Schilsky Out For Season

Illinois Wesleyan University junior pitching ace Steve Schilsky, a Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin product, broke his leg sliding into a base during practice on Thursday (April 4) and will likely miss the remainder of the season.

Schilsky's broken fibula will be in a cast for eight to 10 weeks. "We were taking batting practice and he was running the bases. He slid into second base and then he just started rolling around and screaming in pain," IWU coach Dennis Martel said. "I went out there and his leg was at a weird angle. It wasn't pretty."

The righthander was 1-1 with a 2.38 earned run average this season in 22 2/3 innings. He had recorded a team-high 34 strikeouts and opponents were hitting only .162 against him.

Last spring, Schilsky was 8-3 with a 1.82 ERA and a school-record 107 strikeouts. He earned second-team All-America honors and was the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin "Player of the Year" while leading IWU to its first NCAA Division III College World Series appearance.

Schilsky, who also was the fourth-leading tackler on IWU's football team last fall with 44, has drawn considerable attention from professional baseball scouts this spring.

Martel told The Pantagraph that Schilsky will be difficult to replace. "You take your No. 1 guy out and that's a big blow to our team," Martel said. "I think our pitching depth is good enough to adjust. But you don't take a kid of his caliber out of the rotation without feeling some effects from it.

"This probably put a severe crimp in his draft status. He's been pitching very well and been moving up in the scouts' eyes. He'll probably have to go out this summer and pitch and prove himself again."