense is going to go to work for her. We're not going to leave her out there by herself.' But Drousias is a fiery competitor. She's the youngest of four siblings, and the other three have played sports in college. Her older brothers Colton and Caleb are wrestlers, and her older sister Cydney plays softball at Lewis. 'I'd say I do feel some pressure because I'd be the only one who didn't,' Drousias said. 'So of course I feel like I have to get up there.' Elish isn't surprised. 'You can tell she's the youngest of four kids,' Elish said. 'She just fights, man — like any youngest sibling would. She fights hard.' That will carry Drousias forward, even after the huge leaps she has already made as a pitcher. 'From where I was last year, I feel like I've improved a ton,' she said. 'But there's always something you can do better.'
Chicago Tribune
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Andrean's PJ Cusick will take his biggest swing after golf season. He'll try to make the Purdue football team.
Golf has taught Andrean senior PJ Cusick that he can't let a few bad swings ruin his day. For Cusick, confidence is the key. 'You can have a bad warmup on the range before a match but still go out there and shoot under par,' he said. 'It's just believing in yourself that when the time comes, all of the things that I'm about to do are things I've done before — and I've done it well.' That self-belief will be important when Cusick, one of the kickers selected for the 59th annual Murat Shrine North/South Football All-Star Classic, takes his biggest swing later this year. Long after golf season has ended, Cusick will try to earn a roster spot on the Purdue football team as a walk-on. 'I know I have the skills for it,' he said. 'It's not in a cocky way or anything like that. But I firmly believe in myself with all of the training that I've had. I just have to go down there, perform to the best of my ability, and I think I'll have a good shot at it.' Cusick's next chance to kick in a game will be the North/South Football All-Star Classic at Decatur Central in Indianapolis on July 11. Recent selections from Andrean include linebacker Charlie Koeppen in 2023, running back Ryan Walsh in 2021, kicker JJ Wadas in 2020 and quarterback Zack Merrill in 2019. Cusick recalled the moment when he learned from Andrean football coach Chris Skinner that he had been picked for the North roster. 'I was walking into the school when I got the text from coach Skinner that I'd made the team, and I was ecstatic for it,' Cusick said. 'I'm really pumped to play in that game because there have been some big names that went to Andrean and played in those all-star games, so I look forward to being on that stage.' Cusick said golf has helped prepare him for kicking on big stages. He's one of the top returning players for the Andrean boys golf team this season. 'With golf, every shot isn't perfect, and you get a lot of mental strength from that,' he said. 'That's something I can carry over to kicking because you're getting minimal reps, so you have to make them count.' Cusick handled the kicking duties for the 59ers last season. He converted 28 of 30 extra-point attempts and 7 of 14 field-goal attempts with a long of 38 yards. He also had 35 touchbacks on 58 kickoffs and averaged 34.3 yards per punt. Cusick focused on kicking full time after having conversations with Skinner following his freshman season. Since then, Skinner has watched Cusick constantly work to improve his skills. 'It really comes down to his competitive nature as an individual,' Skinner said. 'There's never an end to golf. You can always get better. Kicking is the same way too. There's no point where you should stop wanting to make progress, and that speaks to what he's trying to do, to see how far he can take this.' Cusick said he's still kicking multiple times each week during golf season. For several years, he has been working with Chris Nendick, a Naperville, Illinois, native who kicked at Northern Illinois and then started training kickers. Nendick's clients have included Jake Elliott, who kicked four field goals for the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in February. Nendick said Cusick has a chance to prolong his career. 'He's matured, he's gotten stronger and he's decided to put in the work,' Nendick said. 'You can have kids who kick a ball really far as a freshman or sophomore, but the kids who were working harder who weren't, those are the kids that will ultimately propel forward toward the tail end of their high school careers. PJ's on track for all of that at this point.'
Chicago Tribune
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Kentucky baseball commit Rob Czarniecki sticks with basketball at Chesterton. ‘Making memories' is too rewarding.
Chesterton junior Rob Czarniecki cherishes the challenge and the camaraderie too much. Although the Kentucky baseball commit considered no longer playing basketball to focus on that primary sport in which he stars, he ultimately couldn't go through with it. 'It was in the back of my head,' Czarniecki said. 'But the guys, I'm not ready to give that up yet. That's the main thing. 'Being out here with my guys, some of these guys are my best friends. Going out there and competing, that's one of the main reasons. It just gets me excited for the season, making memories with them that we'll be able to talk about for the rest of our lives.' Chesterton coach Marc Urban, who recently set the program record for career victories, respects Czarniecki for sticking with basketball. 'He's a guy that has found value in competing in another sport that's not his best sport,' Urban said. 'It says a lot about a kid that he enjoys competing. My hope, our hope, is that he's a better competitor in his main sport because he's playing a part in our program. That's fun.' Czarniecki, a 6-foot-1 forward, is averaging 3.4 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Trojans (15-8), who will play Duneland Athletic Conference co-champion Portage in the Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional semifinals on Friday. Chesterton split two games with the Indians this season. 'He obviously doesn't light up the stat sheet with points, but he's one of the best role guys you could ask for,' Urban said of Czarniecki. 'He defends even though he's undersized at his position. He has the ability to shoot. 'He just makes plays. He's just the kind of kid you really want on your team because he'll do whatever you ask him. He's just enjoying competing and finding a way to win.' Czarniecki also did a lot of winning with the Chesterton baseball team under first-year coach John Bogner last year. That included the Trojans' first sectional title in the sport since 2018. An outfielder and pitcher, Czarniecki hit .489 with seven homers, 38 RBIs, 31 runs scored and nine stolen bases, and he went 4-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. He was the DAC's most valuable position player, and the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association named him to the Class 4A all-state team. Czarniecki announced his commitment to Kentucky in September, having also considered Notre Dame. 'Throughout the whole process, talking to everybody down there, when I went down on my visit, I had a feeling it was the right place for me,' he said. Chesterton also has proved to be the right place for Czarniecki, who is related to iconic Andrean baseball coach Dave Pishkur. 'We're like third cousins or something like that,' Czarniecki said. 'There's a big branch of it all. Definitely my seventh and eighth grade years, Andrean was really in play for me. I just changed at the last minute. All of my friends were going to Chesterton, and it just seemed right to me. I told my mom, and she said, 'Whatever you want to do.' 'Growing up, I'd go to all the Andrean camps, and I'd always be around those guys. We'd go to games. But I don't know what it was, I just kind of thought Chesterton was the right place for me. It was a good move. I'm happy I made that decision.' So, too, is Chesterton junior guard Logan Pokorney. 'He started at the beginning of the season, kind of our glue guy, bringing us all together,' Pokorney said of Czarniecki. 'But coming off the bench, he plays an important role as well. He just really brings us together off the bench and makes sure we're still flowing in our offense and just makes sure we're doing the right thing. He brings a lot of value to the team.' Czarniecki largely concentrates on doing the small things. 'I just try to bring some energy to the guys,' he said. 'Just go and play good defense, rebound, score some points when they need me to. I just like to come in and improve the play of other guys and just do things that can help the team win.' Czarniecki has managed to strike a balance among his activities. 'He still gets his baseball work in,' Urban said. 'He'll go home and hit in the garage and work on different things. Even with managing your time, doing schoolwork, we're practicing long with our schedule, he's still finding time to work on his game. Those are the things when you get to college, if you have that ability to manage your time, that's big because your time is eaten up so much as a college athlete, and hopefully we're helping him to be prepared when he gets there at that level. 'And if he ever gets to the professional level, his time management is going to be important as well. You talk about high school athletes and what you get out of it, he's getting the most out of his experience right now, which is great.'
Chicago Tribune
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Crown Point transfer Tiaan Coetzee is different player for Andrean. Growing 8 inches in 2 years will do that.
It's all about adjustments for Andrean junior forward Tiaan Coetzee. To a new frame. To a new school. Once a 5-foot-9 freshman at Crown Point, Coetzee has grown to 6-5 and transferred to Andrean before this school year. 'I originally came here because I like the smaller school and the more religion aspect,' Coetzee said. 'But obviously I've played basketball my whole life. Playing basketball from third grade AAU all the way to sophomore year with the same people and then switching over, it felt like a big transition. 'But I feel like I jelled well. I knew some of my teammates from AAU, so I was able to get to know them better and get to know their friends. I feel like I'm in the mix right now.' Coetzee, who was 6-1 when he played for Crown Point's junior varsity team last season, was averaging 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting better than 50% from 3-point range before the 59ers (13-5, 4-0) defeated Lowell on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory and ninth in 10 games. Andrean remained undefeated along with perennial champion Munster in the Northwest Crossroads Conference and needs one more victory to match its total from last season. Coetzee began this season coming off the bench, moved into the starting lineup as teammates suffered injuries and has shifted back to the bench as they have returned. Regardless of his role, Coetzee has played significant minutes. 'I'm not really worried if I'm starting or not,' he said. 'I feel like I'm playing well either way. I know my time's coming.' With his low-key personality, Coetzee has needed a little prodding along the way, according to Andrean coach Aaron Austin. 'He's a really quiet kid,' Austin said. 'There's probably 3,500 kids at Crown Point, 450 here. The setting is so much different, and I think he really enjoys it. He misses some of his friends at Crown Point, but he's been awesome. 'As quiet as he is, you have to push him. He's super athletic. I don't think he even knows that. He's super coachable, and he wants to get better. Sometimes you just have to yell, see his response, see what you can get out of him. One game, I got on him: 'You have to be better!' He went back in, and he got a steal, got a layup, got a three. I said, 'See, you can do it.' You just have to get it out of him. But he's a great kid, great family. He's a huge pickup for us.' Coetzee showed an example of his ability when he scored 21 points on 6-of-6 shooting from 3-point range during Andrean's Catholic Cup victory against Marquette on Feb. 1. 'He's a great shooter — great shooter,' Andrean senior guard/forward Paul Gilvydis said. 'He's always confident. He just helps the team a lot. He's been great for us.' Such a performance from Coetzee didn't necessarily surprise Austin. 'His shooting has been great,' Austin said. 'When he shoots, it's like, 'OK, go the other way.' One game, I was yelling, 'Patience!' Before I could even get it out, he was shooting the ball, and it was all net. I just looked at the coaches and just shrugged. I'll let him do that. 'Him being 6-4, 6-5, his 3-point attempts aren't going to be contested the same way as the twins (Aiden and Alex Austin) last year — they're tiny guys. It's been a lot easier for him to get his shot off. And he's just a junior, so we're going to get another year with him too. We're looking forward to it.' Coetzee, who turned 17 on Tuesday, had to get accustomed to being 6-5 and is still growing. 'I was a little guy before, but now I can play every position, I feel like,' he said. 'I've been a shooter my whole life. Then I just grew a lot. That just adds another element, and that's helped this year. 'I always used to play small. I couldn't really hit people or be too aggressive because I would just get pushed around. Now that I'm bigger, I have to get used to playing more aggressive and playing bigger, especially on defense. It's pretty hard, but obviously it helps being taller.' Coetzee's father DeWet, who is originally from South Africa, played rugby growing up. Coetzee's mother Hannah also is a former athlete. 'I'm a mama's boy,' Tiaan Coetzee said with a laugh. 'We're very similar people. I'm not a brute rugby guy. I'm definitely a mama's boy.' Coetzee's uncle Ed Konopasek, a Griffith graduate, had a stint in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. 'We're Chicago Bears fans, but we manage,' Coetzee said. He also still has ties to Crown Point. Coetzee's older sister Aiden was a swimmer for the Bulldogs, graduating in 2024, and attends North Carolina, where she plays rugby. Coetzee's younger sister Isla is a freshman at Crown Point, where she plays volleyball and basketball. 'There's a little rivalry in the house, but it's cool,' Tiaan Coetzee said. Originally Published: February 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM CST
