A self-described reserved teenager, Lake Zurich’s Lucas Foley turns the tables when he’s pitching.
The senior left-hander often sends opposing hitters quietly back to their dugout.
“I almost feel like a different person between the lines, with lots of self-belief,” Foley said. “The way I’m pitching, I honestly think I’m better than every hitter I’m facing.”
The numbers back up Foley’s assertion. After six starts this season, the Valparaiso recruit is 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP for the Bears (9-7). He has struck out 62 while walking just nine in 34 innings.
That type of success wasn’t necessarily unexpected after Foley recorded a 2.02 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 32 walks last season. But he has progressed to a point that coaches aren’t obliged to tinker.
“He goes out there with a plan and knows what he can and can’t do that day,” Lake Zurich coach Scott DeCaprio said. “It’s rare that someone squares him up, and what’s cool is that he’s gotten more vocal. It’s a really good step for him to find his own voice.”
Foley had already found just about everything else. He has a lanky whip action in his delivery that makes it hard for hitters to pick him up. He works primarily with three pitches, including a fastball that was clocked at 90 mph during a recent start, and he’s comfortable throwing his slider and change-up for strikes anytime in the count.
The slider, in Foley’s estimation, has become a true weapon. He can bend it from far off the plate into the zone to right-handed hitters or aim it at their ankles to finish them off.
“Sometimes I can even use it to get ahead in the count,” he said. “Not a lot of kids make contact with it, and there have been a lot of bad swings.”
Foley has been ahead of the game since his sophomore year. Coming off the canceled season in spring 2020, he caught wind of an informal workout for upperclassmen. He asked DeCaprio whether he could throw his left arm into the ring. DeCaprio agreed.
Foley made quite an impression, striking out several batters in live at-bats, including 2020 Lake Zurich graduate Anthony Mangano, who was a freshman at Iowa.
“That’s all it took for them to notice that they might be able to use me,” Foley said.
That spring, he excelled in a couple of nonconference starts on Saturdays, which led to a high-profile outing against Mundelein.
“That opened more eyes because he really battled,” DeCaprio said.
This season, Foley is throwing to his younger brother AJ, a sophomore catcher. A football injury suffered by senior catcher Nolan Schuetz created an opening, and AJ Foley has run with the opportunity. He began the week hitting a team-high .448 and is sharpening his skills behind the plate by catching one of the area’s best pitchers.
The experience has been an eye-opener for AJ Foley, who had never received the caliber of pitches Lucas Foley throws.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever caught him, so I’ve had to get used to reacting fast enough to catch it cleanly, especially his two-seamer,” AJ Foley said. “And it’s built on our relationship.”
Lucas Foley also relishes the arrangement.
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“It’s been pretty cool,” he said. “We have daily conversations at home and talk about our approach. It’s a great way to end off high school.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.