Portage senior right-hander Kaleb Hacker’s approach on the mound has been straightforward this season.
With increased velocity on his fastball, which he can throw over 90 mph, Hacker uses that to his advantage.
“Just go out and dominate,” he said. “Just throw hard and throw it by somebody. That’s where I’m at right now.”
Hacker is in a good place then. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Purdue Northwest commit has a 1.00 ERA with 17 strikeouts in seven innings for the Indians (10-0, 4-0), who are rolling under fourth-year coach Shane Prance as they open a Duneland Athletic Conference series against defending Class 4A state champion Valparaiso on Tuesday. Hacker has allowed just one hit and five walks.
“It’s just being prepared,” he said. “On the mound, it’s just dominating. Coach Prance told me this year he just wants me to dominate. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just stay steady. It’s big for me to stay even-keeled.”
Hacker, who also plays first base, had a 4.49 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 49 walks in 43 2/3 innings last season. Hoping to improve on those numbers, he spent a lot of time in the weight room.
“He worked extremely hard on his strength and conditioning this offseason,” Prance said. “He’s gotten his fastball up to 91 as a result.
“He’s one of our senior captains with Ryan Bogue and Tyler Pirowski. Kaleb’s definitely been the one since his freshman year that’s been set on playing at the next level, and he was one of those guys that’s left no stone unturned. He’s gone to showcases, played on some very high-level teams in the summer. Then over the winter this year, him and I sat down and we really buckled down on a pitching program. He was going to pay somebody else, and I said, ‘To hell with that. You got me. Let’s do this.’ He trusts me and bought into everything we did, and things are turning out pretty good for him so far.”
Hacker has also taken strides at the plate. He’s batting .417 with a team-high three doubles, two triples, a team-high 18 RBIs and six runs scored. He hit .242 with nine RBIs and seven runs scored last season.
“I feel like in my younger years and even last year, too, I was trying to get too big on the ball, trying to hit home runs,” Hacker said. “Obviously I’m bigger, a big guy, so I’ve been trying to hit home runs. But now I’m just getting my foot down.
“My timing was all off and out of whack. I’m just getting my foot down, keeping my hands a little bit higher, and when I see a good pitch I like, just take a swing at it and put the barrel on the ball. It’s just being more controlled in the zone and having more zone awareness.”
It’s difficult not to be aware of Hacker on the field.
“He’s a leader, for sure,” Bogue said. “All the guys kind of revolve around him. As big as he is, he’s kind of hard to miss.
“That’s our guy. He’s a great teammate to have, always looking out for everybody. He pretty much sets the tone, being the starting pitcher. We all go around him.”
Hacker wants the team to go far this season. He has won a sectional title in basketball — last year, he was part of Portage’s first in that sport since 2001 — and he hopes to win the school’s first one in baseball since 2013.
Hacker, whose brother Jacob is a sophomore on the team and whose father Darrell was an all-state player at Highland, has been drawing on the Indians’ loss to Valparaiso in the sectional championship game last season for motivation.
“When you get to the sectional final and you lose as bad as we did, it was upsetting,” he said. “I have that stamped up on my wall — just ‘Don’t forget’ and the score, 16-2.”
With seven seniors on the roster, Portage has been targeting this season.
“This group is a special group,” Hacker said. “Most of us have played together since we were younger, so it means a lot to us. We’ve stuck together, and we’re doing it together and trying to put Portage back on the map.
“We want to win. We want to win multiple trophies. We want to do that as a team and as a family. We break every game, every practice, with ‘family’ at the end. That’s a big word for us. It’s just different this year. I just want to win. We can do a lot of special things together as a unit.”
Prance believes in their potential.
“It’s really early, and they know that,” he said. “They have a quiet confidence about them, but they’re still really eager and have a chip on their shoulder and know they have something to prove. I try to embrace that Portage grit and try to get them to embrace it too.
“This is the first class that I’ve had all the way through. Their buy-in has made all the difference, and Kaleb’s been one of the leaders in that area. He’s a lead-by-example guy. He’s a presence out there. He’s been great to have, especially because you want your best player in the program to be your hardest worker, and he’s one of those guys that’s a super hard worker.”
