Burlington Central’s Kyle Nelson creates winning culture

Like many great ideas, it started in a laboratory.

Well, at a lab school, anyway.

Kyle Nelson’s first crack as a high school baseball coach came at University of Illinois Laboratory High School, also known as Uni High or Uni, more than 20 years ago.

The experiment didn’t last. Not for Nelson and not for Uni High’s baseball program, which no longer exits.

“It’s very tiny,” Nelson said of Uni, which is located on the engineering section of the U of I campus in Urbana and enrolls about 300 students. “When I was there, I think we had 13 players, and three of them were girls because they didn’t have a softball team.”

After a nine-win season in 2003, Nelson, a math teacher at the time, left Uni and took a job at Burlington Central. He served one season as an assistant baseball coach and was named head coach in 2005, taking over a program that already had experienced success under Doug Ellett and Lloyd Stover.

Nelson’s Rockets won 21 games and a Class AA regional title in his first season in 2006, and his program has kept winning.

Victor Frankenstein would be proud of what Nelson has created at Burlington Central.

The Rockets’ 10-3 win over Crystal Lake Central on April 21 was the 400th for Nelson, who graduated from Hinsdale South in 1999 and pitched for Valparaiso. Burlington Central (10-7, 3-6) completed the season sweep of the Tigers two days later in Fox Valley Conference action, before losing to McHenry on Thursday.

“It just means that they haven’t fired me yet and that I’ve had a lot of really good players and great assistant coaches,” Nelson, who’s in his 20th season directing the Rockets, said with a laugh of his milestone. “It’s been fun to see the program grow over the past 22 years.”

Under Nelson, Burlington Central has won 10 regional championships (nine in Class 3A) and a sectional title in 2012. His 2010 Rockets manufactured a 25-game winning streak and won a school-record 32 games. They’re seeking their 14th 20-win season with him as their coach this spring.

“When I came here it was pretty small,” said Nelson, who now teaches strength and conditioning. “It was 600 kids or so when I got here in 2004. It’s been fun to see it change and grow, and see the improvements that we’ve made throughout the years. The brand of baseball that we’re able to play now is very exciting.”

Jacobs seeing double: Leave it to a coach to pick up a nuance. A trained eye, after all, is just about a requisite for a coach.

Jacobs’ roster includes sophomore identical twins Aaden and Jowell Colon. Aaden, who started at first base and had a double batting in the No. 5 spot against Cary-Grove on Wednesday, throws left-handed. Jowell, who pitched in relief, is a righty. Both brothers bat right-handed and pitch.

“It’s taken some time [to tell them apart],” Golden Eagles coach Jamie Murray said. “I actually look at their feet. That’s one of the indicators. The left foot with Jowell just comes in a little more.”

Counting the twins, who are “terrific,” Murray said, the Eagles have five sophomores on the varsity roster. All saw action against Cary-Grove, with Aaden Colon, catcher Luke Flaskamp and center fielder Jace Koth receiving starts.

Jacobs lost 10-4 in eight innings to C-G, dropping the Eagles to 6-9 and 1-6 in the FVC, but they have had their moments this spring. They trailed three-time defending FVC champ Huntley 4-0 on April 22 but rallied to take a 12-9 lead.

The game was suspended because of darkness with Jacobs batting in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, one out and No. 3 hitter Andrew Robertson up. The game will resume Thursday.

“We have 19 incredible kids,” Murray said after the Eagles, who also have eight juniors, lost to C-G. “I’m proud of them. It’s tough because, as a coach, you want them to feel how to win that [extra-inning] game.”

Porter shows respect for big brother: Prairie Ridge senior outfielder-pitcher Gabe Porter wears an offensive lineman’s jersey number: 77.

Porter isn’t built like an O-lineman, however. He stands 5 foot 7 and weighs 165 pounds.

He wears No. 77 because his brother Matt Porter wore the same number when he pitched and played center field for the Wolves. Matt Porter is a lefty pitcher for the Pitt Panthers.

Gabe Porter plans to play baseball and soccer for Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.