Oswego East’s Ashton Izzi swears he doesn’t see it.
Everybody else in the stands sees it, however.
Every time the senior right-hander gets set on the mound, a dozen or so radar guns shoot up in unison — professional scouts looking to get a reading on the Wichita State recruit.
“It definitely brings some energy, but I don’t really notice them past the bullpen,” Izzi said. “All I do is look at the catcher and throw the next pitch. That’s it.”
Izzi was on the mound as the starter for Monday’s game, a 6-2 Southwest Prairie Conference loss to Joliet West. He went only three innings as he continues to build up arm strength during this cold, wet spring.
After surrendering three unearned runs during a laborious third inning, Izzi departed. He struck out four, walked one and allowed only two hits for the Wolves (2-4, 1-2).
“We’re still ramping him up, trying to be as safe as possible with everybody’s arms as of now,” Oswego East coach Brian Schaeffer said. “We didn’t want to have to go that long in an inning, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Izzi also is anxious to get up to a full workload, but the lack of consistent innings due to factors out of his control has slowed the buildup.
“I’m just working with pitch counts and making sure my arm is healthy, not pushing it too far for how little of a season we’ve played,” Izzi said. “I’m just trying to not get injured, keep my arm healthy and be ready to go next week.”
That has been a balancing act all season for Schaeffer. Rare is the season where a coach has two Division I recruits in the rotation like Oswego East has this season.
Vanderbilt recruit Noah Schultz saw some innings early before coming down with mononucleosis, putting him out until early May. Izzi is still on a pitch count.
Oswego East’s other pitchers are still trying to get going as well.
“It has been extremely frustrating, just knowing when those guys are pitching, knowing a specific plan of days,” Schaeffer said. “They want to get into a routine and they want to throw their midweek bullpens.
“It’s also trying to do what’s best for their arms to be competitive and do what’s best for the team as a whole. It’s been a balancing act, but hopefully going forward it will be consistent.”
Two errors Monday led to the three unearned runs for Izzi.
The Wolves then couldn’t get anything going offensively off Joliet West starter Jimmy Anderson until the seventh. By that time, they had already surrendered six unearned runs and managed only one hit.
“We’re a really young, inexperienced team,” Schaeffer said. “They haven’t seen varsity pitching, varsity fielding, varsity catching. They’re learning as they go.”
Oswego East scored two unearned runs against Anderson in the seventh and had the tying run on deck, but the six-run deficit was too much to overcome.
“We talk about making sure you’re focused and having that kind of energy from the get-go,” Schaeffer said. “It’s a team effort. We’re all here for each other and it’s just a matter of picking each other up.”
As the weather stabilizes, Oswego East’s games figure to be must-see for pro scouts. Schaeffer isn’t concerned about how that will affect Izzi, though.
“Ashton is a competitor,” Schaeffer said. “I think he kind of thrives in a lot of those situations.
“I’m not too worried about him. You have to have the mentality where you just thrive and compete when you see that and continue to perform at a high level.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
