Highland star, Odorizzi, relishes title By Ken Roberts Ever since he was able to play baseball, Jake Odorizzi wanted to accomplish one thing - win an Illinois high school baseball championship. Never mind that the 18-year-old sensation from Highland is a professional prospect on the rise (he was the 32nd choice in the major-league amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers), or that he was named the Gatorade Illinois player of the year this season, or that he is the 2008 Post-Dispatch player of the year. Taking home a state title was something he wanted when he began playing 13 years ago. "That's the most important thing," he said after earning his third save of the season for the Bulldogs in their 6-2 title victory June 7 over Rock Falls at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. "Because that can't be taken away from you. That will be forever." What also will be forever are the ridiculous pitching numbers he put up this season. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound righthander was 14-0 and ended his career with a 25-game winning streak. He had a 0.08 earned-run average, allowing just one earned run, and three runs all season, in 89 2/3 innings. Odorizzi gave up just 33 hits and six walks with 146 strikeouts while throwing fastballs that touched 97 mph. On the offensive side, the slick-fielding shortstop set a school record for home runs with 15 and drove in 41 runs while batting .409 with 31 steals and a .922 slugging percentage. "It just seemed that nobody ever put a solid bat on the ball in enough of a consistent pattern to score against him," said Triad coach Jesse Bugger, whose team managed one hit against Odorizzi this season. "… To go along with the tools that he had, he was a tremendous competitor." That special talent helped Highland through the playoffs as Odorizzi was 4-0 with two saves in his team's seven games. At the plate, he had three homers, five RBIs and five steals. Bulldogs coach Joel Hawkins, whose team set a school record for wins with 36, was at a loss for words as he tried to describe Odorizzi's season. "I'm not even sure what to say," he said. "I watched it happen. I watched what he did and I'm not sure what he did is even doable. Hundred forty-six to six, strikeouts to walks. One earned run, three total runs. I don't know. I can't imagine having a kid doing it again. Can you? It's remarkable. It's astounding. It's miraculous. Yet he did it." And Odorizzi did it without celebration. He was never shaken despite pitching all season in front of scouts from every major-league organization with radar guns pointed. "He was the leader," said fellow pitcher, third baseman and best friend Danny Gifford, who was 10-0 with a 2.11 ERA this season. "Without him, some of those big games, who knows, we may not have even won. His presence out there was just amazing. Just what he does." picture of Odorizzi scoring the winning run in the semifinal game