As Jake Zitella makes a 90-minute drive to play with his summer team, one thing is clear.
Things will never be the way they were the past four years at St. Charles East.
Whether his next step is heading to college or being selected in the MLB draft, Zitella is facing stiffer competition and playing with new faces for the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.
“You’re done seeing the kids that you saw every day,” said Zitella, an Illinois recruit. “We’re all going on our journeys. I’ve played with some of them since I was 5 or 6 years old.”
While the future is certainly bright, the past wasn’t too shabby either for hard-hitting Zitella, the 2023 Beacon-News/Courier-News Baseball Player of the Year.
As a senior, the all-state third baseman batted .484 with 32 runs, 13 doubles, a triple, nine homers and 39 RBIs. He was chosen as the DuKane Conference’s player of the year.
Zitella’s goal has been to play professional baseball. Participating in a competitive summer environment against other high-level talent gives scouts another month to evaluate him.
“I’m playing to get ready for the next level,” Zitella said. “If this helps me out like I hope it does, we’ll see what happens. This is really the top players around the Midwest.
“Go out there, have fun and compete and see what happens.”
Zitella put himself in this position thanks to his stellar high school career. Although his numbers were lofty, it’s the way he carried himself that impressed coach Len Asquini.
“Never take a play off, never take a practice off,” Asquini said of Zitella. “He just loves the game so much that when he’s out there playing baseball, that’s the only thing on his mind.
“There’s so much purity and beauty behind that, and it’s going to be missed.”
His demeanor was even noticed by opposing coaches.
“He’s a really nice young man and is willing to interact,” Batavia coach Alex Beckmann said of Zitella. “I’ve had nothing but great interactions with him on the field.
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“For as good as he is, he’s a humble guy. You can tell the joy he has playing the game. You don’t see that with every prospect or player as good as he is. He enjoys being out there.”
Beckmann also knows how dangerous Zitella is at the plate.
“He’s a guy you have to totally game plan against,” Beckmann said. “You try and say, ‘We’re not going to let Jake beat us.’ You hope he doesn’t come up in a spot where you can’t pitch around him.”
Zitella hit only .160 in his first seven games for the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp.
That qualifies as a slump, which Asquini has not seen often.
“They’re not really slumps,” Asquini said. “He just didn’t get to the ball. Never once did he say he wasn’t seeing the ball well. It was just not getting to the ball like he normally does.
“We’d go back to line drives over the second baseman’s head. His hands are always in a good spot. He doesn’t have a big stride. He’s a potential major league draftee. He’s not going to have those issues.”
The MLB draft kicks off July 9, and Zitella has a chance to be selected. If that doesn’t happen, he’ll head to Champaign.
Either way, it will be another step toward his dream of playing professional baseball.
“As of right now, I’m going to Illinois to play,” Zitella said. “If I get taken right now, then I’ll have to think it over with my parents because it’s a big decision. I’m putting my head down and grinding as of now.
“I do have some teams contacting me and my adviser. We’ll have to see what happens. I think it’s cool. I worked for it. I always wanted to have an opportunity. That’s what you work for. You want to be in the draft.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.