It isn’t often that you see a high school baseball player receive as much recognition as Nick Solak. Solak was a shortstop at Naperville North, and was a three-time All-Conference Selection, two-time All-Area Selection, and Illinois Coaches Association All-Star.  He was also the last player to hit .400 AVG (Batting Average) for NNHS, until last year, when Cliff Vickers hit .454 AVG. However, Solak was not originally thought to be a potential Major League Baseball player. He decided to attend the University of Louisville after his time at NNHS, where he committed to play D1 baseball in the ACC conference. At Louisville, Solak hit .346 AVG with 10 HR (Home Runs) 94 RBI (Runs Batted In) and an astounding .442 OBP (On Base Percentage). In his junior season at Louisville, Solak was named a team captain and accumulated many accolades, including All-ACC second team and D1Baseball second team All-America. Solak declared for the MLB draft after his 2016 season and was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round (62nd Overall). Solak was a part of the Yankees until the end of the 2017 season, when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in the offseason. Following a year with the Rays, he was traded to the Texas Rangers. Late this season, Solak was called up from the Rangers minor league affiliate and hit .293 AVG with 5 HR in 116 AB (at bats). Solak looks to continue his success into next season and the future.

How did NNHS prepare you for the MLB? 

“Naperville North is a very competitive high school, so I think it prepared me mentally for the MLB. A lot of the skills I learned through high school, especially time management, organization, developing a schedule/routine all come in handy on a daily basis.”

What teacher or coach had the biggest impact on you as a person or as a player?

 “A lot of people at North!

Jim Chiappetta, who coached me in my freshman year, made a big impact on me as a person and player. We had a really good group of guys and Coach Chiappetta, who brings a lot of energy and is a good teacher of the game, was a lot of fun to play for that year.

In my sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, I played for Head Coach Carl Hunckler and Assistant/Pitching Coach Mark Lindo. Both of these coaches helped me improve my game during my three years playing for them. They also routinely checked in with me during my college seasons and professional career.

 Hunckler, Lindo, and Chiappetta, along with two other North baseball coaches at different levels, Bob Platt and Tim Kane, all came to see me play against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate on Sunday, August 25th.

A number of teachers greatly influenced me in my college years and still impact me to this day!  Tim Rinker, one of my teachers for Calculus, helped me grow my love for math (my favorite subject) and had an influence on me eventually majoring in finance.

Maureen Wunderlich, one of my Spanish teachers, really helped me learn the language by immersing us in it every single day. I minored in Spanish in college and my ability to speak and understand the language has been very important in professional baseball, as I played a winter ball season in the Dominican Republic last offseason and share a clubhouse with many Latin players.”

What is your favorite memory from North? 

“I have so many great memories from my days at Naperville North. Some of my favorites include going to Friday night football games with my friends and being on Student Government helping to plan events like Airband and some of the dances.”

Was there a time you knew that you could be a professional athlete?

 “Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of playing Major League Baseball. I always had it in my mind that I was going to achieve it, but really focused on the next steps in my progression at any given time by focusing on the tasks at hand. During my junior season in college, I started meeting with Major League scouts and it wasn’t really until then that I fully understood that I would get a chance to play professionally.”

At what point in your career do you feel you’ve made the most progress?

“I think I made the most progress, in all facets of life (personal and baseball), during my freshman year of college at Louisville. It definitely wasn’t the easiest transition going from high school to college, being away from home for the first time and living on my own; competing with bigger, stronger, older players; just dealing with a lot of new situations…but it was during that time that I grew the most as a person and as a player and I wouldn’t be where I am today without those experiences. I had a lot of people around me, including family, friends, college teammates and coaches that helped support me and helped me grow during that time.”

 What was/is your backup plan if Baseball failed/fails?

 “It was always really important to my parents and me that even if I were to get drafted after my junior year, I finish my degree as soon as possible. So pretty much as soon as I got drafted in June of 2016, I was figuring out ways to finish up my last classes. I was able to finish my degree in Finance and minor in Spanish in my first offseason. I’m incredibly proud of graduating from the University of Louisville and have my degree in my back pocket if and when I need it!

 I haven’t thought about it too much recently, as far as backup plans, but I was always interested in attending law school and practicing law. I’m also interested in player agents and the MLB player’s association, so maybe someday when my playing career is over, I’ll explore those options.”

Editor’s note: The interview for this story was conducted over email.