Cougars: ‘It’s kind of crazy to think about’ Naperville native Nick Santoro glad for chance to play pro ball close to home with Cougars

GENEVA – Nick Santoro had nothing packed.

Santoro, a 23-year-old Naperville native, was mere hours removed from his collegiate baseball career ending in the NCAA Division III regional finals with Wisconsin-Whitewater on May 31.

By 10:30 p.m. that night, he was the newest shortstop for the Kane County Cougars.

“I got a text from my old assistant coach who played with [Cougars manager] George [Tsamis],” Santoro said prior to the Cougars’ game against the Gary Southshore RailCats on Wednesday. “He told me to call George right away and he was going to call for me to play on the team.”

The Cougars (18-22) on Wednesday lost to the RailCats (18-21) 4-1.

The RailCats first scored on an RBI single from Tyler Van Marter in the second inning, and later extended the lead to 3-0 in the sixth after an RBI double from Ciaran Devenney and an RBI single by Alec Olund. Ryan Cash had an RBI single in the seventh inning To make it 4-0.

In the eighth inning, Cougars infielder Gavin LaValley smacked a solo shot to end the shutout, 4-1, but the Cougars were unable to complete the comeback after Tuesday’s walk-off walk-off RBI single by Mitch Reeves.

“It all happened so fast. I didn’t even have anything packed. I had to rush into my college room and pack everything up and leave early the next morning,” Santoro continued.

Santoro wasn’t exactly sure what his future in baseball was beyond college.

“But, I knew in the back of my head that if I was given the opportunity to play anywhere, I was going to take it,” Santoro said.

The former Waubonsie Valley High School baseball standout used to come to some Cougars games as a kid. Now he gets to don their uniform on a nightly basis.

“It’s kind of crazy to think about it [growing up] 30 minutes from the stadium,” Santoro reflected. “I didn’t go to as many games as a kid as I probably could’ve but…now playing for the same team where I have memories as a kid being in the stands is really cool and a great opportunity for me.”

One memory in particular stands out; though, Santoro arguably has the last laugh now.

“They throw those foam balls [to fans]…I had one thrown right at me. I had my glove on, hit the palm, it went right down the hill and some other kid grabbed it so I didn’t get the foam ball,” Santoro laughed. “That’s the best memory I have.”

The acclimation from Division III to facing a wide range of experienced talent in the American Association of Professional Baseball has “been good so far.”

Entering Wednesday, through 23 games played, Santoro is hitting .189 with 14 hits, one home run and eight RBI with 12 strikeouts. On Wednesday, Santoro went 0-for-3 with a walk.

“It’s definitely been a bit of a jump from college to pro ball,” Santoro said. “I have a lot of older guys in the clubhouse with me that I’m just learning from. My brain is a sponge and I just take whatever they give me and just constantly working on getting better at what I can.”

“The most rewarding [aspect] is just having everyone that I know close around in the stands,” Santoro said. “My parents, family, bunch of friends, people that have just come and cheered me on during the games and I get to see them after. That’s been the most rewarding and the thing that’s made me most happy.”

Cougars catcher Jack Surin, a Plainfield native, joined the Cougars on June 16 after spending two weeks in the MLB Draft league – A brand-new MLB Partner League with six teams – on a temporary contract.

“One of my instructors for hitting and catching all these years, Kevin Sullivan, he’s very good friends with George and kind of told George about me,” Surin said. “And, how he believes I have what it takes to compete at this level and then with the injury to [catcher] BJ [Lopez], it kind of left an opening……my instructor played a big role with me getting connected with George.”

Surin and Santoro have developed a quick friendship, having ended up in Geneva in similar time frames.

“Just from watching him, he’s a young guy like me, but he carries himself just like he’s been doing this for five plus years,” Surin said of Santoro. “He doesn’t make many mistakes, but when he does…whether it’s a home run or strikes out, he keeps the same composure and it really impresses me how mature he is, especially making the jump from college to this level.”

“[Our on-field relationship] is very good,” Surin said. “When either of us does something right on the field or does something to help the team, we’re always the first one there to pick each other up, even good or bad.”