One Hall of an effort
By Mark Johnson
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mjohnson@morrisdailyherald.com
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| GSW senior Josh Hall batted a blistering .557 at the plate this season while also scoring 41 runs for the 17-10 Panthers. (Herald photo by Adam Nekola) |
Josh Hall's transformation on the baseball diamond reached its completion during an otherwise forgettable game in the middle of Gardner-South Wilmington's 2009 varsity regular season.
In fact, neither Hall nor his coach, Jon Posing, can remember the opponent or the date of the game. All they remember is that Hall was pitching in one of his seven starts on the season, and that the Panthers went on to win the game ... which was no rarity during their 17-10 season.
When Posing noticed the change in his senior, winning seemed unlikely. Hall was in trouble, and historically, when Hall got into trouble, it usually led to more trouble.
"Going into the year and last year, Josh was a kid that, if he gave up three or four runs in an inning, he'd lose confidence and want out," said Posing. "This was probably 2/3 of the way through the year. He was fighting out there and struggling and at about 95 pitches. I went out to get him, and he wouldn't let me. He said, 'I'm staying in this game.' Since, really, that's what I wanted him to do, I let him stay out there. He got out of it and ended up finishing the game."
Since Hall has been a varsity starter since he was a freshman at GSW, one might assume he was maximizing his talents on the baseball field. As a senior, Hall went above and beyond anything he did in the past. He also went above and beyond the other talent in the Morris Daily Herald readership area, earning him 2009 All-Area Most Valuable Player honors.
Any summation of the season Hall had starts with his batting average. At .557, Hall led the area by a wide margin. He hit safely in 25 of GSW's 27 games.
"I'd never hit that great at all before this year," said Hall. "That's why I signed for football (at McKendree University) when I did. I was definitely not thinking I'd come out and hit .560 or whatever it was."
Hall may try to join the baseball team at McKendree as well following his MVP and River Valley Conference Player of the Year season. He scored a team-high 41 runs and drove in 22. Of his 49 hits, six were doubles and one was a triple. He also had 10 walks for a .602 on-base percentage. When the IHSA Class 1A regional round opened, Hall was batting second for the Panthers.
"I actually didn't know that stat (hits in 25 of 27 games)," said Hall. "That's pretty good, I guess. It just seemed like I was able to get on and I'd almost never go 0-for-something in a game. By the end of the year, I was expecting to get on a few times a game."
When Hall got on base in front of Ben Crater, Zach Sorsenen and the rest of GSW's middle-of-the-order hitters, he was dangerous. He was 18-for-19 in stolen-base attempts on the season. Leadoff hitter Matt Grimler was 15-for-15 in attempted steals, giving the Panthers an explosive 1-2 punch at the top of their lineup.
"He was phenomenal all year," said Posing. "He's probably one of the fastest guys, if not the fastest, in the area. I'll guarantee about 15 hits came on ground balls to the shortstop that were just routine plays he beat out. It got to where it seemed like Josh was 2-for-3 or 3-for-4 every game. He was quietly unbelievable this season."
That speed also allowed Hall to man the center-field position for the Panthers when not pitching. He made a total of two errors all year long. Junior Mark Opyd got much of the playing time in left field, and Brandon Faletti frequently started along side Hall in right.
"Center field," said Hall immediately when asked which was his favorite position. "It seems like it came natural to me. I like center field. You can take over the outfield and be a leader out there. We had a pretty darn good outfield. There weren't too many balls we didn't get to."
Since the Panthers were pitching-thin behind Crater, they needed Hall to work 34 1/3 innings on the mound. He delivered, going 5-1 with a 3.87 ERA and three complete games. He held opponents to 36 hits, walked 25 and struck out 37. Hall started and got the win when GSW defeated Newark 8-6 at the 1A Earlville Regional.
"I didn't pitch a whole lot before this year," said Hall. "They told us coming in who we were counting on. Ben Crater, obviously, and Matt Grimler and Chris Irvin were basically all we had. We had to bring some younger guys up to throw some innings. I knew I had to work at it, and I did all right, I guess. I threw a little my junior year, but not enough that you could really call me a pitcher."
Hall was heavily involved in the spring of 2008, when the winningest season in GSW baseball history came to a sudden halt. The Panthers went 20-10, but lost their regional opener to Streator Woodland at the 1A Varna Midland Regional. This spring, the Panthers advanced to the regional championship at Earlville, where they lost to Somonauk.
"I'm happy," said Hall. "This year, we lost to Somonauk, and they had a really good team. That didn't disappoint me. My junior year was disappointing. We should have went a lot farther than we did. Mr. Posing has turned (the GSW program) around like you wouldn't believe, and the entire town knows it. Before he got here ... he got here my freshman year ... baseball was absolutely nothing at Gardner-South Wilmington. He turned it around, and now a lot of people care. He's done a heck of a lot."
Hall faced stiff competition for the title of 2009 MVP. Kurt Anderson of Newark, Kyle Cahill of Dwight, Crater, Mike Foltynewicz and Justin Troyner of Minooka, Josh Higgins of Seneca and Colt Smith of Coal City all had outstanding pitching numbers while hitting in the middle of their team's lineups. Three seniors, outfielder Brian Martin of Minooka, catcher Deric Punke of Seneca and outfielder Drew Tollefson, merited consideration even though they never pitched.
Like the latter trio, Hall thrust himself into the mix based on the way he hit the ball. Going 5-1 on the mound helped distance him from the field.
"He did everything on the field I could ever want," said Posing.
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