Harvest Christian’s Gavin Duran, an uncommitted junior, keeps grinding. And his teammates follow. ‘My time is coming.’

Junior shortstop Gavin Duran hasn’t stopped grinding for Harvest Christian. Not since the day he realized that baseball could be his way of reaching college as an athlete.

On many days, Duran is coach Matt Ellett’s de facto alarm clock, with Duran sending Ellett texts wanting to get into the school to take swings before classes even begin.

“As a kid, I always had that,” Duran said. “Ever since I played baseball, I had the urge to keep working. I think it was around eighth grade that I decided this could be my future.

“I’m going to make it happen for myself.”

Ellett said Duran has played every inning at shortstop since he arrived on campus three years ago. Duran’s work ethic has also rubbed off on his teammates, who often join him.

“From an intangible standpoint, he’s just a winner,” Ellett said. “He started the hitting before school, now it’s grown. He has five or six guys doing it with him.

“That’s not something I require at all, but that kid is such a winner and such a grinder that not only is he amazing, he has an impact on the rest of the team.”

Duran is so valuable to Ellett and the Lions that the coaching staff sometimes faces a quandary on how to deploy him.

“He is a sparkplug,” Ellett said. “What’s interesting about the kid is he’s my best base runner, my toughest out with two strikes, and he’s also got the most power on the team.

“He’s an awesome leadoff guy, but I thought about hitting him third.”

Duran said he doesn’t care where he’s batting — he’s ready.

On top of that, Duran also wants to show the state what he can do. He’s flying under the radar, ranked No. 119 in his class for Illinois by Prep Baseball Report.

“Any ranking that tries to tell me anything, I put it away,” Duran said. “I know how good I am. Everybody that knows me knows how good I am. I know my time is coming.”

Ellett feels the same way, pointing out the college that winds up with Duran will be getting a bargain in his eyes.

“I think he’s one of the best-kept secrets in Illinois,” Ellett said. “I think it’s just a matter of time. With his work ethic and his love of the game, I would be stunned if he doesn’t play at a high level.

“You can’t keep a secret like him quiet for long.”

Building depth: St. Charles East had a deep pitching staff last season, so it was hard for several juniors to find varsity innings.

Alex Bennett, Caden Cotteleer and Ethan Flint spent the majority of the season pitching on the JV level last spring just to get innings.

In the season opener against Waubonsie Valley, coach Len Asquini gave each of them two innings. Asquini found what he was searching for in the rotation behind Seth Winkler, the DuKane Conference’s player of the year in 2022.

The trio pitched six innings, striking out four and allowing a run on four hits and four walks.

“Some of these three guys might be able to step in and be a two or three (starter) for us or come into a game to get the last couple outs or something like that,” Asquini said. “We wanted to give them some innings early to get their feet wet and challenge them. They did a nice job.”

Sandwich turnaround: Sandwich has been one of the area’s feel-good stories in the early going.

After going 1-22 last season, the Indians are off to a 5-0 start this spring. Junior Chance Lange has been a big reason why, both at the plate and on the mound.

Lange (2-0) has struck out 17 in 10 2/3 innings. He’s allowed six hits and no earned runs, walking five. He’s also hitting .500 (6-for-12) with seven runs from the top of the order.

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.