Catch Him If You Can Who Knows Where Shadle Park’s Outfielder Will Show Up Next?

One thing you may not find signed in a Darin Talotti yearbook is: “Have a great summer, see you next year.”

Talotti, formerly of Shadle Park and North Central and currently of Shadle, played varsity baseball for the Highlanders as a sophomore before transferring to North Central for his junior year. He is now back at Shadle.

Talotti may be the first free agent the Greater Spokane League has ever seen.

He decided to go to NC because he wanted to play baseball with good friend Jimmy Lake.

“I didn’t think I’d be in town this year, and I wanted to play a year with him before I left.”

Talotti, 18, has played hockey since he was five. He thought he’d be playing for the Bellingham Icehawks of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League for his last year of high school, but that plan never materialized.

“I went there for a tryout, but because I played Legion baseball this past summer, I wasn’t in good hockey condition,” he said.

So when Bellingham told him to come back later, he decided to play football for at least another year. But not at NC.

“This past season (at Shadle) was probably the last chance for me to play football in my life.”

But because of the hockey tryout, Talotti started football late and missed some practices which put him behind the other players.

For now though, Talotti said he is having fun.

However, NC baseball coach Tim Rypien said Talotti’s desire for fun, coupled with an aversion to work hard, may have contributed to him going back to Shadle.

“Things came easy for Darin,” Rypien said. “He

received a lot of accolades as a sophomore (he was named to the GSL all-league team). Like a lot of young kids who are gifted, I think he thought if he just showed up that good things were automatically going to happen.”

Rypien wasn’t completely surprised when Talotti told him that he wasn’t returning.

“I do think the expectations were a little bit different here. I remember him telling me once that even though the Shadle team he played on went 3-13, they still had a lot of fun.

“That’s fine and dandy, and I’m not a win-at-allcost person, but I do stress the work ethic. We butted heads a few times along those lines. It was an adjustment for him. I treated him like any other player, and I think he had a problem with that.”

Of his stay at NC, Talotti said: “He’s (Rypien) a pretty strict guy, especially for conditioning. We’d run a mile after every practice, and it just wore me down. I was pretty sore all the time from running.”

And in the middle of baseball season last year, Talotti left the NC team to play in the Chicago Showcase hockey tournament.

“I’ve played in that for three years, so I had to miss a couple of baseball games. I don’t know, I get better grades at Shadle. I’m having more fun. At NC, I really didn’t see Jim that much.”

But even though his past has taken him to numerous places, Shadle baseball coach Ron Brooks said his senior outfielder has provided the Highlanders with direction on the field.

“He has provided leadership,” Brooks said. “He was sick for a week and played. He has just tried to do a lot of things for us this year.”

Hitting cleanup, Talotti batted .365, drove in 21 RBIs, was among the league leaders in doubles and triples and routinely threw out baserunners at third base and home plate from left field.

Of the future, Brooks and Rypien said they wish Talotti nothing but the best.

Regardless of where his travels take him.