BY AARON PATTERSON
CATLIN — Those close to Salt Fork athlete J.D. Learnard contend that the one thing that sets him apart from his competition is his mental toughness.
As the 2008 Football Player of the Year, he led the Storm to a record-setting football season advancing to the Class 1A state semifinals, and his performance in the spring was no different.
Learnard was virtually unflappable on the mound. He struck out 127 batters while maintaining a 2.30 ERA as the Storm won its first-ever sectional championship, and came within one game of the state semifinals.
Now, the 2009 Baseball Player of the Year will attempt to transfer the same attributes that led to success in high school to the college ranks at Illinois State University.
As a pitcher for the Redbirds, he will join a program boasting former standouts and current Major League Baseball hurlers like Matt Herges and 2005 World Series Champion, Neal Cotts.
But Salt Fork coach Gary Hansgen isn’t worried about his former ace keeping pace.
“He understands what he’s getting himself into,” Hansgen said. “You just have to manage your time. He knows what’s ahead of him. He wants the challenge. He’s looking forward to it and I think they’ll be happy with the effort they are going to get from him.
“He has worked and worked and worked to improve himself to try to get that shot. That mental side is so good that he is able to do the right things he needs to do.”
Learnard weighed his options between ISU, accepting an offer from Eastern Illinois University and staying in the more comfortable confines of home, playing for coach Tim Bunton at Danville Area Community College.
He said of all of his possibilities, he liked the excitement surrounding Mark Kingston’s program and just “fell in love with the place.”
“Even though they weren’t giving me any money, I felt like that was the place for me,” Learnard said. “That was really the ultimate — just how comfortable I was there.”
But accepting the comfortable route isn’t an option he has always taken. In fact, avoiding complacency is what keeps him on his toes, and is something that has been ingrained in his psyche since Day One.
“That’s something that our class has done a very good job of,” Learnard said. “At my house, my dad has been telling me this for a long time. It’s kind of like ‘What have you done for me lately?’
“It’s cool to look at the past and see what you have accomplished, but at this point, it doesn’t really mean anything unless you keep pushing forward and kind of see what you can do and if you can top that. It was going to be hard to top the football season. If we didn’t, we came pretty close in baseball.”
When he wasn’t on the mound, Learnard was a mainstay at second base and batting third in the Storm’s lineup.
Hitting just under .500 and driving in 24 runs forced opposing pitchers to stay sharp against a fairly intimidating spot in the order. Batting cleanup was Learnard’s cousin, Joel Learnard followed by Brad Collins who became one of the Storm’s most clutch hitters in the second half of the season.
“When he’s on the mound, there’s also the mental aspect that his teammates have,” Hansgen said. “They know it’s going to be a competitive game. You give him three or four runs and that’s gold. He’s going to compete and he’s going to get himself out of the jams.”
Hansgen, however, saw Learnard progress to a point where the jams got fewer and fewer. And learning how to be a pitcher rather than just throwing to hitters might be one of the things that helps him most at the next level.
“He used to think that he was just going to strike everybody out and he started hitting spots and he found out that, hey, it works this way, too,” Hansgen said.
While Learnard continues to fine-tune his skills in preparation for a new challenge, he hopes to leave a lasting impression at ISU just as he helped take his respective Salt Fork programs to a new level.
Throughout high school, his ultimate goal was to play at the next level. And though he was never able to take home a state championship trophy, he’s not too disappointed with how things turned out.
“In football, we came out and we worked hard all year and really came together. Looking back, obviously a state championship (would have been nice), but I don’t know if I would change a thing.
“We got close and we worked our butts off. It’s paid off for us this year. Yeah, we didn’t make it all the way, but our teams just really came together in football and baseball and it was a lot of fun working with the guys. I don’t know if I would change anything.”
Commercial-News All-Area Team
First team Year School
Brad Collins Senior Salt Fork
J.D. Learnard Senior Salt Fork
Joel Learnard Sophomore Salt Fork
Brady Leeman Senior Oakwood
Aaron Lewellyn Senior Schlarman
Vinnie Miller Senior Schlarman
Scott Moore Junior Fountain Central
Zach Robertson Junior Fountain Central
Logan Ross Senior Geo-RF/Chrisman
Chadd Snyder Senior Danville
Colton Stephenson Senior Attica
Logan Vance Senior Danville
Blake Wadsworth Senior Geo-RF/Chrisman
Matt Wolfe Senior Attica
Second team Year School
Johnny Brazas Sophomore Covington
Ethan Clark Junior North Vermillion
Jeff Creighton Senior Armstrong-Potomac
Adam Dennis Senior Covington
Dennis Forrest Sophomore Danville
Casey Fletcher Sophomore Oakwood
Jonathan Haley Senior Hoopeston Area
Luke Haynes Senior Bismarck-Henning
Brett Nelson Junior Fountain Central
Seth Rooze Junior Attica
Jordan Scherf Senior Milford
Clayton Snyder Senior Hoopeston Area
Chase Vire Senior Geo-RF/Chrisman
Korie Vire Freshman Geo-RF/Chrisman
Taylor Walsh Senior Oakwood
Honorable Mention — Kohle Anderson, Milford; Cody Burton, Danville; Ryan Carver, Fountain Central; Tate Compton, Hoopeston Area; Tyler Davis, Armstrong-Potomac; Travis Digby, Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman; Jeff Earl, Fountain Central; Ethan Ervin, Hoopeston Area; Kyle Evans, Milford; Trent French, Covington; Kyle Golden, Schlarman; Michael Grant, Bismarck-Henning; Sam Guerra, Covington; Link Hambleton, Armstrong-Potomac; Chris Hathaway, Westville; Willy Hurst, Attica; Kody Kidwell, Westville; Cyle Knecht, Covington; Ryan Knight, Armstrong-Potomac; Trace McClintock, Oakwood; Dalton McCool, North Vermillion; Taylor Rademacher, Seeger; Jacob Rankin, North Vermillion; David Sacre, Salt Fork; Cam Seymour, Fountain Central; Scott Showers, Schlarman; Matt Silver, Hoopeston Area; Trent Spear, Fountain Central; Zack Stewart, Attica; Ross Stitt, Seeger; Storme Stover, Seeger; Caleb Tilltoson, Attica; David Toth, Westville; Chris Willis, Salt Fork.
