Benet pitcher Jake Rifenburg is quick to answer when opportunity knocks.
The 6-foot-2 senior left-hander got two big ones in recent months. The first came in April, when he received an offer from Northwestern.
“I thought it was too good of a school to pass up, so I committed,” Rifenburg said. “It was something that I was really proud of because I worked really hard over the last few years, and it felt good to see it pay off. So I’m very excited to compete and hopefully win a championship when I get there.”
Rifenburg’s second big break came in the middle of June.
“I was in the gym lifting, and coach (Scott) Lawler gives me a text saying, ‘Hey, you’ve been selected to play for Team Illinois. It’s going to be in Omaha. Pack your bags and get ready,’” Rifenburg said. “I was really excited. I was very shocked because I was picked slightly later than when everybody else was picked.”
Rifenburg was one of 20 players chosen for the Illinois team in the High School Baseball National Championship Series, which was held June 26 to July 1 at Charles Schwab Field, the home of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The team was coached by Joliet Catholic’s Jared Voss.
“A lot of the guys on the team are potential draft picks or high-end college guys,” Lawler said. “They had an injury, and coach Voss called me and asked me if Jake would want to do it.”
Rifenburg did, of course. He got into one game at the 12-team tournament, pitching 2 1/3 innings in relief in Illinois’ opening game against Texas on June 27. He allowed two runs, both unearned, and four hits while walking one and striking out two in Illinois’ 10-3 loss.
“I did pretty good, especially against the competition that I was pitching against,” Rifenburg said. “It wasn’t like I got shelled, but I wasn’t used to pitching a good pitch and having the kid make an adjustment.
“For example, when I first came in, there was a man on second, and I had a 2-2 count and I threw a change-up off the outside corner, and the kid pulled the pitch in between the shortstop and third base gap to score the runner. I was pretty impressed with that.”
Illinois finished 1-2, beating Hawaii 3-2 and losing to eventual semifinalist Texas and Oklahoma, which lost to California in the final.
Even so, Rifenburg was thrilled.
“I got to pitch on Charles Schwab Field where the College World Series was played only a week before,” he said. “That was pretty cool. I played with a lot of very high competition, some of the better hitters that I’ve ever faced. I also got to pitch on TV.”
Lawler was one of the viewers.
“I was coming back from a travel game for my younger son, and I was sitting in the parking lot and I’ve got ESPN+ on, and I see Jake Rifenburg pitching on my phone, which is kind of cool,” Lawler said. “I knew he was going to, but it was one of those things where you don’t know which game is going to be publicized and you don’t know when he was going to pitch.
“I got the call that he was going to be on. I know some of our other coaches got to watch it on TV. It was a new experience.”
Lawler isn’t surprised by Rifenburg’s success.
“As a sophomore, you could tell this guy was going to be able to pitch in college at some level just because he threw so many strikes,” Lawler said. “You just didn’t know what level yet. The stronger he got, his velocity started climbing, and the location of the other pitches never changed. So you’re like, ‘Oh, this guy might be able to pitch at a high level.’”
Rifenburg’s fastball currently tops out in the high 80s, but he can throw it at several speeds and mix in curveballs and change-ups with pinpoint control.
“He doesn’t need velocity,” Lawler said. “He can pitch.”
Rifenburg, whose sister Bridget plays basketball for Benet, understands what that takes.
“If you don’t throw strikes, then you’re going to have no chance,” he said. “You also have to be able to compete in the zone to make sure you challenge hitters, not only just with one pitch.”
Rifenburg does it well.
“He’s a kid that wants to work hard and is very coachable,” Lawler said. “He’s kind of the complete package, the kid you want to root for now and the rest of his career.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
