Wheaton High School Players Showcase Their Skills

LINCOLNSHIRE—Wheaton North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South. It’s one of the fiercest rivalries in suburban high school athletics.

Last Friday and Saturday, however, a handful of baseball players from Wheaton North and WWS put their rivalry on the shelf and actually were teammates.

Catcher Ryan Jordan, pitcher-infielder Ed Norris, infielder Kevin Fahy and outfielder Jake Schieber—all part of this spring’s DuPage Valley Conference champion Falcons—teamed up with Tigers players Andrew Hjellming (pitcher), Matt Sturgeon (outfield), Ryan Kelly (first base) and Torey Willsey (third base) at the annual Northwest Suburban Baseball Tournament held at Stevenson High School.

They were all part of the DuPage Valley team, one of eight all-star teams from different suburban conferences that showcased next year’s senior class. Other participating conferences included the West Suburban, East Suburban Catholic, Central Suburban, Fox Valley, North Suburban, Upstate Eight and Mid Suburban.

The schools’ two baseball coaches, Dan Schoessling of Wheaton North and Tim Brylka of WWS, helped coach the DuPage squad.

Players on each squad saw action in two games—one game on Friday; the other on Saturday—and each player was timed in the 60-yard dash prior to Friday’s games. Dozens of baseball coaches and scouts from various colleges and universities throughout the Midwest could be seen behind the backstops at both Stevenson baseball fields taking notes and aiming their JUGS radar guns to determine a pitcher’s velocity.

Even though the DuPage Valley fell to the West Suburban team on Friday, 4-3, Falcon and Tiger players made an impact.

Hjellming, a starting pitcher for a Tigers team that defeated the Falcons in regional play and won 20 games during 2011, pitched two innings for the DuPage Valley—and got some help from two Falcons along the way.

In the seventh inning, Jordan threw out a West Suburban baserunner who attempted to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt. Schieber also made a nice running catch of a foul fly ball down the right field line.

Both plays helped Hjellming keep the West Suburban team off the scoreboard that inning.

Hjellming smiled when reminded afterward that two players on the cross-town rival team helped bail him out.

“Down in the heart, I don’t know if I like it,” he laughed, “but they’re good people.

NFL high school 7-on-7 tournament at Grady High | Atlanta Falcons

Falcons assistant strength and conditioning coach Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, right, a former Pro Bowl player, shows he still has a little left in the tank as he steps in to cover Falcons wide receiver #84 Roddy White as he runs a pass route drill during morning practice at Flowery Branch, Monday, August 6, 2007. (PHOTO BY CURTIS COMPTON/staff)

BIRDLAND –  Eight Georgia high school teams will participate in the NFL’s high school player development program’s  seven-on-seven regional tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday at Grady High School.

The tournament is sponsored by the National Guard through the NFL Youth Football Fund. It’s free and open to the public.

“One thing that the National Guard does well is focus on teamwork and what better way to do that than to partner with the NFL? It’s a great deal, truthfully,  because they both stress the importance of this principle and maximize both teamwork and character development within their programs,” Former Falcons player and executive Billy “White Shoes” Johnson , the NFL-HSPD NFC South regional director.

Martin Luther King will return to defend their regional title. Also, Grady, Mountain Arabia, East Hall, Mays, Jonesboro, Columbus and Carvery will participate in the tournament.

Former Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Billy "White Shoes" Johnson is all smiles as his boat wins the prize for the smallest striper fish of the day during the 4th annual Fishing with the Falcons event paying tribute to wounded military veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at Lake Lanier on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Johnson was later vindicated when his boat also won the prize for catching the biggest striper fish of the day. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com

The tournament winner will represent the Atlanta Falcons and advance to the national tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.

“This is a golden opportunity for teams from different counties and different schools throughout Georgia to compete against good competition for free,” Johnson said. “The HSPD Program is one of the best kept secret’s when it comes to player development, especially at the high school level.”

Since its inception in 2001, the HSPD program has provided participants with a curriculum that focuses on inspiring excellence in the classroom, community, and on the playing field.  The program will be implemented at more than 150 sites in 36 states this spring and summer.

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