Podlucky starts early with baseball team

by Eric Keppeler
Grand Island Dispatch, May 18, 2007

Chris Podlucky has been a factor in the Grand Island baseball
team’s success this season. (photos by Larry Austin)

It just wouldn’t be the Grand Island baseball team if there wasn’t a Podlucky playing somewhere on the squad.

Sophomore Chris is just the latest in a long line of fathers, brothers and uncles to don the Viking blue and white on the diamond. Podlucky says he’s not sure exactly how far back the family tradition goes, but he’s happy to be a part of it.

“It goes back a while,” he said. “There’s a little bit of pressure because you want to carry on the family tradition as well as they did. It’s not a big deal, but you want to do well.”

Podlucky got an early start on his varsity career after spending last season on the junior varsity squad as a freshman.

It’s not at all unusual for Vikings coach Dean Santorio to bring younger players up to the varsity, and he says that keeping Podlucky was an easy choice.

“Chris is hitting the ball real well for us,” Santorio said. “He’s second on the team in RBIs, he comes up with the big hit when we need it, and he’s already become one of our offensive leaders. For a sophomore to be able to come up to the varsity and do what he’s done has been great to see.”

Podlucky says that the transition from JV to varsity hasn’t been too difficult. The rest of the players accepted him pretty quickly, he says, especially once he showed that he could play.

“It’s fun, but it’s different,” Podlucky said. “Most of the other kids all know each other, but all of the older kids are great – they really help you out if you need anything at all. If you have any questions, you can always ask them. I was a little intimidated at first, but not any more.”

Podlucky opened the season as the Vikings’ everyday shortstop but was plagued by sometimes erratic throws. So Santorio decided to switch the positions of Podlucky and second baseman Neal DeMartin, and Podlucky says that the move has helped both players.

“It’s been a good thing for us,” Santorio said. “It seems to be working better for everybody.”

Podlucky has been an important factor in the Vikings’ success this season, both on the field and at the plate.

Grand Island, as usual, is in the thick of the chase for the Niagara Frontier League title. No one is going to catch defending champion Niagara-Wheatfield, but the rest of the league is wide open, and the players know that this kind of highly competitive schedule will only help them, especially once the sectional playoffs begin next week.

For his part, Podlucky can look forward to being a steady contributor on a good team for two more seasons after this, and he couldn’t be happier about that.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Podlucky said. “You always want to play on a team that wins, and that’s what we’ve got here. And it should be that way for a while.”