Lake Zurich's Asmann stays focused on the positives

Smack!

Suddenly, a hard-hit baseball was rifling toward the mound, right at Parker Asmann's face.

He immediately leaned away, putting up his pitching hand to shield his head.

The impact was hard, and his hand hurt instantly.

"I had to go to the doctor," Asmann said Tuesday night, hours after the near-miss to his noggin, on what was his first pitch of a North Suburban Conference Lake Division game against Lake Forest. "My hand was pretty swollen."

The doctor told Lake Zurich's No. 1 pitcher that he would be shelved for a few days.

Not getting to play baseball, even for one day, doesn't sit well with Asmann.

"But it could've been 10 times worse, that ball could have hit me in the head," said Asmann, a junior who also plays second base and some shortstop for the Bears. "I'm lucky and even though I have to sit out, I'm OK with it. I'm trying to look on the bright side."

Asmann always does.

He says he learned how to be an optimist from his father, David.

"Whenever anything goes wrong, my dad always tries to keep a positive outlook," Asmann said. "He'll say, 'There's always a new day,' or 'Things aren't that bad, they could always be worse.' And he's right. I mean, how lucky am I? I get to go out every day after school and play baseball for fun. Some kids have to go out and work to provide for their families. Some kids don't even have baseball at their schools.

"Even when it feels like something bad has happened, I just try to keep things like that in perspective and remember that whatever is happening in my life, it could always be worse. That's how I try to approach baseball, too."

Good thing.

Asmann could have been really in the dumps at the beginning of the season.

But his cheery attitude and upbeat outlook is a big reason the Bears are hanging in there during an uncharacteristically frustrating, up-and-down season.

After years of ranking among the best in the North Suburban Conference, Lake Zurich is currently sitting below .500.

Not that Asmann is worried about it, though.

"I wouldn't count us out," Asmann said. "I really wouldn't. Not at all. We're going to make a run. I just know it. We are."

Lake Zurich coach Gary Simon can't figure out what he likes more about Asmann: the top-notch talents that have made him one of the highest-ranking and sought-after junior baseball players in the country, or the refreshing attitude that makes him a one-of-a-kind teenager.

"I've never seen a kid like Parker before," Lake Zurich coach Gary Simon said. "He's just so upbeat and positive all the time and that's helped us so much this season. We've needed him to be that leader because this has been a very different kind of year for us."

Quite honestly, it's been almost a complete 180 from last year.

Asmann played up on the varsity as a sophomore last spring with a group of extraordinarily talented seniors who were the engine behind a magical ride for Lake Zurich.

The Bears won an outright North Suburban Conference championship for the second year in a row as well as a regional title.

But when the season ended, so did the high school careers of eight of Asmann's fellow starters, including Daily Herald all-area captain Chas Evans, Ricky Erickson and Tanner Witt. All seniors, they and the rest graduated and went their separate ways.

Asmann was left alone to keep ship afloat. And the waters were choppy.

He returned in March as the Bears' only returning starter as well as the only player with significant varsity experience.

"We're a very young team," Simon said. "We figured we'd take our lumps early on."

With an inexperienced defense behind him that has struggled with errors, Asmann has also taken his lumps. He can hit 87 mph and has the lowest walks- and hits-to-innings pitched ratio on the team (1.67), yet he is just 2-3 on the mound so far.

But typical Asmann -

"I just don't let it bother me too much," Asmann said without hesitation. "I know that we're young and that everyone is trying their hardest and I know that it's just a matter of time for us. It's not like we don't have talent. We have a lot of really good players. It's just a matter of us getting acclimated and getting that experience.

"I think we'll be just fine."

Asmann knows firsthand about needing time to get acclimated and experienced.

He can relate to some of the younger players who are going through their growing pains now. He was there last year.

"We were playing Stevenson at the end of the season and we were ahead of them for the division title and I was playing second base and I made an error and we lost 3-2," Asmann said. "I felt so bad about that. But in the next game, I came in and pitched (in the second of back-to-back games against Stevenson) and we ended up winning the game and the division.

"I was really happy about that. Playing up with those seniors was really cool but I wasn't always sure I fit in. But when I got an opportunity like that and I seized it, it made me feel pretty good."

Now, Asmann's job is to spread the good cheer.

"I owe (the optimism) to my Dad, to both of my parents, really. The way they are just rubs off on me," Asmann said. "Coach (Simon) came to me and told me that he wanted me to be a leader this year and I'm not the loud, rah-rah type who will scream and get in your face.

"I just try to stay positive and hope that I'm leading by example in that way."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com