Illiana Christian’s Nick DeBlock is occupying a different headspace this season.
That seems to be making all the difference for DeBlock, a senior outfielder who leads the Vikings in hitting.
“I’ve been playing freely,” DeBlock said. “I’ve cleared my head. I’m just having fun. I’m not trying to impress anybody. I know I’m not going to college after this, so I’m just playing for fun, and it’s helping out a lot. Baseball is definitely a mental game, so I’m able to have my head free and clear and just play for fun, and that helps a lot.
“In the past, I was getting in my head a lot. Playing with a free mind has been going very well, just playing for fun, knowing I don’t have anything to lose.”
Indeed, DeBlock has made tremendous gains. He was batting a team-high .448 with eight RBIs, a team-high 12 runs scored and a team-high five stolen bases before the Vikings (6-3, 2-0) played Hanover Central on Friday.
DeBlock also embraces the high standards Illiana Christian has set on and off the field. He respects the tradition, which includes back-to-back Class 2A state titles in 2022 and 2023, second place in 2A in 2024 and the past three Greater South Shore Conference titles.
But DeBlock, who played on the junior varsity team as a freshman and a sophomore before hitting .308 with 13 RBIs, 17 runs scored and five stolen bases last season, considered walking away from the Vikings.
“My past two years, I was thinking about quitting,” he said. “But because of my mom and my grandma is why I continued to play these past two years. That mental part of the game was really killing me. That’s why it’s so fun to play this year because I’m playing freely for my mom, my grandma and obviously the Lord. It’s made it way easier, just having a blank mind, just going to play, nothing to lose.”
DeBlock’s new mindset has lifted his teammates too.
“He’s a great leader,” Illiana Christian senior Caleb Kieft said. “He always gives it his all out there. He always brings energy. He lifts everyone else up. He doesn’t put his head down ever. He’s always positive. He’s just a great guy.”
DeBlock also has impressed first-year coach Shane Colvin, a former assistant and a 2008 Illiana Christian graduate.
“It’s his energy,” Colvin said. “He brings everybody together with his energy. With him on the field, it’s a different vibe. He’s a team player. Whatever needs to be done, he’s willing to do it.”
DeBlock takes pride in his work ethic and getting the job done.
“I love working,” he said. “Working has been a big part of my life.”
After graduation, DeBlock plans to work for either Van Drunen Farms or as a heavy equipment operator with Local 150.
Last summer, DeBlock didn’t play travel baseball for the first time. Instead, he worked on a maintenance crew, using a tractor to mow fields “all day” in neighborhoods being developed and handling any other tasks as needed, he said.
During the second half of his senior year, DeBlock has been participating in a work-based learning program, spending half of his school day gaining hands-on experience. He worked at Smits Farms during the third quarter and moved to Straightline Excavating for the fourth.
But before DeBlock enters the workforce full time, he wants to make a run with the Vikings, who are in a Class 3A sectional with teams such as defending state champion Andrean and Hanover Central.
“We’ve been barreling the ball,” he said. “We’ve been putting the ball in play. We’re great at communicating with each other, talking after games and getting back on track if we ever fall off the rails. We get into it right away instead of letting that problem soak in.
“We’re very together, and we have fun.”
Perhaps no one more than DeBlock.
