HAMMOND | Danny Oseguera pulled a hamstring while playing in a game at Whiting during his junior baseball season.
He sat the requisite amount of time, then hopped back into the Bishop Noll lineup where he felt he could do some help.
He had to fight every urge to steal bases or make big strides in the outfield. His hamstring took even longer to heal than most had hoped.
"As a base runner, his speed creates a lot of havoc for us, and we didn't have him starting at the second half of last season, and that hurt us," Noll coach Paul Wirtz said. "He battled and gave us what he could, it's been nice having him back this year."
Cody Moskovsky was a catcher as a freshman, spending most of his time at the JV level during the Warriors' 2009 semistate run. When he made the move to varsity as a sophomore, it was as a second baseman, shedding the gear he was so used to wearing to take a spot in the outfield.
Moskovsky made his move back behind the plate last season and has been Bishop Noll's backstop mainstay since.
"He's a kid that never complains about it, he does whatever you ask him to do," Wirtz said. "If we told him on Saturday 'you have to go out and pitch a couple innings,' he would do it and not think anything of it and give us the best he's got. He's a hard-nosed kid."
The senior pair have found success with the Warriors thanks to their ability to adapt to whatever needs to be done. Bishop Noll will play Hebron in Saturday's Whiting Regional, the third regional appearance for the Warriors in the four years the class of 2012 has been at the school.
"Anything to help the team out, it's a team effort right now," Moskovsky said. "All of us playing our own positions, we want to succeed the best that we can."
"It sets an example (for the team), it's being a team player, it's hard work all the time," Wirtz said. "They're so vital to our success with their play."
Moskovsky is a .400 hitter who has come up with a hit in the clutch every time he's been called upon. He found his way on base with a walk in the ninth inning of the sectional semifinal against Wheeler. In the title game, the catcher singled against Whiting to help break a 1-1 tie.
"Every at-bat is another at-bat, whether we're up 10-0 or down 10-0," Moskovsky said. "I've just got to come through for my team, go up there and not be nervous and play my game like I know how to."
Oseguera is a .420 hitter who bats lead-off, finding a way to get into pitcher's heads to open the game. His speed makes him a much-needed spark plug to the Warriors game plan.
"You can see, we started off kinda slow again and once he got going, our team got going -- getting on base, getting hit by a pitch, his batting average has climbed higher than it's ever been," Wirtz said. "Getting him on base starts our offense."
Oseguera was moved up to varsity as a freshman during the Warriors semistate season. As Bishop Noll makes its way through the tournament, Oseguera has some well-seasoned advice for his teammates.
"Don't get nervous, we're there for a reason," he said. "If we play like the team, we know we are, we'll be fine."
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