To play or not to play?

It's not that Ryan Economos doesn't love baseball.

If he didn't, he wouldn't feel such a rush of excitement when a grounder or a line drive rifles his way. And he sure wouldn't put up with significant pain almost every time he throws the ball.

Bad shoulder and all, Economos loves the game. He has for years, long before he earned a starting spot on the varsity squad at Warren as a sophomore.

Economos just isn't sure he loves baseball enough to play it at the next level.

Ironically, this is a kid who has piqued the interest of plenty of college recruiters. This is a kid whose head coach, Clint Smothers, believes he's one of the best shortstops ever at Warren and capable of great success in college.

But at a time when college scholarships are so coveted and elite players like Economos are simply expected to continue their careers beyond high school, Economos is doing the unexpected.

And it all started when he had an honest conversation with himself.

"It's not that I don't want to keep playing. Baseball is my love," Economos said. "But at some point, I think I just realized that I wasn't sure if I wanted to devote my entire college life to baseball. It's a lot of work.

"I guess I don't know if I want baseball to be around every corner. I want to be able to study and work hard at school. I'm going to be a finance major and that's going to be really hard. I also want to be able to have a social life. I'm just trying to be honest."

Here's the truth: Economos, now a senior at Warren, has been contacted by numerous Division II and Division III baseball coaches. Even some Division I coaches - such as those at Illinois State and Villanova - have sent out feelers.

And the coaches at Illinois were very impressed by Economos when he blasted 3 hits during a game at their camp last summer.

But Economos has already been accepted to Southern Illinois. He's toying with the idea of trying out for the baseball team as a walk-on. But even that is iffy.

He kind of likes the idea of being a regular student for once in his life.

And that's OK. It's just surprising, especially to the people who see him every day on the baseball field.

"Lots of schools would love to have Ryan," Smothers said. "To this day, I've had coaches, even Division I coaches say, 'Hey, your shortstop is pretty good.' I've had a lot of calls come in and coaches are like, 'So what is your shortstop doing?' "

Smothers has been forthright, even though it breaks his heart a bit. A former college player himself, Smothers would love to see Economos play in college, too.

"Ryan can absolutely play at the next level, and I'd love to see him do that," Smothers said. "He's just smooth, he's got great reactions and you can't teach that. I've coached him for four years and he's one of my favorites, one of the best I've ever coached. But if, for whatever reason, he's not up to playing college baseball, you can't force that. I just really hope he walks on at Southern because I think he could eventually get a starting spot for that team. He's that talented."

And not just in the field, where he's as reliable as can be.

With close to a .300 average, Economos is also one of Warren's top offensive players. He already has 2 home runs this season.

Last season, he finished with a team-leading 33 hits and a .337 batting average en route to earning a spot on the North Suburban all-conference team.

"I did a lot of off-season work so that I could have a really good senior year," Economos said. "The team needs me and I just want to be there for them. I want to end my high school career on a positive note."

Of course, Economos might be ending more than that. His entire baseball career could be coming to an end soon.

He says he's at peace with it.

"If I don't play again, I'll miss it," Economos said. "But sometimes I feel like it might be something I'd be better off doing."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com