The whole package

Neuqua Valley's Ian Krol has caught the attention of college and MLB scouts.
(Danielle Gardner/Naperville Sun)

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Everyone's steadily realizing what the late Jim Haavig detected seven years ago: Neuqua Valley junior Ian Krol has a wicked left arm.

Haavig, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in 2006, let Krol pitch for his 10- to 12-year-old Naperville Little League team when he was only 10.

"He was the first person beside Gina and I who thought Ian had a special arm," said Bob Krol, Ian's father. "Jim was a great influence on Ian's early baseball career."

Krol, who turned 17 on Friday, has drawn the eyes of many more talent evaluators since then. His sharp curveball, running changeup and 90 mph fastball have translated into 55-plus college recruitment letters.

Earlier this month, the 6-foot-inch, 170-pound southpaw unofficially visited Kentucky the same weekend as the Kentucky Derby.

Krol didn't go to the race though - not his kind of crowd.

"You know, everyone and their fancy hats," he said jokingly.

A junior mint

Krol, who didn't play the first seven games of the season because of a coach's decision, began last week 3-1 overall with a 1.78 ERA. He's one of the main reasons the fourth-ranked Wildcats have won 16 straight games through Thursday.

In addition to a perfect game and a no-hitter against struggling competition, the second-year varsity starter posted 41 strikeouts through his first 19 2/3 innings.

Against St. Charles East on Wednesday, Krol added 11 more strikeouts and his fourth win. He struck out the side after allowing a leadoff double in the fifth.

"He's just a cocky kid, and he knows that, 'Hey, if someone gets on, who cares? I'm gonna strike him out. I'm (gonna) strike the next kid out,'" said Neuqua senior catcher Geoff Rowan of his teammate's approach. "That's how he is, even in practice."

In addition to pitching, Krol's played first base, left field and center field. Neuqua Valley baseball coach Robin Renner went as far as telling one of the Kentucky coaches he could recruit Krol as a position player.

"He could play outfield anywhere, for anybody, at any level," Renner said. "And if he can hit at the next level, he could definitely do that. But being left-handed and being able to throw 90 mph with a 75 mph breaking ball, they're gonna want him to pitch for sure. And rightfully so."

Through his first 38 at-bats, Krol hit .537 and posted a 1.184 slugging percentage.

In a five-inning win against East Aurora last month, he threw the perfect game and hit a walk-off, three-run home run. Krol, a left-handed hitter, also has a homer off St. Charles North southpaw Zach Hirsch.

Krol's power comes from some offseason changes he made with Dann Giesey, the McHenry County Hurricanes coach.

Giesey narrowed Krol's stance, centered his weight, bent his knees somewhat inward and brought his hands back before the pitch delivery.

"Offensively, I don't know if I've ever had a player who can do what he does," Renner said. "Ever."

Renner pegged Krol as a No. 6 or No. 7 hitter this year. Then Krol started driving the ball in every direction. Now, he's Neuqua's No. 2 hitter.

Despite his success at the plate, Krol still puts pitching first and still considers himself a hurler foremost.

"I definitely can see a little bit of lacking in the pitching area because I haven't been focusing on it as much," Krol said. "I've been doing a lot of hitting stuff and a lot of fielding stuff but, for the most part, I get my (pitching) work done even if it's at home."

Going to the show

MLB scouts have been drawn to Krol's late-breaking curveball and a fastball that's consistently between 87 and 89 mph, and those are just the eye-catching nuggets.

St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes identified pitch placement with his curve and movement with his changeup as two of Krol's specific weapons.

"It was very impressive to watch him pitch a game, not just throw a game," Foulkes said.

One scout from the Cleveland Indians told Krol's father that his family can expect a lot of good headaches, helping Ian choose between going to college and turning pro next year.

"You have pro scouts that talk to ya and agents, and it's like, 'Hold on, you know?' Sometimes Ian just wants to be a kid," said Bob Krol, who remains grateful. "Things happen so fast, and last year he was so successful too so it's kind of hard to top that."

So far, Krol's received player profile questionnaires from the White Sox as well as Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta and Cincinnati.

Bob and Gina both have advanced degrees and would like their son to enroll in college first, but top-round attention may make that difficult to honor.

Krol's unofficially visited Michigan and is considering dropping in on Southern California, Miami and Louisiana State - the latter when Neuqua plays its spring-break games near LSU next year.

"Probably not," said Krol about choosing a college before his senior year. "It's pretty overwhelming. It's a lot to think about. There's that major league, minor league fact, too, that I might get drafted."

Back to high school

Following Neuqua's bid to win a second straight state title this spring, Krol will try to improve his college and professional stock by playing in front of several scouts with other top high school players.

He's planning on pitching in the Midwest Showcase at the end of July, following performances in the Perfect Game National Showcase on June 13 and the Stevenson Showcase on June 15.

Krol pitched for Neuqua as a sophomore last season, leading the program to its first Class AA state championship.

Oddly enough though, he's improving his stock now because of his powerful left-handed bat and athleticism in the field.

Staff writer Patrick Mooney contributed to this report.