Lake Zurich ace Katie Buczynski looks forward to future at Heartland

Heartland signed up a softball player with heart this winter.

Never heard of Heartland Community College?

Don't be embarrassed. It's a relatively new juco that prior to last fall didn't boast of any athletic teams.

HCC, which is located in downstate Bloomington, has since introduced men's and women's soccer, baseball and, yes, softball.

"They have big plans for that school," said Katie Buczynski, a hard-throwing, hard-hitting Lake Zurich senior who hopes to help put Heartland on the map.

As for Buczynski's heart?

She's been showing it ever since she was about 2. That's when she estimates she picked up a bat for the first time and started taking whacks with it.

"I had a big plastic bat," Buczynski said, "until I destroyed it when I was 4 or 5.

"I just kept hitting balls with it."

That takes a lot of heart all right. A lot of strength. And a lot of passion for playing ball.

"Biz," as they call her, means business when she steps on the softball diamond. A varsity player since her freshman year, Buczynski will use her arm and bat to lead Lake Zurich one final season this spring.

The Heartland-bound right-hander certainly got off to a hearty start. She struck out 14 batters, didn't walk a batter and allowed only 1 hit in the Bears' season-opening 1-0 win over Maine West at Barrington on Tuesday. She also had a hit.

Then on Wednesday, Buczynski pitched another shutout at Barrington, whiffing nine and yielding 3 hits in a 5-0 victory over Warren, a team with a lot of quality hitters.

Again, Lake Zurich's ace didn't walk a batter.

At the plate, she ripped 3 hits in 4 at-bats and knocked in a pair of runs.

"She's got it all," Bears coach Becky Lewandowski said of her two-time all-conference and all-area star. "She works hard, doesn't complain."

The 5-foot-10 Buczynski is powerfully built. She can smash a softball a long way and can throw one real fast.

"I think the fastest I was ever clocked at was 65 (mph)," she said. "More recently, at practice, I was clocked at 60-62 (mph)."

Northern Illinois expressed some interest in Buczynski before she signed with Heartland. But, for some reason, no other Division I schools came after her, despite stats like 242 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 127 innings pitched last season, and a .448 batting average.

Buczynski could be bitter. She could complain. She could go "pre-school Katie" on a bat and destroy it.

But does she? No way.

Her heart's with Heartland.

"I'm really happy with the choice I made," she said.

For Buczynski, it came down to whether she wanted to pursue softball and study at a big school or look into a small school.

She attended a camp at Heartland with teammate/batterymate Coryn Schmit before the school year and found the junior college to her liking. She verbally committed in the fall and signed a letter of intent in January.

"I did really well (at the camp) and they offered me a full ride on the spot," Buczynski. "I just kind of wanted the homey environment, to get used to (college), instead of the big-college environment.

"I hope I can get an offer (from a four-year school) after one year but if not, yeah, I'd like to stay there for two years because I really like the college and everything."

Buczynski reports HCC is building a softball field that might feature an underground tunnel that leads to the dugout.

She's excited about all of it. Heartland should be excited about the player it inked.

"She's a tough player," Lewandowski said. "She's shown a lot of improvement, with her base-running and fielding of her position, and she's one of the quickest kids on the team. She's come so far (since her freshman year). She's so dependable."

Heartland figures to soon find out.