Elenteny stars at Double Duty Classic game | Sports

Connor Elenteny is an avid Cubs fan.

He grew up watching the North Siders and was a third-grader when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. But, above all that, Elenteny is a baseball fan at heart.

So, when given the chance to pitch in a professional stadium, Elenteny was all for it, especially with some baseball history on the line.

Participating in the annual White Sox Double Duty Classic, an All-Star game that celebrates the history and tradition of Negro Leagues baseball in Chicago, Elenteny threw a clean inning on the mound to help the East All-Stars defeat the West All-Stars 7-2 on July 2 at the Rate Field.

“I couldn’t be more excited. This is a great opportunity,” Elenteny said. “I’ve never pitched in a big-league stadium. To represent the Negro League and the power behind that, it’s great. I have a lot of friends who have gone through adversity playing the game. I’m honored to take part in a game that represents that.”

Elenteny (St. Cajetan) is heading into his senior year at Mt. Carmel.

He entered the game in the second inning, starting the frame off with a pop out to right field and then striking out the next batter. After issuing a walk, Elenteny struck out Mt. Carmel teammate Jonathan Osornio to end the inning.

The game features a majority of players from the White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) program, but the Classic also welcomed players from Wisconsin, Georgia and Ohio.

Area players included Marian Catholic junior Jazzaris Mackmore, Marist senior Trinton Falls, Br. Rice senior Brent Nevils and junior Michael Watson, and Morgan Park senior Gabriel Ramirez.

Elenteny and Osornio were joined by Caravan teammates Joey Ireland, Mario Medina and Ethan Hayes.

The five-player Caravan contingent certainly added a layer to the game for Elenteny.

“It’s the coolest thing in the world,” Elenteny said. “Mt. Carmel is right in the backyard here. We’re 10 minutes from the Rate. I come to a lot of games here, so it’s really cool to get on the field as a player and play in an actual game with my buddies, too. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Elenteny is a 6’4”, 210-pound right-handed pitcher. As part of the Caravan’s deep starting rotation, he took a big step forward as a pitcher in his junior year, his second season with the varsity.

He went 8-3 overall with a 2.32 earned-run average and struck out 59 batters in 57 innings. Opponents hit just .179 against him.

“The big thing for me was staying comfortable with runners on base,” Elenteny said. “It’s being comfortable knowing my fielders will make plays. Hitting is hard. You can attack hitters, and they won’t hit it every time. For me, it was going after guys and dominating.”

Mt. Carmel finished 23-14 this spring and advanced to a Class 4A sectional championship against rival Br. Rice. Elenteny started the sectional championship and performed well in pitcher’s duel.

Elenteny, a Notre Dame recruit, is a power pitcher who can attack batters with a fastball in the mid-90s and a hard-breaking slider.

He said he’s worked with teammates Ian Tosi and Jake Matise to add a changeup and a curveball to his repertoire to become a four-pitch hurler.

Elenteny has embraced the Statcast era in baseball, keeping tabs on countless measurements and stats that are calculated, all with the hope of improving each time out as a pitcher.

“Growing up, I never pitched with a radar gun or Trackman,” Elenteny said. “The older you get, the more data you get. You can observe things you don’t always see with the naked eye. I’m really just starting to tap into that. There are a lot more improvements waiting to be made.”

One stat he keeps an eye on is perceived velocity, the combination of the velocity of a pitch and the release point of the pitcher to quantify how fast a pitch appears to a hitter.

From perceived velocity to spin rate to axis angles, Elenteny has embraced his inner baseball nerd.

“It’s all that stuff and the intangibles too,” Elenteny said. “It’s being accurate, your command and your mental game. That’s what I like to geek out on. There are numbers for everything these days, which makes it really interesting.”

As far as being a Cub fan, Elenteny said the time is right, but there are other fans in his household.

“My family is split down the middle with Cubs and Sox,” Elenteny said. “How can you not be a Cubs fan right now? It’s electric. I’m a baseball fan in general. I’ll go to any game and enjoy it.”