{"id":696784,"date":"2026-05-12T07:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/696784\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T07:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:18:23","slug":"baseball-uic-bound-dominic-battista-leads-oswego-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/696784\/","title":{"rendered":"Baseball: UIC-bound Dominic Battista leads Oswego East"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oswego East\u2019s Dominic Battista<\/a> was ready to go for a huge senior year.<\/p>\n

The Illinois-Chicago recruit ended the offseason ranked third in the state by Prep Baseball Report for the 2026 class while generating some MLB draft buzz. Then came the first at-bat of the spring.<\/p>\n

The senior center fielder promptly broke his hamate bone against Lincoln-Way Central.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little rough after going through the offseason stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cIt definitely feels good to be back with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battista, who has been back for a week, is making an immediate impact.<\/p>\n

He went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, a run and two RBIs, sparking the Wolves to a 7-5 Southwest Prairie Conference win Monday afternoon at crosstown rival Oswego.<\/p>\n

\"OswegoOswego East’s Dominic Battista (14) connects for a single and drives in a run against Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Sean King \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

Oklahoma State recruit Jacsen Tucker<\/a> went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two steals for Oswego East (14-13, 6-7). Jax Wellehan<\/a> also had two hits. Noah Deist<\/a> threw a complete game for the win.<\/p>\n

Brady Dunnett<\/a> had a big game for Oswego (13-15, 3-8), going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and also scoring twice. Caleb Miller<\/a> added two hits.<\/p>\n

Battista\u2019s physical traits, meanwhile, are easy to spot. He generates easy power with a smooth left-handed swing. He\u2019s a plus defender in center field. He\u2019s also one of the fastest players.<\/p>\n

The Wolves certainly enjoy having all of that back in the lineup. For Oswego East coach Brian Schaeffer<\/a>, however, there\u2019s more to it.<\/p>\n

\"OswegoOswego East’s Dominic Battista (14) runs out a a single that drives in a run against Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Sean King \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s his work ethic and his drive,\u201d Schaeffer said of Battista. \u201cHe\u2019s never going to be one that\u2019s down. He gets frustrated, but if he\u2019s 0-for-3, he\u2019s going to be the first one cheering in the dugout, the first one on and off the field sprinting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids see it and they emulate it. They see that leadership and know how to do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also lengthens an already deep lineup. Deist leads off, followed by Battista and Tucker, with Devin Wheaton<\/a> at cleanup. Battista and Tucker are two of the most dangerous hitters in the state.<\/p>\n

All four are hitting over .400.<\/p>\n

\"OswegoOswego East’s Dominic Battista (14) follows through contact for an RBI single against Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Sean King \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

\u201cThem all being in a line is just dangerous,\u201d Schaeffer said. \u201cYou have to pitch to all of them essentially. It\u2019s been really good to see them all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battista knows the batting order feeds off each other, which makes them so dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just rally around one bat after another,\u201d Battista said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where we are in the lineup. I feel like it\u2019s always rolling. It definitely feels great to be back with the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a good spot. Hopefully, we can keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oswego coach Joe Giarrante<\/a> understands Battista and Tucker are going to get theirs. The key is keeping the rest of the team off the bases, which the Panthers struggled with Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t avoid them, but you can avoid letting guys on base in front of them,\u201d Giarrante said. \u201cThey\u2019re good hitters and they\u2019re going to put balls in play with solid contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can eliminate the damage they can do by keeping guys off base in front of them. That\u2019s how you can work around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OswegoOswego East’s Dominic Battista (14) makes a catch on a deep fly ball for an out against Oswego during a Southwest Prairie Conference game in Oswego on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Sean King \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for MLB scouts to realize Battista was back. Several have made appearances in the last week, much like when Chicago White Sox pitcher Noah Schultz<\/a> played for the Wolves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s chatter,\u201d Schaeffer said of Battista. \u201cThe scouts are here. It\u2019s not to the extent of when Noah was pitching, but he\u2019s definitely garnered a lot of attention. I think we\u2019ll continue to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battista, though, is trying to remain present for his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really too focused on that right now,\u201d Battista said. \u201cWhatever happens, happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oswego East\u2019s Dominic Battista was ready to go for a huge senior year. The Illinois-Chicago recruit ended the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[10635,14026,5,10636,14027,3263,1358,2291,4,1586],"class_list":["post-696784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb-draft","tag-aurora-beacon-news","tag-aurora-beacon-news-sports","tag-baseball","tag-elgin-courier-news","tag-elgin-courier-news-sports","tag-high-school-sports","tag-local-news","tag-major-league-baseball-draft","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116560390532727875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}