Mundelein senior third baseman Ryan Wolverton seems like he’s right out of central casting.
Perfectly fitting the mold as the cleanup hitter for the Mustangs, who won at least 20 games in each of the past five years, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Wolverton had three hits in the season opener and has barely slowed down.
But Wolverton may have been the only person who saw this coming.
“He’s been even better than we expected,” Mundelein coach Randy Lerner said.
Wolverton took over at third late last season. In 21 at-bats, a small sample size, he hit just .238. But that experience was instructive for him.
“It got my varsity jitters out, and getting those ABs really helped because I learned a lot about what I still needed to do to be successful,” Wolverton said. “I struggled at the plate and noticed I was early a lot and was just rolling over on everything. I was just up there swinging.
“It was mostly self-analysis that led me to a new approach and a couple of mechanical changes.”
Those changes have worked wonders for Wolverton. He has three multihit games and is batting .440 with 10 RBIs for the Mustangs (5-4, 2-0), who hope to contend in the North Suburban Conference and beyond.
“He started his career grinding away, playing on the JV team, and then took the opportunity that he got last year and hasn’t looked back,” Lerner said. “He put in a lot of work in the offseason, improved his swing path, and has turned into a good senior presence in the middle of the order that we needed.”
Wolverton intended to be that kind of player for the Mustangs. He came into this season with an entirely different mindset.
“Being a starter from day one changed my focus from just being thankful for being out there to wanting to be one of ‘those’ guys this year,” he said. “It gave me a lot of confidence knowing that my coaches trust me, and all of those swings I took in the fall and winter got me prepared.”
Wolverton, who said slow starts at the plate are common for him, even avoided that this season.
“There’s definitely pressure to get off to a good start, and I think there was even more than usual this year with me being a senior,” he said. “So that’s been huge because it’s shown that I belong here.”
Wolverton’s year-round commitment to baseball is another factor in his development. He dropped basketball after his sophomore year and dropped golf after his junior year.
“I went through all of the fall baseball workouts instead of golf because if I was golfing every day I wouldn’t be working on baseball,” he said. “I was just hacking away at school. I hadn’t proved anything yet, and I wanted to prove that I could be someone who was really productive.”
Wolverton has proved that already.
“Without a doubt, there’s been a big jump, but I’ve always seen him play and knew what he was capable of,” Mundelein senior outfielder Dan Stricklin said. “You can tell he’s had a very confident approach.
“Just like he pushed the two seniors ahead of him last year, you can see the guys behind him getting better.”
Team success is important to Wolverton, who wants to uphold the Mustangs’ high standards.
“It’s definitely a responsibility because this is now our team,” he said. “There were a lot of really talented seniors last year, so there are big holes to fill. We’re not the most talented group, but we still want to find ways to win a lot of games.”
For Wolverton, it has all led to this.
“This is my last taste of baseball, so I’m trying to go out knowing we had success and made it as far as possible,” he said. “I’ve worked my whole life for this season, so it’s exciting that it’s here.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
