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Schools

Geneva Whiz Kid: P.J. Preusser And St. Francis Spartans Set A School Record

The baseball players learn the value of teamwork and volunteering on their way to the super sectionals.

The St. Francis Spartans had a record-breaking year. It’s the first time in school history the baseball team qualified for the super sectionals. During the season, they won twice as many games as they lost.

But the Spartans’ right fielder and long-time Geneva resident P.J. Preusser can’t tell you his batting average or how many runs he’s scored. Nobody on the team can.

“We take team stats over personal stats,” Preusser, 17, said.  “We play for each other.”

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It’s all part of head coach Rich Janor’s philosophy: “We, not me.” The slogan is printed on the back of each player’s cap and on practice jerseys where a player’s number would normally be. 

The Spartans put this philosophy to the test long before the season started. After Thanksgiving, the players arrived at St. Francis High School every morning at 6 for team workouts. Given the choice, most teenage boys would sleep in, but the Spartans knew their teammates were counting on them to show up.

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“P.J. never complained; he always got up,” said his mother, Michelle Preusser.  “It’s really been good for discipline and time management. I think it’s a good group of kids, and the coaches are excellent mentors.”

Janor and the coaching staff mentor their team off the field, as well. Instead of staying in town to play scrimmage games over spring break, the Spartans traveled to Peoria. There, they played some southern Illinois teams and watched collegiate games at Bradley University. 

But the most important part of the trip, said Michelle Preusser, was a community service project the coaches organized for the team—they worked together to spruce up the local Boys and Girls Club. For several hours, the players raked brush, picked up trash and cut back overgrown trees.

“These kids hadn’t played together before, so I think that was really helpful that they went away with the team and did the community service,” Michelle Preusser said.

For baseball teams at public high schools, some of the players have likely known each other since kindergarten whether they’ve played together before or not. The students at St. Francis, a Catholic college-preparatory school, are from all over the county. 

P.J. Preusser is one of only two Genevans on the varsity baseball team. The players quickly realized their community service project was meant to unite them, not just serve as another line on college applications.

“It really brought us closer,” P.J. Preusser said.  “It was for a good cause, and you got to do it with your friends.”

After winning the regional and sectional games of their tournament, the Spartans lost 5-4 to the defending IHSA Summer State Champion, Nazareth Academy, on June 6 at the super sectional. Still, Michelle Preusser said she knows her son and his teammates are walking away from this season with something far more valuable than trophies.

“When you get out into the world and you have a job, you have to learn to work with others. I think the team concept is so important to learn at a young age,” Preusser said. “I’m so proud of them. They’ve all worked so hard.”   

 Whiz Kid: P.J. Preusser

 Whiz Kid’s School: St. Francis High School

 Whiz Kid’s Accomplishment: Part of a record-breaking, community-serving baseball team

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