Entering his all-important junior season, Yorkville pitcher Simon Skroch wanted to make a decision on his collegiate future, but he also didn’t want to rush through the process.
However, when Minnesota suddenly came calling in December and he went for an official visit in February, well, those pieces just fell right into place for the 6-foot-1 left-hander.
“They offered me and I committed pretty much the same day,” Skroch said. “It’s a big weight off my shoulders. I don’t really have to think about that anymore.
“I can just go out there and pitch and feel loose.”
Through two outings this spring, Skroch certainly looks loose and relaxed. He had another sterling outing Tuesday for the Foxes in a 7-1 nonconference win at Marmion in Aurora.
Skroch allowed an unearned run on two hits, walked one and struck out nine over five innings for Yorkville (1-3).
Kam Yearsley and Ryan Weis had two hits apiece for the Foxes. Yearsley, who also drove in a pair, and Daniel Rodriguez each scored two runs.
Marmion (2-4) was led by starter Connor Tulley, who kept the Cadets in the game. He allowed three runs, one earned, on three hits in five innings.
In his first two starts, though, Skroch has been as golden, throwing 10 innings while allowing no earned runs on seven hits with one walk and 18 strikeouts.
“I feel pretty good lately, just attacking the zone a lot,” he said. “I didn’t have my best command of my secondary stuff (Tuesday), but I just battled through it.”
That has become a hallmark of Skroch’s three-year varsity career.
“If there’s one thing you know about Simon, he’s going to compete,” Yorkville coach Tom Cerven said. “That kid loves to be on the mound.
“He loves to compete and he’s going to battle. Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff he’s always going to find a way to keep us in games and really grind out that start.”
Skroch fell behind in the count several times but his fastball that bores in on right-handed hitters got him out of several situations.
Even if the hitters make contact with the ball, there’s not much they’re going to be able to do with it thanks to the pitch’s natural movement.
“It’s probably my best pitch overall,” Skroch said. “It’s my favorite one to go to. I just like to attack inside. I just got lucky and it moves that way.”
Although Yorkville scored twice in the top of the first inning to grab the early lead, Tulley kept the Foxes off the board until the fifth.
Yorkville then put the game away with a three-run seventh.
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“He settled in,” Marmion coach Aaron Nieckula said of Tulley. “He was a little shaky, but after that, he really settled in and gave us a chance to stay in the ballgame and to make a game out of it.”
Skroch said the college recruiting process was stressful at times, but he tried to look at the positives of the situation.
“Sometimes, it could be fun, different colleges reaching out and looking at different places and going to see some new places,” Skroch said. “Overall, I liked it. I didn’t really try to rush it.”
Cerven was pleased with how things played out for Skroch.
“It was something you could tell was kind of weighing on him a little bit,” Cerven said. “He wanted to have that out of the way. To his credit, he didn’t rush through it. He didn’t just settle for something.
“He was waiting for the right fit, the right school, to come along. Finally, it did with Minnesota, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
