Baseball: Hampshire vs. Conant pits son against father on the diamond

HOFFMAN ESTATES – Hampshire center fielder Ari Fivelson normally might not be willing to share his intentions with an opponent, but this game was different.

Way different.

Fivelson, a speedy left-handed hitter, told Conant’s coach this week he was going to lay down a bunt, which he did for a hit in his first at-bat Saturday.

Conant’s coach had shared the insight with his players, but inside had to feel a little bit of pride in his son executing a near-perfect bunt.

“It was fun seeing him bat,” said Cougars coach Derek Fivelson, Ari’s father. “I don’t get to see him bat very much in the spring. Only really in video. It was nice to see him in person. He’s a very good player and tough to get out, he showed it today.”

Ari Fivelson got the best of his dad on Saturday as the Whip-Purs (18-6) rode an eight-strikeout performance from Wilson Wemhoff and five RBIs from Jaryd Vence to a 12-1, five-inning nonconference win over Conant (16-7).

It was a father-son athletic meeting almost five years in the making. Shortly after Frank Simoncelli was hired at Hampshire in 2018, Derek Fivelson contacted him about getting on the schedule.

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” Derek Fivelson said. “I have a lot of respect for Hampshire, they’re having a great season. It’s a special thing if you’re a varsity baseball coach and you get to coach against your son. There’s not that many of us that do it.”

Simoncelli said Hampshire’s players enjoyed the day as well as Ari Fivelson did.

“We did that every year and now we’re at this point and it’s surreal,” Simoncelli said. “We’re getting older and Ari’s here. It’s an amazing experience for the whole family, and our program too, a varsity head coach of another program playing his son on Hampshire.”

Ari Fivelson singled in a run in the third inning, was retired on a fly ball in the fourth and reached on an error on a hard-hit ground ball in the fourth, finishing 2 for 4.

Derek Fivelson was not taking anything easy on his son.

“We absolutely went over ways that I thought were the best way to get him out before the game,” he said. “When we’re in between the lines here, I’m Conant first and his success second. My pitchers, I gave them some strategy and he’s a tough hitter to get out. He was going to see lefty junk and he probably figured that out.”

Along the right-field line was Molly Fivelson, daughters Sydney (15) and Camryn (13) and dogs Phoebe and Pepper, watching the Fivelson men as rivals for the first time. Derek has coached Ari since he was 5 years old in summer baseball. Derek coaches and Ari plays with Athletes HQ, based out of Elgin, in the summer.

It was a highly-anticipated date on the schedule in the Fivelson house.

“It’s exciting, they’ve been talking about it all season,” Molly Fivelson said. “I was hoping for a good game. It wasn’t quite an exciting game. I was so zoned out with so much going on.

“There was talk all week about who was going to take it. Derek was teasing him that he was going to have the boys chant for Ari specifically because they know him.”

Ari Fivelson, a junior, hits No. 2 in the Whips’ order. He admitted he felt badly about the Whips beating the Cougars in five innings.

“We played against Conant freshman and sophomore year, but it’s pretty cool to play with him right on the third-base line,” Ari Fivelson said. “First thing I thought of was I was excited to play him.

“I told him I would bunt. (Their third baseman) was on the grass, but not far enough (in). He said I was only going to see lefties and I only saw lefties.”

It was nice for Molly, who rarely sees her husband’s team play now that they have high school-aged children. It was her second Conant game this season.

Although Derek rarely sees his son play in person, Molly said he positions his phone in the dugout on GameChanger so he can catch a glimpse of what Ari and the Whips are doing. Cougars’ players, who all know Ari, keep the coach updated on what he’s doing during their own games.

Simoncelli found a way to keep Derek Fivelson from missing Ari’s senior day next season. Conant will be the opponent that day.

“We talked to each other,” Simoncelli said. “I was like, ‘How are we going to be able to get you here if you have a game?’ We decided that for next year.”