In the offseason, Jake Zitella battled through a back injury. In the process, the senior third baseman lost part of what made him a special player for St. Charles East.
The Illinois recruit decided he had to bring the joy back to his game.
“I really just took all the pressure off my shoulders,” Zitella said. “I had to learn how to live with failure because of my back. I came back stronger, working with my hitting coach.
“I put it into play (Monday). It helped my mindset.”
Zitella was his usual productive self on the field Monday, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs for the Saints in 9-3 nonconference victory at Waubonsie Valley.
Clay Jensen went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for St. Charles East (1-0), while Sam Frausto knocked in a pair of runs.
Hiroshy Wong went 2-for-3 for Waubonsie Valley (2-2-1). Blake Pietryk scored twice.
Zitella was also a flurry of motion off the field, retrieving his teammates’ bats and delivering good vibes.
“I just came out and had fun,” Zitella said. “You saw me out here hugging dudes, having fun with the guys. These are my guys, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Zitella showed his newfound approach in his first at-bat. He fell behind in the count, taking two called strikes. Those weren’t the pitches he was looking for, however.
When he got his pitch, Zitella promptly doubled to right-center and kicked off a three-run, two-out rally.
“I went down two strikes, but I’m not scared,” he said. “I have another pitch. You get three strikes for a reason. I just did what I could with the pitch.
“We got a double to start it off, and the team took it from there.”
Zitella then drove in runs his next three plate appearances via a single, a sacrifice fly and a groundout.
After breaking out of his struggles, Zitella reworked his swing, and Monday was his first chance to show off the changes. The results were positive.
“He’s doing it differently at the plate,” St. Charles East coach Len Asquini said. “He’s more of a hitter. He was pretty darn good last year. He’s more of a hitter this year, not trying to do too much and just letting the game come to him.
“That’s been his approach. It’s wearing off on some other guys, too. That’s the good thing about this group.”
Playing the day before leaving for a trip to Tennessee, Waubonsie scored a run in the first inning on an RBI single from Mason Ringenbach.
The Warriors didn’t get on the board again until plating a pair in the bottom of the seventh, however. The Saints’ relentless offense kept Waubonsie at bay.
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“They did a nice job of putting the ball in play,” Waubonsie coach Bryan Acevedo said. “We threw some guys that had some trouble locating and throwing strikes, but they made it a lot harder on us because they didn’t chase out of the zone.”
Zitella regrets his decision to play through his injury, and it took him time to get back to his old self, both on and off the field.
“It was all good until I hurt my back,” Zitella said. “It really got into my head. My parents helped me get out of it. I really just got myself out of it, and I’m just having fun out here.
“It’s baseball, and you have to have fun.”
It helps that Zitella doesn’t act like a star, either
“He doesn’t care about that,” Asquini said. “He knows he’s playing third base for the Saints — that’s it. It’s very refreshing. He’s been a fun kid to work with over the years.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
