Star shortstop has eyes fixed on the future

On the baseball diamond, Cretin-Derham Hall's Jacob Esch is not thinking about his school's hallowed tradition. He is just playing baseball at a high level.

Esch, one of the state's best shortstops last season, also compiled an 8-0 record as a pitcher. He threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in the Class 3A state championship game against Eden Prairie, helping his team to a 4-3 victory and the program to its 11th state title.

A senior this season, Esch said the history of the program is evident "when you walk down the trophy hall and see those names: Mauer, Molitor, Schwab, Rosga. You hear stories about those guys."

Though he resides in Chanhassen, Esch also has a family tradition at Cretin-Derham Hall. His great-grandfather was a 1912 graduate, and his grandfather and great uncle are also alumni.

Esch, who will play baseball at Georgia Tech next season, spoke with Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque about playing baseball at tradition-rich Cretin-Derham Hall, replacing key losses in the lineup and making this season count.

Q Cretin-Derham Hall was 0-for-2 in championship games since last winning a state title in 2001. Was last year's victory important to refresh the tradition?

A Maybe winning state was important for the program, but it was nice to do it the way we did it. We had to come through the other side of the section bracket last season just to get to state.

Q You were one of the state's best shortstops, one of your team's best hitters and you won two state tournament games as a pitcher. How proud are you of your contributions?

A Well, we had a lot of key players. Nobody pays attention to the No. 9 hitter, but that was Chris Hickey. When we turned the lineup over, Hickey would get on, [Matt] McQuillan and [Ryan] McDonagh would get on, I'd hit and then Al Davis was behind me. All those guys graduated. We lost a lot of leaders and a lot of hitting.

Q In terms of strengths, where is this season's team starting from?

A We do have quite a pitching staff. Max [Gregory] shut out Duluth East in the state semifinal game and Nate Swanson shut down Eden Prairie for a couple innings in the championship game. The way it's shaping up we have a lot of pitching. We'll see what the hitting is like when we get outside.

Q Any worries about the younger guys taking time to find themselves this season?

A As in years past, C-DH pulls guys out of the woodwork that no one has ever heard of. It's all a matter of which young guys want it more. And Coach [Jim] O'Neill does a great job getting everyone focused. At practice the other day he said, 'What happened last year doesn't matter.' He set the tone and no one questioned him. It even made me think a little a bit.

Q As a senior, what example do you try to set?

A I like to hustle, and I hate to lose. I hope those things influence not only this team but the younger guys who will be around a few more years. You can have all the talent in the world, but if your opponent out-hustles you, they're going to give you a game and they might beat you at some point.