Sure, Highland Park right-hander Luke Weber can top 90 mph with his fastball.
But the Illinois recruit relies on other pitching principles to be effective.
“There are a lot of guys who chase velocity to get their strikeout numbers up,” Weber said. “But I pitch a little differently. I try to hit the corners, get strikes early in the count and force weak contact. That is, in my opinion, the right way to pitch.”
His success, at least, is indisputable.
Weber, the 2024 News-Sun Baseball Player of the Year, went 8-1 with a 0.79 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP, 86 strikeouts and 18 walks in 62 innings during his senior season for the Giants (20-14). Undefeated until the playoffs, Weber was named all-conference in the Central Suburban and was the only Lake County player on the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Class 4A all-state team.
Along the way, the 6-1, 185-pound Weber was preparing for his next challenge.
“I’ve always thrown harder than a lot of kids my age, but you know going into college that your stuff won’t be good enough to strike everyone out,” he said. “So this year, I spent a lot of time thinking like a hitter, asking myself what pitches I’d thrown to hitters previously.”
Weber also benefited from his exit meeting with Highland Park coach Jason Newburger after the 2023 season, when it was suggested that Weber really work the inside half of the plate against right-handed hitters. He has a three-quarters arm slot, and his change-up tails in on righties.
“It’s a credit to him that he’s a year-round worker and he’s always looking to find new wrinkles,” Newburger said. “He doesn’t just settle for having some success, and that was one of the little pieces he worked on.”
Weber, who went 5-2 with a 1.13 ERA as a junior, demonstrated early this season that he had put those pieces together. During the opener against Stevenson, which had reached a supersectional last year, he gave up a home run to the second batter. But he didn’t allow an earned run over his next 39 innings.
“He’s not a super vocal kid, but he showed a little more fire and competitive nature than in the past,” Newburger said. “He had that ace mentality from the very beginning.”
Among other highlights this season, Weber threw a no-hitter against rival Deerfield on April 9. In fact, Weber went 3-0 against the Warriors over three seasons. That record includes a gem in 2022 in which he was one out short of a perfect game. The lone hit came on a dribbler that went under Weber’s glove in the seventh inning. On the next pitch, he induced a 1-6-3 double play to preserve the shutout.
“As a sophomore, he would quietly just go out there and do his job,” Highland Park senior shortstop David Finfer said. “But as he got older, he was in complete control. This year, he had the mindset that if he went into a game and gave up a run, it was a failed start. Watching him grow up as a pitcher was one of the coolest things.”
Highland Park junior third baseman Ben Lichtenfeld, who also went 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA in 36 1/3 innings on the mound, learned a few things from Weber.
“What I came away with was noticing the way he threw so many strikes and challenged all of the hitters,” Lichtenfeld said. “When I played defense behind him, there were a lot of quick innings.”
One of the final pieces in Weber’s maturation as a pitcher is understanding he won’t have his best stuff for every outing. That played out late in the season, first on senior night against Maine East, when Weber issued a rare four-pitch walk before rain limited him to one inning. Then in his next start against Lake Zurich in the 4A regional semifinals, he threw three shutout innings before the Bears scored eight runs in the fourth and won 13-0.
“There was no pain or anything, but my mechanics against Maine East were just a little out of whack,” Weber said. “Going the whole season like I had, before the playoffs I never would have expected that, and I’m not 100% sure what the factor was. It’s definitely humbling, but it also helps bring you back down to earth. That’s what happens when you’re a pitcher.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
