The time is now for Morton senior Victor Scardine.
Finally earning consistent varsity at-bats, Scardine is taking full advantage of the opportunity, and he’s impressing coach Adam Bednarek.
“Vic’s always been a very, very hard worker,” Bednarek said. “You can tell by the way he’s out here, he’s always wanted to get into games and play. It’s just his first two years, it didn’t necessarily click right away.
“You could see the talent, just maybe a little bit mentally it wasn’t there to connect with the physical part of it in terms of hitting. Now he’s doing it.”
Indeed, Scardine is batting .500 with a team-high eight RBIs as the designated hitter for the Governors (2-3), who have won back-to-back Great Lakes Athletic Conference titles. He’s perhaps even a bit surprised himself.
“It’s been special,” he said. “I’ve been seeing the ball very well lately, and I’ve been doing very well, which I’m proud of. I thought I would do all right, but I’m doing better than I thought I was going to do, I’m not going to lie.
“My sophomore and freshman years, I wasn’t that good at hitting. Junior year, it started picking up.”
After playing on the junior varsity team for two seasons, Scardine was in Morton’s opening day lineup at DH last year. But he finished with just 15 at-bats and hit .200.
“Last year, when he had some chances, it just felt like he was a little bit scared to mess up, which made him hit not as well,” Bednarek said. “That’s what I saw in the box. What you see at practice is line drives gap to gap. He’s a line-drive hitter, no doubt about it. Last year, he’d get into games, and it would be hesitation all of a sudden.”
That changed last summer, when Bednarek said Scardine “was hitting the snot out of the ball.”
“So you keep an eye on him in the fall, and he had a great winter in the weight room,” Bednarek said. “He shed some weight, which was huge for him. He had a huge winter, and then he got a chance again on opening day, and really other than Michael Stevens, he’s been our best hitter. He’s legitimately putting together our best at-bats. He’s been nothing but fantastic for us at the plate this year.”
Scardine, who began the season batting seventh but has moved up to fifth, acknowledged he “was a lot more nervous last year.” He noted the summer “changed me” and that he has continued to gain confidence. He also said he lost about 30 pounds during the offseason.
“I started hitting the ball very well over the summer, and then we came back to school, and I was hitting the ball better,” Scardine said. “I was seeing the ball very well. We were hitting off the pitching machine, and I was very consistent off it. It was like, ‘All right, I’m feeling it.’ I started feeling good because I was hitting the ball hard. I was happy about it.”
An adjustment also has helped Scardine get on track.
“My timing was off,” he said. “All I did, I started early and got my foot down early, so I had a lot of time to be ready and swing. That’s all I do.”
Morton junior pitcher/outfielder David Shreve said Scardine does plenty for the Governors.
“He brings a good type of energy to the dugout,” Shreve said. “He’s never down about anything. He’s always trying to bring the team up whenever he can. Whenever he does good, he’s humble. He doesn’t like to show it off. He tries to take that energy and give it to everybody else.”
Bednarek also highlighted Scardine’s team-first approach.
“The fun part, he’s a good kid, and he understands his role,” Bednarek said. “When he gets on base, he doesn’t run very well, and we send out a pinch runner right away. We have a freshman, Aaron Collins, his only role on varsity so far has been when Vic gets on, Aaron grabs his helmet and runs for him. It’s a great tandem. Vic can really hit, and then we have a super fast freshman, and now that single Vic hits is turning into a double because Aaron Collins is able to steal a base.
“Vic has no issue with it. He understands his job is to hit the baseball and get on base, so then someone else can run for him and steal a base. That’s the great thing about him. He gets it, and he’s fully on board with the idea of it.”
Scardine also has an idea about his future. He intends to study engineering, likely at Purdue Northwest.
“I would like to get a college offer,” he said. “If not, I’m OK with it. As long as I do good this season, I’ll be fine. I’d like to end it like that.”
Scardine is well on his way.
“He’s what high school sports are all about,” Bednarek said. “He’s an unsung hero. He’s just a senior playing ball.”
