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Baseball: Gowens' immediate future calls for rest

Riley Gowens' high school baseball season appears to be over prematurely.

He's confident his baseball career is far from over, however.

Libertyville's hard-throwing senior right-hander injured his pitching elbow in the Wildcats' regional-opening win over Lake Zurich last week and has not pitched since then.

"It was a strain in my UCL (ulnar collateral ligament)," said Gowens, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder who's signed with Illinois. "That requires 4-8 weeks rest."

Libertyville won its own Class 4A regional by beating Stevenson in the championship game last Saturday and on Thursday shut out host St. Viator 1-0 behind Valparaiso-bound Colin Fields in the sectional semifinals in Arlington Heights.

Gowens said it's "highly unlikely" he would pitch against top-seeded Buffalo Grove in Saturday's 11 a.m. final at St. Viator. He started Libertyville's playoff game against Lake Zurich and left the game after pitching 3 scoreless innings.

"We scored 4 runs in the bottom of the second, so I'm sitting for 25-30 minutes in our dugout," Gowens said. "I'm like, 'OK, I'm going to go to the bullpen and throw a little bit to stay loose.' "

He finally took the mound to pitch the top of the third inning.

"The first batter of that inning, the first pitch, something tweaked in my elbow," Gowens said. "It was a little awkward feeling at first, but it wasn't too bad."

He pitched through the discomfort and struck out the side in order, but his day was done after that. An MRI revealed the strain in his elbow. He saw his doctor again this week, while also seeking a second opinion.

"He said people have gotten back faster," Gowens said on Tuesday of his doctor. "My arm feels good now. I'm praying that if we make it to the final four next week or the supersectional that I can hopefully participate and play. Right now there's an outside chance."

For now at least, it does not appear he needs Tommy John surgery, which is a UCL reconstruction.

"He's almost positive that I don't need Tommy John," Gowens said. "He said to still get the second opinion from the (elbow) specialist. He said stuff like this usually goes away pretty quickly and you can rehab it and get back to full strength."

Gowens is 9-1 this season and has allowed only 2 earned runs (both against Mundelein). He had a 16-strikeout game and another in which he struck out 15. While he's disappointed his season might be over, especially since the third-seeded Wildcats have a realistic shot at advancing to state, he's optimistic about his future.

"Regardless of what happens - Tommy John or no Tommy John - I know I have the work ethic to get back to 100 percent for Illinois," Gowens said. "I know myself and how I can get back to where I am. I was more upset about missing out on the playoffs."

He's also confident about Libertyville's pitching depth.

"It's frustrating to go down in such a big part of the year, but we have Danny Richardson, we got Colin Fields, and we got a lot of good bullpen arms," Gowens said. "Every team is going to have some adversity. We got the guys to step up."

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