Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Sports

Senior Alex Guttosch delivers the pitch in the seventh inning of Eastern's 11-1 win against Illinois College Thursday at Coaches Stadium. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

In January, Eastern senior Alex Guttosch was nowhere close to being ready to pitch.

Guttosch was an integral part of the Panther pitching staff in 2007. He started 10 games, pitched in 20 total and ranked second on the team in both starts and innings pitched.

But in August of that year, Guttosch suffered an elbow injury that forced him to sit out his senior year.

He chose to red-shirt his senior year and come back as a fifth-year senior and got his Masters in Business Administration. He stayed a part of the team and rehabbed, hoping to get a chance to pitch for the Panthers again.

Guttosch got his chance Thursday. The right-hander entered Eastern's 11-1 win against Illinois College in the seventh inning to a chorus of cheers from his teammates. He proceeded to allow only two hits and two walks, while striking out one and inducing two double plays.

"I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous at first," Guttosch said. "But after I got that first inning over with, I felt just like I always did."

Eastern head coach Jim Schmitz said as recently as January, it did not appear Guttosch would be able to pitch again.

"We lied to him and told him to keep working," Schmitz said. "We would see him throw and then meet and say 'There's no way.'

"All of a sudden, he did a long toss and came in and, I don't know what his velocity was, maybe 78-81 (mph). But as crazy as it sounds, if he can just keep the ball down and get strikes and get ground balls, we're missing a pitcher and he knows it and that's why he's committed."

It's a truly unique story. Guttosch's Eastern career, seemingly over, jump-started with two innings against Division-III Illinois College. He hadn't even faced live hitting in practice before Thursday.

But the story is a reality now, and his teammates took notice, greeting him at the end of each inning with high-fives and pats on the back.

"It's awesome," said senior center fielder Ryan Lindquist. "It's awesome for us; it's awesome for him. I just feel really good for him."


Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

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