Sidewinding senior Robby Stankus has been the Swiss Army knife of Bartlett’s pitching staff.
That means Stankus needs to expect the unexpected without a specified role.
It includes 10 p.m. phone calls from coach Chris Baum before a game, which happened Tuesday.
“I was actually on my way home from the gym when he called,” Stankus said. “I was in my friend’s driveway at 9:49, and he told me I was getting the start.”
With the way things went in Wednesday’s 7-0 Upstate Eight Conference win at Streamwood, Baum is happy he placed that call.
Stankus (5-0) put together the best varsity start of his high school career, tossing a complete-game two-hitter for Bartlett (22-7, 13-3). The Loras recruit struck out seven and walked only one.
Josh Colaizzi went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Hawks. Brandon Pelz and Dylan Tornero each had two RBIs. Austin Paskewic took the loss for Streamwood (13-13, 9-7).
Baum talked with Stankus before the season about what he envisioned his role being. In short, it’s whatever the Hawks need, especially since his sidearm delivery is conductive to ground balls.
if they need a grounder in a tough spot, go to Stankus. Last-minute spot start? Call on Stankus.
“He was pretty much going to be a hybrid,” Baum said. “He does such a good job with the pitch count, and he’s so efficient that he’s available two or three games a week.
“That’s been his biggest strength. He just attacks the strike zone. He gets early contact and he gets a lot of ground balls. He ran with the role.”
Stankus still has a funky delivery, but it’s not as busy as in years past. By shortening his stride a little bit, he gets on top of the ball more and prevents some inconsistencies he had last spring.
“I think he had too many moving parts,” Baum said of Stankus as a junior. “He kind of condensed it down. He was striding a little long. His arm was dragging.”
The Hawks staked him Wednesday to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and Stankus got to work.
A four-run third, highlighted by Colaizzi’s homer, allowed Stankus to get even more comfortable on the mound. He never faced more than four batters in any inning, and Streamwood only had one runner reach third base.
“A lot of his stuff ran back into our hands,” Streamwood coach Dan Jennings said. “We adjusted a little bit, but we could never get it going. He was good. Our first five guys, they’re pretty good.
“When he’s sawing them off, it’s the two-seam spin that’s getting in on their hands. They’re not staying inside the baseball, and that’s when you get the weak ground balls.”
Stankus stumbled upon his unique delivery basically by accident.
He came to Bartlett throwing over the top but without much velocity. Messing around with different arm angles with his pitching coach, he recalled a workout video he had seen from former White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito.
“He hid the ball behind him when he threw,” Stankus said. “I just sort of came out throwing sidearm. I was only throwing two mph softer and I got 10 extra inches of spin.
“It just sort of stuck after that.”
And as he has done all season long, Stankus delivered what Baum wanted Wednesday for the big win over Streamwood.
“We were going to start someone else, but we had to make some changes,” Baum said. “He’s efficient. He’s around the zone. That’s exactly when we expect.
“The defense stays active behind him on the mound.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
