Stevenson graduate Ben Fawcett has earned some downtime.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound right-hander is going against the grain this summer by dialing back before he begins his college baseball career in the Division I program at Mount St. Mary’s. Fawcett’s decision comes in the wake of a dominant senior season as both a starter and a reliever.
“It’ll be good to take a break from all of the stress of pitching a lot and let my body refresh,” he said. “My college coach and I agreed it would be smart to take it easy to compensate for all the innings I just threw.”
Fawcett, a former quarterback, won’t completely shut down. He intends to throw a bit in some local tournaments for his travel team. But his schedule won’t resemble his 49-inning workload for the Patriots.
Fawcett’s senior season included a huge step up in both quantity and quality after he pitched sparingly on a senior-heavy staff last year. He went 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, striking out 49 and walking just seven, as the Patriots reached a Class 4A sectional championship game.
“We expected him early on to be mostly in relief, but he ended up doing everything for us,” Stevenson coach Nick Skala said. “Wherever we needed him, he was ready. We wouldn’t have been in a sectional final without him.”
Indeed, Fawcett eventually found quite a groove, working as Stevenson’s 60-pitch starter on Saturdays and coming back for a relief outing on most Tuesdays. That came after he lasted just three batters in a relief appearance during Stevenson’s season-opening 9-3 loss to Highland Park on March 12.
“The first two guys got on, and the third guy hit a bomb,” Fawcett said. “That was a confidence killer, and I felt lost out there because I hold myself to a pretty high standard.”
Fawcett said his confidence rebounded during a multi-inning relief appearance against Lake Forest in April.
“Those were pretty solid innings that day, and that was an outing that changed everything,” he said.
Fulfilling multiple roles was beneficial to both the Patriots and Fawcett, who received valuable experience in a variety of game scenarios.
“I got the ball a lot, and I was very grateful to be put in that position,” he said. “I accepted the challenge to go out there and perform, and it was definitely a big step up for me.”
That step wouldn’t have been possible without the advancements Fawcett made while working with Lakes graduate D.J. Snelten beginning in the fall of junior year. Snelten, who was picked in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB draft and made four appearances for the San Francisco Giants in 2018 during a 10-year professional career, is a pitching instructor with Grayslake-based Prime Athletics.
With Snelten, Fawcett worked on becoming physically stronger and pinpointing efficiencies in his delivery. His mechanics were already sound when he and Snelten started working together. They focused on Fawcett’s lower half and shortening his arm action.
The results were extraordinary, as Fawcett’s velocity increased from the low 70s to mid-80s in a single calendar year. Snelten said that wouldn’t have happened if Fawcett didn’t have the right mindset.
“He was asking all the right questions and wanted to leave no stone unturned,” Snelten said. “He was willing to be honest with himself with where he was physically, and there was room to fill out his frame.”
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Fawcett said he has long used height as motivation.
“I remember always wondering what could I do if I were as tall as this guy or that guy, but that’s part of why I’ve worked so hard,” he said. “It’s not like I’m throwing super soft, but being able to complement my fastball with command of two other pitches keeps hitters off balance.”
Colleges began to take notice after Fawcett strung together especially strong outings in back-to-back tournament appearances in late July last year, reaching 88 mph.
“The success I had over last summer was really meaningful,” he said. “I got my first offer in August, and it picked up from there in a short amount of time.”
The college interest pushed Fawcett to make one of the harder decisions of his life and not play football for Stevenson last season. Football had been his priority, and playing quarterback for the Patriots had seemed more realistic to him than retiring hitters.
“It led to some really hard conversations, but it turned out to be the best decision I ever made,” Fawcett said. “It’s still surreal. It was a dream I had forever to play sports at a DI college.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
