ThunderBolts catcher Larry Balkwill is coming off, by far, the best offensive season of his career. He was hitting in the cleanup spot in Thursday’s opening day lineup.

The veteran’s top priority, though, doesn’t involve swinging the bat.

In his fourth season with the T-Bolts and fifth professionally, Balkwill knows it’s his job to guide a pitching staff with nine rookies and just three experienced players.

“With the pitching staff being so young, it’s my responsibility to help them the best I can,” Balkwill said. “I want to pass along the mindset of what we want to do and help them adjust to going from college ball to here, where we play every day and the hitters are more experienced.

“I need to help these guys prepare in order for us to have success pitching and be competitive as a team.”

Balkwill, 26, is one of the two longest-tenured T-Bolt players. Shortstop Ransom LaLonde also is in his fourth year with the team.

Windy City manager Ron Biga thinks Balkwill’s the perfect batterymate for the young pitchers.

“Having an older guy behind the plate is a huge help,” Biga said. “When you’ve been in this league a few years, you get to know guys’ tendencies, ballparks, umpires, strike zones. All that comes into play when you’re trying to run a game, and Larry is really smart and passes all that information on to our pitchers.

“He’s helped us lead the league in baserunners thrown out the last two years and I see no reason for that to change this year.”

Balkwill, a Chatham, Ontario, native, has been known as a dependable defensive catcher since joining Windy City in 2015, but he had a massive breakthrough on offense last season.

After hitting a combined five home runs in his first three pro seasons, Balkwill hit a team-best 20 in 2017. He also led the T-Bolts in RBIs with 64 and slugging percentage at .521.

He finished with a .268 batting average, a 40-point jump from 2016.

“I worked really hard the last couple years to rejuvenate my swing and think about hitting a little differently,” Balkwill said. “I went up there understanding what I was trying to do.

“The longer you play, and the more work you put in, the better you should get. The hard work paid off last year.”

Biga said he saw Balkwill start to develop at the plate late in the 2016 season.

“He really started to understand hitting and he carried that into last year,” Biga said. “He learned that when you get in certain counts, you have to take certain types of swings.

“The key is to not miss pitches and he did that last year.”

Balkwill has played his entire career in independent ball. He hoped his breakthrough season would get him noticed by a major league team.

“I was definitely excited going into the offseason hoping there’d be an opportunity with an affiliated club,” he said. “That didn’t happen, but that’s OK. I’m glad to be back and really excited to get a new season started. As long as I have a jersey, I’m happy.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.