Minooka's Foltynewicz begins pro journey

Updated: March 22, 2011 3:56PM

Professional scouting services will tell you everything about why Minooka 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior right-hander Mike Foltynewicz was the 19th overall selection, a first-round pick of the Houston Astros, in the recent major league amateur free-agent draft.

Plus fastball up to 97 mph, with hard sink.

Outstanding changeup.

Clean mechanics.

Developing breaking ball.

Decent command.

The 18-year-old kid has it all.

Having this first-round draft pick in their midst is an obvious source of pride for the school and community. As Foltynewicz's high school coach, Jeff Petrovic has every reason to bask in the glory.

But when Petrovic looks at his prize pitcher, who has signed with the Astros and has begun his professional career at Greenville (Tenn.) in the Appalachian Rookie League, he sees much more than an athletic marvel, much more than a rich young man.

"To see a kid grow up that much into a person you are so proud of is really remarkable," Petrovic said. "Not for the fact that he was the 19th pick, not for the fact that he won a bunch of games for us, but because he is a great person. You loved seeing him turn into the player and person he became."

Today, Foltynewicz is named Player of the Year on The Herald-News Baseball All-Area Team. He claimed the award over a star-studded field of candidates headed by fellow first-team selections Mike Hollenbeck of Joliet Township, Sean Renzi of Plainfield North, Derek DeYoung of Plainfield Central and Tom Helwich of Lincoln-Way Central.

Foltynewicz, the only child of his biggest supporters, Gary and Cindy Foltynewicz, was born in Sterling. He was 4 when his family moved to Harvard.

"At age 7 or 8, I played on my first travel team, the Woodstock Lightning," Foltynewicz recalled. "We moved here when I was 10. My dad was a mortgage loan originator, and we moved a lot."

That summer, Foltynewicz, a pitcher from Day 1, played on the Minooka All-Stars. In sixth through eighth grades, he was a key figure in the highly successful Minooka Junior High program.

His career path on the diamond was well on its way to fruition.

"We won state in 2005," he said, noting that his longtime catcher, Niko Capodice, and Minooka outfielder Adam Ladzinski were with him on that team.

* * * Next stop, Minooka High School.

Foltynewicz was with the Indians varsity briefly as a freshman.

"Sophomore year, I was 10-5 and (Petrovic) said I was the best 10-5 pitcher in the state," Foltynewicz said. "That was nice to hear.

"Junior year, I was 3-2, I was minus the stats. But this year I felt was one of the most dominant seasons I could have had.

"I learned that a lot of the game is being mentally prepared. I had confidence out there knowing I could strike out a batter if I have to, or get a ground ball if that's what I need."

Foltynewicz finished his senior season 9-1 with a 0.58 ERA, an ERA that was 0.30 entering the sectional final against O'Fallon. He struck out 128 and walked 23 while allowing 39 hits in 73 innings.

He wasn't bad with the stick, either, leading 31-8 Minooka in batting average (.393), home runs (8), RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.656).

"I'll definitely miss the hitting part of the game," he said. "It's fun, yet it's challenging. I had a real fun time hitting this season."

"Mike was our big bat," Petrovic said. "We gave him our offensive award at our banquet, and I said it feels kind of weird giving him the batting award (because of his pitching prowess).

"He really is a five-tool player, and he is smart. He is the total package. There is a lot more to his game than a 95-mph fastball."

* * * Petrovic admires the progression Foltynewicz made through his high school career.

"We brought Mike up as a freshman toward the end of the year and he went 3-0," he said. "You could see he had unbelievable potential.

"His sophomore year he was 10-5 and threw well. He was our No. 2 behind Tony Bucciferro, who is pitching at Michigan State.

"Junior year, he was snake-bit. He had tons of no-decisions where we lost games after he left with a lead. We could not help him at all offensively that year."

But then, the almost magical transition between junior and senior year.

"Mike grew up so much in that time," Petrovic said. "He developed such great mound presence and became a great team player. A boy became a man this year.

"I told his mom that at some point, kids grow up. Mike became a scholar-athlete (his grade-point average was 3.5 senior year, 2.9 overall). He handled all the radar guns, all the phone calls as well as he could have handled them.

"My biggest role with him, I feel, was helping him become the person he has become. Of course, he has great parents. They did an unbelievable job with him."

The 95-97 mph fastball, naturally, is the reason Foltynewicz was high on the Astros' draft board all along. But they also liked what they saw when they got to know him personally.

"The Astros were a very good team until a couple of years ago," said Foltynewicz, who declined a baseball scholarship to the University of Texas to sign his professional contract. "I had a great relationship with their scout, Troy Hoerner, leading up to the draft. He called me a couple times a week to see how I was doing, and everyone in the organization came to see me."

So exactly how fast is that heater the Astros wanted to see?

"The highest I was clocked was 97, several times at Oswego and here in the regional," Foltynewicz said. "Some days I was clocked at 95 and I thought I was a couple miles per hour faster."

His assortment includes a 4-seam fastball, 2-seamer, curve, changeup and a recently developed slider.

"I have worked on moving the ball," he said. "But my 4-seam fastball is 91-97 and moves anyway. The 2-seamer is 88-91 with movement to the right.

"My curve is 70-74 and I had it my whole life. My change has great movement and is in the mid-80s.

"The slider I developed last summer. Jim (Lamping, the Minooka pitching coach) taught it to me."

* * * Foltynewicz played basketball at Minooka until his senior year.

"Not playing basketball was a tough decision," he said. "It was last-minute. I finally said no, I have a good thing going for me (pitching).

"So all I did over the winter was lift and throw at the Bo Jackson Dome in Bolingbrook. Bill Copp, my pitching coach there, helped me a lot."

Another sport high on Foltynewicz's list is golf. He played on the Minooka team his freshman and sophomore years.

"I golf a lot," he said. "It's a fun game, relaxing. I get out whenever I can."

While he is preoccupied these days with becoming accustomed to life in the lower levels of professional baseball, Foltynewicz will not soon forget his Minooka experience.

For example, his catcher, Capodice.

"Niko caught me since fifth grade," he said. "It's a good feeling having a buddy like him behind the plate. Jim Lamping called the pitches, but I had no problem with Niko being in full control back there.

"He is going to play at Augustana. He's a hard worker and he deserves it. He has gotten so much better. I would not be surprised if he got the opportunity to move on to a Division I school along the way, if that's what he wants."

Foltynewicz said Adam Kruse and Dan Cooper were among his other close friends on the team, in addition to Capodice.

As for his Minooka coaches, he said, "I couldn't ask for any better coaches. They are great people and know what they are talking about. I'm proud to have played for them."

* * * It was only early April, and a nonconference game at that. But when Minooka visited Joliet Catholic Academy, with a huge crowd on hand and with all the radar guns pointed at him, that grew into an almost surreal experience.

All Foltynewicz did was crank up the heat and blank the Hilltoppers -- in addition to belting two home runs and driving in eight runs. Anyone who doubted what kind of player he is should have been at Gillespie Field that afternoon.

"Oh, yeah, that was a special day," Foltynewicz said. "I had a lot of family and friends there, and just quieting down the JCA crowd -- they were on me pretty good -- that's going to be in the top three games for the rest of my life.

"The pressure was on that day, and I was able to put it to the side and have a great time. The size of the crowd was almost the same as it will be for an average minor league game. It was cool."

A cool experience in the young life of one hot pitcher.

All indications are there will be plenty more.

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