BLOOMINGTON -- With one signature Tuesday, Steve Schilsky became a professional baseball player and ended one of the finest multi-sport careers in Illinois Wesleyan history.
The now former IWU baseball and football player signed a contract with the Oakland A's and will leave Friday to join Oakland's Northwest League affiliate in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet. It's something that will take a week or two," Schilsky said. "I'm going to miss playing with those guys. But they're happy for me and that makes me feel good."
The right-handed pitcher's baseball career literally encountered a bad break April 4 when he fractured the fibula in his right leg. Two months later, Oakland made Schilsky its 25th round draft choice although he had yet to return to action.
Schilsky was 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA in three games with the Twin City Stars this summer. He struck out 15 and walked one in 11 innings.
"I think they saw enough to know I was healthy enough and ready to go," said Schilsky. "They gave me the impression they didn't need to see me that much. I just needed to get healthy. The injury was such it was not going to affect me down the road."
While declining to specify the amount of his signing bonus, Schilsky said he was "more than happy with the contract offer given everything that has occurred as far as the injury."
Schilsky helped the Titans to the Division III World Series in 2001 and was named the Central Illinois Collegiate League's Pitcher of the Year that summer.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Schilsky will join Vancouver about 20 games into its season. He will do so with his pre-injury confidence.
"I think I was pretty close to 100 percent," Schilsky said of his appearances with the Stars. "My velocity the first time out was right back where it was in the low 90s. That was very promising. My arm feels real good. It's a matter of getting everything back into shape so I can bounce back quickly."
"We were a little frustrated how his season went this year, but I'm happy for him that he's getting the opportunity," Titans' baseball coach Dennis Martel said. "He gets some money, he gets his school paid for. I'm all for it and wish him the best."
Schilsky also was an all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin defensive lineman for the IWU football team.
"I think people will look back as the years go by and say Steve Schilsky was a special student-athlete for us," IWU football coach Norm Eash said. "There are not too many kids who go through the CCIW all-conference in football and baseball at the same time.
"He's a very intense competitor. He was not the biggest defensive lineman. But he always made plays."
 

Sacred Heart-Griffin High School graduate Steve Schilsky signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday afternoon, a month after being drafted by the A's in the major league amateur draft.
Schilsky, who recently completed his junior season at Illinois Wesleyan University, is set to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, to join the Canadians, Oakland's Class A minor league club, on Friday.
"I'm just really excited about it," Schilsky said. "I think it's a step toward reaching a dream I've had, since I was a little kid, of playing ball. I'm excited about starting my career in pro ball."
Schilsky was 1-1 with a 2.38 earned run average this spring with the Titans before breaking his leg during practice. He was forced to miss the rest of the season, but his statistics from the 2001 campaign were impressive enough that Oakland selected him with the 758th overall pick.
While leading his team to the NCAA Division III World Series last year, Schilsky earned College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Player of the Year honors and was tabbed a second-team Division III All-American. He also set a school record with 107 strikeouts.
Schilsky said last month the A's would evaluate him this summer while he played in the Central Illinois Collegiate League as a member of the Bloomington-Normal Twin City Stars. This season he was 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA. He had 15 strikeouts and only one walk in 11 innings.
Last summer, while playing for the Stars, Schilsky garnered CICL Pitcher of the Year honors after posting an 8-0 mark to go with an ERA of 0.54.
Duffy Bass, the Stars general manager, has been watching Schilsky for the past two years and thinks he has a good chance of making it at the professional level.
"He has three things going for him," Bass said. "He has good size; he's strong and has good velocity, and you don't invent that. And he's very competitive."
Schilsky will travel to Vancouver on Friday and join the team as it plays host to the Salem-Keizer (Ore.) Volcanoes in Class A Northwest League action. The team will then travel to Everett, Wash., for a three-game series with the Aqua Sox.
Schilsky, who said he probably will pitch in relief early next week, is looking forward to traveling to the Northwest and visiting a new area of the country.
"It's a great area to play in this time of year; it's not too hot or too cold," Schilsky said. "I have never been west of Omaha, so it will be a new experience."

Todd Merchant can be reached at 788-1550 or todd.merchant@sj-r.com.