As a junior preparing to make his varsity debut, Metea Valley’s Diego Gutierrez realized during the offseason that the coaching staff wasn’t going to baby him when things kicked off this spring.
Gutierrez, who was the designated hitter Monday, is getting regular time at catcher and third base. He’s in the Mustangs’ three-pitcher conference rotation and batting in the middle of the order.
“Yeah, I knew,” Gutierrez said about stepping into a big role immediately for Metea. “I had been working out a lot in the offseason, trying to put that work in, a lot of mental things.
“It was a lot of working on hitting with my dad. He’s been helping me a lot.”
That progress was on display in the fourth inning, even though the DuPage Valley Conference opener was suspended after Gutierrez’s RBI double in the top of that inning with the Mustangs holding a 6-3 lead over host Waubonsie Valley in Aurora.
Gutierrez led off the six-run fourth with a single and also scored for Metea (4-5). That single came off Missouri recruit Cole Ruggeri. His double after the first lightning delay was against another high-end arm in Cameron Delahoussaye.
Tyler Darche and Tyler Gluting added RBI singles in the fourth for the Mustangs. Nate Cerilli and Satya Mehta produced RBI singles for Waubonsie (5-7). Shane Torres had an RBI sacrifice fly.
Metea coach Steve Colombe, meanwhile, continues to unleash Gutierrez, who already has made four appearances on the mound, including a win against Romeoville and a strong outing against West Aurora. He plays third base and also splits time behind the plate with Michael Willhite.
“We ask him to do a lot and he’s hitting in the middle of the order,” Colombe said of Gutierrez. “Yes, we expected this.”
Gutierrez grounded out in his first at-bat Monday but then refocused. His single sparked a six-run rally that will still be going when the game resumes with two outs and runners on second and third.
“I’ve been working so much,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep working, just having fun up there.”
Colombe confirmed Metea had a plan against Ruggeri. Gutierrez took the scouting report to heart.
“That was huge,” Colombe said. “He did a good job. We went over some things in the pregame and he responded well and executed. It was a good job. His two hits that inning were huge.”
An error on what could have potentially been an inning-ending double play also gave Metea new life. Instead, the Mustangs scored a run, there was only one out and they kept tacking on.
“It’s just a credit to our kids for putting the ball in play,” Colombe said. “Cole is a strikeout pitcher. We don’t want to get into situations where we strike out. We executed the plan.”
There also were two walks in the inning, something Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo lamented.
“That’s how we’ve been all year,” Acevedo said. “When we pick it up and throw strikes, we’re not a bad baseball team. More times than not, we’ve booted it and haven’t thrown strikes.”
All in all, he was happy with how Ruggeri looked on the mound.
“He was throwing the ball pretty well,” Acevedo said. “Leadoff single, then we walked a guy, then a double play ball to get us out of there didn’t happen.
“That snowballed a little bit on us, even coming out of the delay.”
Gutierrez, meanwhile, is still adjusting to varsity life, but he’s feeling more comfortable by the day.
“I’m still trying to find my hits,” Gutierrez said. “Every game is important. Now that we’re in conference, we have to play better.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
