Marian Catholic grad a fixture for Oilmen
Marian Catholic grad a ‘baseball nerd’ has become fixture in Oilmen’s lineup
Through six games, Angelo Cantelo was fifth on the Oilmen with a .308 average and was tied for the team lead with seven RBIs. Manager Chris Cunningham says Cantelo is “just a baseball guy,” who “loves the grind of everything, and he’s always working.”
Every morning before school, Angelo Cantelo would wake up at 6 a.m. to watch “SportsCenter” on ESPN.
“I’ve always loved sports, and I’ve always loved baseball,” Cantelo said. “My dad used to take me to a lot of White Sox games as a kid, and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed.”
Watching those early morning highlights is a big part of what morphed Cantelo into a “baseball nerd” who has become a fixture in the middle of the Northwest Indiana Oilmen’s lineup through the first week of the 2020
Midwest Collegiate League season.
Oilmen manager Chris Cunningham was responsible for the “nerd” label for Cantelo. Cunningham says Cantelo, a 2019 graduate of Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights, Illinois, who plays for Lewis, can’t get enough of the sport.
“He’s just a baseball guy,” Cunningham said. “He loves the grind of everything, and he’s always working, always talking to me about hitting and bouncing ideas off of me about certain situations.”
All those conversations have paid off through Cantelo’s first six games with the Oilmen. Entering Monday’s game against the Minutemen, the catcher was fifth on the team with a .308 batting average, led the team with four doubles and was in a three-way tie for the team lead with seven RBIs.
Cantelo also credited his success this summer to his first college season, where he relied on his veteran teammates to help make the jump from high school to Division II.
“That was one of the best things: The upperclassmen really took care of me,” he said. “It’s a big adjustment, mentally and physically, knowing that those guys have played for multiple years at the college level. I became close with our juniors and seniors, and they took me under their wing.”
That’s not the only place where Cantelo has picked up information from more veteran players, however. Cantelo’s family owns the Beggars Pizza restaurant chain, which has 26 Chicagoland locations. The company has a partnership agreement with the White Sox, providing a unique opportunity for Cantelo.
“I get to go to a lot of White Sox outings,” he said. “I’ve been able to listen to Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson and Jim Thome talk about baseball, trying to take something away from these guys who are in the Hall of Fame.”
For Cantelo, there’s always a baseball conversation to be had, always a nuance of the game that can be explored by talking with a teammate or a coach. Even though he didn’t play in the Oilmen’s 9-6 loss to the Joliet Generals on Sunday, he was at the stadium, warming up starting pitcher Connor Oliver before the game and likely picking the baseball minds of whoever sat next to him.
“I’ve learned a lot from Cunningham and ‘Pobes’ (pitching coach Matt Pobereyko),” Cantelo said. “I’m just trying to get consistent at-bats and more innings behind the plate, working every day to get better.”