No high school hitter in Indiana having a better season than Chesterton senior Rob Czarniecki, batting .577 and the state leader in OPS (1.749) for a 13-3 team riding a 10-game winning streak

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

If OPS, computed by adding on base percentage to slugging percentage, had been a thing for as long as batting average, then the OPS winner would wear the batting crown.
It’s the best pure measure of a hitter because it blends the ability to keep innings going by not making outs and the ability to clear the bases.
Not surprisingly, University of Kentucky signee and Chesterton leadoff man/center fielder/slugger/closer Rob Czarniecki leads the state in the biggest classification, 4A, with a 1.749 OPS, according to statistics listed by Maxpreps.
All-state as a sophomore and ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the state in this season’s Prep Baseball Report rankings, Czarniecki has been second to no one in the state for a Trojans team that is 13-3 overall and 8-0 in the DAC. Crown Point senior catcher Sean Dunlap, a Tennessee signee selected as PBR’s choice for top prospect in the state, also is having a strong senior season.
Czarniecki is batting .577, second in the 4A, has scored 25 runs, driven in 16 and stolen seven bases. He has hit seven doubles, five triples and three home runs. Dunlap is batting .481 with 17 runs, 29 RBI and nine stolen bases. He has hit three doubles, two triples and seven home runs.
Both players look to be on track for all-state honors before becoming SEC rivals.
Local baseball fans are in for a rare treat when they are afforded an opportunity to see both big-time prospects playing in the same game two days in a row, at Crown Point on May 5 and in Chesterton on May 6.
At this rate, Czarniecki is on track to break Toby Gentry’s single-season school record for batting average (.521). If it happens, Gentry will swell with pride at his hitting pupil’s accomplishment, Czarniecki with gratitude.
“He’s great. He understands my swing so well to where if I’m off, even in mid-at bat I can just shoot a look over and he can give me a little check and get myself back into myself and stay on plane and hit a line drive,” Czarniecki said of the team’s first base coach/hitting instructor. “He’s always got something for me, whether I’m getting too big, dropping my back shoulder, coming out a little bit. He’s just always there to slow me down and help me stay within the moment.”
They work together regularly in the offseason as well.
“He’s always there to help whenever I need it. I just need to text him and he’s like, ‘Yep, I’ll be there right away.’ I’m extremely grateful,” Czarniecki said. “We’ve been working together a ton since after my freshman year. And I think my success as a hitter has a lot to do with all the time he’s sacrificed to help me get better.”
Czarniecki is better than ever this season and the Trojans that he and left-handed ace/hot-hitting outfielder/Purdue signee Troy Barrett lead, have won 10 games in a row, the last loss coming at Munster, 7-4, on April 9.
“The Munster game was definitely a wakeup call for us, I would say. It’s easy to be like, ‘Oh, we’re just going to show up and beat whoever we play, but it’s just not how the game works,” Czarniecki said. “I mean, you can have your best one day and your worst the next. I think our mindsets have changed a lot and everybody’s playing for each other, and what more do you need than that to be able to win games? We’re just playing really good team baseball.”
Senior first baseman Eli McClelland’s move into the No. 3 spot has supplied one more reason for Czarniecki to believe that when he reaches base and steals second, he’s going to score. McClelland’s batting .388, has driven in 19 runs and has reached base on a hit by pitch or walk 12 times, double his strikeout total.
And Czarniecki said statistics only hint at McClelland’s contribution to the team: “Without Eli, we’re a completely different team. Let alone his skill, just the guy he is. He’s the guy who no matter where you are, you always want to be around him. You ask anybody on this team and they could tell you a million stories about him. He knows exactly what to say. He gets us up and out of every practice, every game, breaks us down. He’s always got a good speech. Great guy. Great guy. It’s hard to explain how important he is to us and everything that he does, and he plays a great first base. Every game he makes an amazing diving play or something. And hitting-wise, I mean, being in the 3 spot, he’s doing an incredible job.”
As the Trojans stretched before Thursday’s practice, Chesterton third-year coach John Bogner marveled at what a tight group he coaches.
“Listen to how much they’re talking,” Bogner said. “They just love being around each other.”
Coming off a two-game series sweep of Lake Central, Chesterton is at home today for a 7 p.m. nonconference clash with Hobart. There is no place the Trojans would rather be than on a baseball diamond.