Naperville North’s Tanner Mally dispels doubts, primarily his own: ‘It’s not about where you start’

Tanner Mally doesn’t question himself anymore.

The Naperville North senior shortstop is firmly established as one of the top players in the DuPage Valley Conference and has committed to play at Western Michigan.

But Mally wasn’t so confident about his potential when he was 5 feet, 8 inches and 150 pounds.

“I was constantly comparing myself to a bunch of bigger people, not only on my team but on other teams,” he said. “I was always one of the smaller guys on the field, so that took a hit on my confidence, definitely, when I had colder streaks in hitting. It took me awhile to get the confidence to get past that.”

Now 5-11 and 185 pounds, Mally is brimming with confidence. As a junior, he hit .465 with 10 doubles, two home runs, 31 runs scored and 10 steals to earn all-conference honors for the second year in a row, and he started this season with six hits in 11 at-bats.

He credits his work in the weight room.

“Baseball is one of those sports where you see people at a bunch of different heights,” Mally said. “But what really helped me was getting stronger. I was in the gym a lot with friends or myself. The strength is one of the biggest differences in my career lately, helping me with exit velocity and throwing the ball across the field.

“I’ve seen a big difference over the last year or two. I hung in there with my size. Then my junior year I saw a big jump in skill and athletic ability. It was always a dream of mine to play at the next level. I definitely saw that happening between my sophomore and junior year.”

Naperville North coach Jim Chiappetta said Mally’s physical development since his freshman year is a testament to his hard work and perseverance.

“(Tanner) might have been undersized in his younger years, but you wouldn’t guess that by looking at him now,” Chiappetta said. “He’s strong, athletic, and has worked really hard over his high school years to make that happen.

“I think it’s a good message to others that it’s not about where you start or how you enter high school, but more about the work, time and overall commitment you put in to be bigger and better.”

Mally is welcoming another change this season — a return to shortstop. He said he grew up playing that position and was slated to play there on the lower levels in his freshman season, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He ended up as Naperville North’s second baseman the past two seasons, primarily because Patrick Graham was entrenched at short.

“I knew he could handle playing shortstop,” Chiappetta said. “Going back to his freshman year, it just never happened for him to play shortstop until this year.”

Mally said he’s excited about the move.

“It feels good, something I’ve been anticipating a lot over the last few seasons,” he said. “It’s fun. I’ve had a long wait with Patrick at shortstop. I love playing second, but it feels good being a leader on the team.

“Playing shortstop, I feel there’s a mutual respect on the team. As a senior captain, I get asked a lot of questions by the younger players about practice time and techniques on swinging. It’s been an easy adjustment for me to shortstop.”

Chiappetta said Mally has made a seamless transition to help stabilize the infield for the Huskies (1-1-1). They have a mix of experienced and new players after winning 13 games last season.

“Tanner is a heck of a leader and is an all-state caliber kid this year,” Chiappetta said. “The younger guys in the program look up to him. He does things the right way.”

Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.