Healed and hungry for the baseball season to start Chesterton senior slugger Rob Czarniecki says his swing feels better than ever as he aims to win a team state championship and earn all-state honors

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

A high school baseball season is so short that in order to earn all-state distinction, a hitter pretty much has to start the season hot and stay hot and healthy the rest of the way to have a realistic shot.
Well, two springs ago, then a sophomore, Chesterton center fielder Rob Czarniecki hit the first pitch thrown to him over the fence, stayed hot the rest of the way, avoided injury and was one of 11 players named to the all-state team. He also earned DAC MVP honors.
A rare five-tool prospect, seven-tool if counting the unofficial head and heart tools, Czarniecki produced insane numbers, usually facing older pitchers. A center fielder, he batted .489 and ripped 10 doubles, five triples and seven home runs. From the mound, he went 4-0 with an 0.73 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 28-⅔ innings.
Czarniecki stayed en fuego into the summer and was named MVP of the prestigious Futures Games in Atlanta, where he went 5 for 8 with a triple, a home run and five RBIs. He recorded strong numbers in the 60-yard dash (6.62) and in exit velocity measurements, consistently higher than 100 mph.
Not surprisingly, he ascended to No. 1 in the rankings of Indiana Class of 2026 baseball prospects.
Shooter Hunt, PBR’s vice president of scouting, said of him that weekend: “The tools, the effort, and the production stood out for four days as he captivated the 400-plus college coaches in attendance and left no doubt as to who the MVP of the event was, with an emphatic final statement, a home run that blasted off the barrel at 103 mph.”
How quickly they forget.
Czarniecki is ranked seventh in the state by PBR and was not listed among the four favorites on the website’s Indiana Player of the Year watchlist that had Crown Point catcher/outfielder Sean Dunlap listed No. 1.
Czarniecki faded because he popped his hamstring during preseason conditioning in 2025, reinjured it early in the season and was limited to 40 at bats, never getting into a groove.
The Trojans winning a state title is at the top of his goal list and he said that being named all-state for the second time is “absolutely” one of his goals this season. Nobody on the 2024 all-state team repeated in 2025.
“I feel after last year kind of maybe forgotten a little, so I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “It is what it is but I’m hoping to remind them of what I’ve got since they haven’t been able to see me play. Nothing beats high school baseball with your friends. I just want to go out there and not only perform for them, but help this team win.”
And, he figures, the rest will take care of itself.
Even when he returned to action the second time last season, his hamstring still nagged at him and didn’t completely become a non-factor until last fall.
“I felt way better in the summer but going out and not thinking about anything would probably be September, October, that area,” he said.
The lack of steady at bats took its toll on Czarniecki when he returned.
“I’d have good at bats and I’d have bad at bats,” he said. “It was kind of hard to have that patience because you want to be who you used to be, but with all that time off only being able to do stuff on and off you just had to have more patience.”
His hamstring isn’t the only thing that feels better now.
“I’d have to say right now I think my swing’s feeling better than ever, so I’m just really looking forward to getting out there and playing,” said Czarniecki, who for the first time did not play basketball in the winter. “I’ve had a lot more time to work on it now with having the winter off, so I’ve been doing as much as I can.”
He feels ahead of the game after spending the entire winter working on baseball.
“I’ve gotten more live at bats this year than combined the past three years before the season starts, and more throwing too, everything,” Czarniecki said. “Way more ramped up.”
For what it’s worth, PBR did list Czarniecki among five candidates for POY in the second-tier, after the four favorites. Teammate Troy Barrett was listed among 15 darkhorse candidates. Czarniecki’s baseball journey takes him to the SEC next season to play for Kentucky. Barrett will play in the Big Ten for Purdue.
Czarniecki opens the season as the Trojans’ closer, but won’t be looking to shave his head, grow a goatee or sport combat fatigues, as have some closers throughout Major Leauge Baseball.
“I’m thinking more the mullet,” he said. “I’ve been more in my “Eastbound and Down” grind right now, so maybe I’ll channel a little Kenny Powers when I get out there, but we’ll see. We’ll see. I just started watching it. It’s a great show, really funny.”
He’s eager for 4:30 p.m. to arrive.
“I feel like you kind of get caught up in just playing, where last year I realized you have to appreciate every day, play 100% every single game, and you can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “Obviously, you can’t hit a thousand, but if you could, I would love to do that. I’ll just be the best player I can for my team, that’s the goal.”