The scar along his spine and the other one on his hip represent the book jacket to Jason David's novel. They give you an idea of his story, but they hardly spell out the individual pages.
Plates, rods, and neck braces. Surgeries, procedures and rehab. Imagine living those chapters well after flying out of a teammate's car and listening to the prospect of never walking again, not to mention never pitching or hitting.
It doesn't take a private detective to wonder exactly how Jason David did it. And by it, The Heat Index means how did David survive a two-car collision, rehab in time to make the baseball team and then become Naperville's home-run king?
"We told people he was our hero, because he seemed to keep it together. He seemed to keep us together," said David's father John. "His spirits were always high, he was always positive. He tried to make everybody else feel better. When I took him home from the hospital, he said, 'It's probably best this happened to me, because I'm not sure if the other guys could have taken it.'"
Lockport scouted Benet during Saturday's regional final, and the report noted how Benet ace Bryan Roberts repeatedly got Wheaton Warrenville South hitters to chase the high fastball on the way to 14 strikeouts.
The Porters also recently changed their batting practice routine, catcher Joe Martin said, with the pitcher throwing from about 15 feet away, in order to simulate the speed of a Roberts and force the hands to move quicker through the zone.
"We knew Roberts was gonna be a quality guy and we knew that if we were gonna chase a lot of his high fastballs, we weren't gonna be very successful," Lockport coach Steve Stanicek said after Thursday's 4-2 win. "I thought we had a great approach at the plate. We didn't chase a lot of things up. We made him bring the ball down (and) he's a little easier to hit (when) the ball's down."
When did Colin Bates make the leap from a very good high school pitcher to an elite college prospect?
Naperville Central coach Bill Seiple identified somewhere between the end of Bates' spring junior season to midway through the following summer as a turning point.
Bates was splitting his time and innings between Central's summer league and a Bulls/Sox team when he elevated his game and eventually drew the attention of North Carolina, a big-time national program that is now looking for a seventh appearance in the College World Series.
After a series of surgeries, how did Bates make it back to that level? The redshirt freshman explains in his own words during an interview with TarHeelBlue.com. Robbi Pickeral of The News & Observer (N.C.) also has a nice feature here.
If Lincoln-Way East's 25-6 win over West Aurora on Saturday weighed on Neuqua Valley, it certainly didn't show Wednesday.
In one of the best games in Neuqua history, the Wildcats defeated Lincoln-Way East 2-1 in eight innings to crack a sectional final.
"Coach (Robin) Renner tries to scare us before the game: 'Oh, this, this, this... they're men, they're men,'" Neuqua junior Ian Krol said. "But, you know, we always come out, we always prove what we can do. So, we took it to them."
LISLE - Bryan Roberts walked off the mound to a swarm of teammates and pounding fists, then tossed his glove to the grass, Benet's plan executed to perfection.
Jake Naumann's ready to go. The Naperville North junior's so ready to go, he could probably, um, go right now against Neuqua Valley in the regional championship.
But he, like everyone else, will have to wait until 10 a.m. Saturday -- to go.
"I don't know if they'll let me, but I can," said Naumann, following a 9-2 win over Naperville Central on Thursday. "They'll probably tell me I have more important games later on in my career. But I feel good."
Wheaton Warrenville South had several representatives in the Benet stands on Thursday in Lisle, though most seemed to have left by the time the game nearly flipped over in the seventh inning. By this point, they have to know the Redwings fairly well.
Usually, this question goes nowhere. And for good reason.
Asking Neuqua Valley players which team -- Naperville North or Naperville Central -- they'd rather play in Saturday's regional championship is like asking them to add fuel to an already blazing fire.
Baseball belongs in the spring, and moving it to the fall, as other media outlets have suggested, would cripple the sport. Are there any plans to tweak the schedule? Anthony Holman, an IHSA assistant executive director who oversees baseball, explains in an e-mail how that process could work:
The Warriors lost their playoff opener 10-0 to Plainfield South on Tuesday, but that's likely not the last time to catch two of their seniors.
First baseman Adam LeRoy plans to play at Benedictine University, and catcher/outfielder Chris Galovic plans to play at Aurora University. They're both up for all-Upstate Eight Conference honors.
Heading into the playoffs, LeRoy hit .347 with 26 RBIs for the Warriors while Galovic hit .346 with 28 RBIs.
As the saying goes, you can't beat fun at the old ballpark.
Despite losing to Naperville Central on Friday, Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler was still able to muster some fun.
Here's what Hunckler had to say about Jordan Tassio re-entering the game to hit -- six innings after he left the game with an injured hamstring.
"He's a sensitive kid," Hunckler said, then quickly correcting himself and eliciting some laughter from the media. "Sensible. Not sensitive. He might be sensitive, but he's a sensible kid."
Hunckler added that he never would have asked Tassio if he was able to hit had he thought the injury was severe.
"It's pretty typical. This happened last year at about this time, too," Hunckler said. "It's tightened up. He didn't tear anything or anything like that; otherwise, I would have never put him back in."
With the conference season over, Tassio has until Thursday's playoff game with Central to rest if needed.
After taking a pair of games from rival Naperville Central on Thursday, Naperville North can win the DuPage Valley Conference baseball title outright with another victory against the Redhawks today.
If the Huskies do claim the DVC title - is it the kind of momentum-builder that can help them dethrone defending state champ Neuqua Valley and win a sectional title?
Naperville Central is a team built on pitching and defense, two pillars that collapsed in the sixth inning of Thursday's 9-8 loss to Naperville North.
The Redhawks were cruising in a continuation of game suspended after four innings two days earlier, with Central leading 4-2. North had just committed two errors in the top half of the sixth, allowing four runs to score, and it was almost as if Central couldn't handle it.
"8-2 lead, it seems like we did kind of loosen up there a little bit when they started (rolling), getting a few runs here and there," Central catcher John Holm said. "There was a couple double play balls in that inning that just didn't hop for us."
North converted three hits, three walks and an error into six runs and a tie ballgame. The pressure tilted all the way back to Central once Ben Kelsey delivered that walk-off hit in the seventh, and Jake Naumann, the North ace who pitched a perfect inning in relief to earn the victory, walked out for game two.
"I was hopin' the whole game I'd have enough to finish off the second one," Naumann said. "Got some guys swingin' at first pitches, and it worked out for me."
Naumann knew he would be used in game one if the Huskies tied the game or took the lead, and the junior allowed only four hits and an unearned run in eight innings on Thursday.
"What wasn't workin' for Naumann today?" North catcher Mike Nodzenski said, flipping a reporter's question. "He was able to spot the fastball. He was able (to) throw his breaking ball for strikes at different speeds (and) in particular today he was able to throw a split-finger (fastball) to put guys away with two strikes."
Central threatened in the sixth, loading the bases on an error, two walks and a fielder's choice. Holm drove in Central's run with an infield single to make it a 4-1 game, but Naumann next induced an inning-ending double play ball from Marc Mantucca. It was the only inning Naumann allowed more than four hitters to the plate (six).
"You know when (Naumann's) on the mound that we got to play tough D and just scratch (out) runs here and there," Holm said. "We didn't do that today."
Benet baseball is already preparing for the regional semifinal it will be hosting on May 22. The seventh-seeded Redwings will play the winner of the No. 9 Plainfield North-No. 23 East Aurora game, but it's clear where their focus is right now.
"We've seen Plainfield North last few days. We got a group of people there (against Romeoville) today," Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake said after Wednesday's 7-6 victory over Marian Catholic. "We'll see. They're very good."
Bonebrake described Plainfield North as a team with a strong pitching staff, and a lineup that hits in spots.
"I think they're a lot like us," Bonebrake said. "It'll be a battle for us."
That's how Neuqua Valley pitcher Ian Krol described the atmosphere on Tuesday in Naperville -- an overcast sky, a gathering storm and the sound of sirens. Krol blocked it out, as well as any sense of his impending no-hitter.
"Actually, I had no clue," he said with a laugh after a 7-0, five-inning victory over Bartlett. "It always ends up like that.
"You're throwin', you're throwin', you're throwin'. You did everything and then...Someone comes up, 'Yeah, you're throwin' a no-hitter.'"
Krol speaks from experience after notching a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over South Elgin on April 19, and a five-inning perfect game in an 11-0 decision against East Aurora on April 29. His left elbow was a little sore on Tuesday, but the junior fought through it: "Everything was workin', I just didn't have the velocity I usually have."
The Wildcats (25-5, 19-2) can clinch the Upstate Eight Conference title outright with either a win in any of their three remaining games, or a loss by St. Charles North, which has five conference losses. The North Stars close with a three-game series against South Elgin and are scheduled to finish a suspended game against Neuqua on Friday.
According to Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner, his team has seven more Upstate Eight Conference games remaining, and St. Charles North already has five losses in conference. If both teams win out, Neuqua could clinch the title during next week's series against Bartlett.
As Neuqua catcher Geoff Rowan said after Wednesday's 1-0 victory over St. Charles East: "We're in control of our own destiny."
The Wildcats (21-3, 16-1) used a solo home run from senior outfielder Chris Kruppe, and another dominant pitching performance from lefty Ian Krol, to extend their winning streak to 15 games.
That conspired against St. Charles East's Chris Burgess, who scattered five hits and struck out six in five innings, in a game that was continued from where it was suspended on April 8.
"(Burgess) probably pitched, quite honestly, our best game of the year," St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes said. "He threw three pitches for strikes. He did a good job (to) keep them off-balance. They hit the one pitch out, that made the difference."
For Neuqua, Krol has been an obvious difference maker, and so has a defense strengthened at the corner positions. The Wildcats last loss came on April 15 to St. Charles North.
"I really think it's the improvement in our infield, cause we started off a little shaky defensively...Our first game was like an 18-10 (win at Plainfield South). It was like a football score," Kruppe said. "You don't see any of those mistakes in the infield anymore. It used to just easy plays we weren't able to make but now we're turnin' double plays left and right and that's just, again, people relying on each other and everyone (trusting) each other."
Naperville Central's rotation sets up nicely for a three-game series that begins Thursday against Wheaton Warrenville South.
Pat Kaminska (3-2, 2.72 ERA) is scheduled to start the first game in Naperville, while Andy Pucher (5-2, 3.36) and Marc Mantucca (4-1, 2.28) are waiting for the doubleheader Saturday at Benedictine, which may or may not prove to have DuPage Valley Conference implications.
"Wheaton North's in the driver's seat. If they take care of business, it doesn't make any difference," Central coach Bill Seiple said. "We're not thinkin' about Wheaton North. We're thinkin' about us."
Seiple wasn't necessarily troubled by Central's 8-7 loss at West Aurora - it was more the way in which the Redhawks couldn't close out West Aurora.
"I didn't think we'd run the table but I also didn't think we'd come out any play a ballgame like this where we're walkin' guys and, you know, throwin' the ball around. We haven't done that all spring," Seiple said. "The DVC will take care of itself."
Central finishes its conference schedule with three games next week against Naperville North, and the crosstown rivals are set to meet again in a regional on May 22. That would make four games in 10 days against the Huskies. As Kaminska said, "It's gonna be nuts."
The IHSA released its Class 4A baseball pairings on Friday, and the brackets will have a distinct crosstown feel.
After what could be a critical three-game DuPage Valley Conference series in mid-May, regional host Naperville North and Naperville Central will meet again on May 22.
If Waubonsie Valley can win its play-in game against Plainfield South, it will advance to meet top-seeded Neuqua Valley in the same regional. The Wildcats swept a three-game series from rival Waubonsie last week.
Seventh-seeded Benet will host a regional and match up against the winner of Plainfield North-East Aurora.
All these teams fall under the Urbana Super-Sectional -- if the Redwings manage to advance out of this bracket, they won't be playing across the street at Benedictine (another host) and will instead make the drive down to University of Illinois.
Check out the pairings here. Any fearless predictions?
Brad Engel is the longest-tenured member of The Sun sports staff and has won several national and state awards in his coverage of preps as well as the Chicago Bears, Chicago Fire and general sports.
Paul LaTour
Paul LaTour has been honored with national awards in each of the last three years and currently serves as The Sun's sports enterprise writer in addition to his duties covering high school and college sports.
Patrick Mooney
Patrick Mooney covered politics, prep sports and professional baseball for several print and online media outlets before joining The Sun in August 2007. He concentrates on prep sports, writing features, profiles and breaking recruiting news.
