Janacek and the Leps ‘Catching’ Fire Heading Into the Postseason

The La Grange baseball team seems to be peaking at the right time.

Winners of three in a row heading into the postseason, a big reason for that success has been the play of sophomore catcher Dalton Janacek.

In addition to expertly handling the Leps pitching staff, Janacek has really gotten hot at the plate lately.

In Monday’s 5-3 playoff tiebreaker win over Giddings (that earned the Leps the No. 1 seed in the small school division out of District 22-4A), Janacek has two of the Leps’ five hits including his first ever varsity homer.

“Dalton was starting right fielder last year as a freshman and we moved him to the catcher role this year,” La Grange head coach James Zaruba said. “He showed he wanted it and has done a great job for us ... Now he’s getting hot at the plate. He’s one of those kids you don’t have to tell him what to do at practice or what to do after practice. He’s going to grind.”

For everything Janacek is doing for the Leps baseball team this season, we’re proud to honor him as this week’s Fayette County Athlete of the Week.

We caught up with Janacek at practice Tuesday.

Here’s some highlights from our interview with him: We asked him about that big homer from the night before.

“There was two out, Jonah (Ehler) had got on right before me. We were up 2-1 but we needed to get some more insurance runs,” Janacek said. “My mindset was to put something into the gap and try to get Jonah in scoring position. When I hit it, I didn’t think it was gone. I just started running and then I heard the crowd start screaming and I saw it go over.”

Janacek said he’s enjoying catching this season a lot more than playing outfield last year “I grew up a catcher,” Janacek said. “But Hunter Sabo (last year’s senior starting catcher) did a good job of teaching me a lot of things.”

But catching isn’t for everybody.

“It’s very tiring. Since baseball started my legs have been in a lot of pain,” Janacek said. “I feel like the catcher position, you need to have a lot of leadership and be loud. I try to communicate with my team as much as can. If a pitcher’s not doing well you have to go and talk to them and get them more confidence ... I think some pitchers try to focus too much on striking people out. All you need to do is throw strikes and let them hit the ball to our defense because I know they can get people out.”

As for this year’s playoffs, Janacek said the current Leps need to look back at last year’s team for inspiration. Those 2025 Leps twice rallied after Game 1 playoff losses to win Games 2 & 3 in the Bidistrict and Area rounds.

“We need to have lots of confidence and even if we get down, know that the game’s not over and keep battling all the way through.”

FAYETTE C O. REC ORD’S

Read about our Athletes of the Week in every Friday edition and afterwards watch their interviews on our email newsletter, Youtube and facebook page.

A WEEKLY FEATURE