Elbow gloom? Not as much for Stevenson

Elbows were always on the table in the Stevenson cafeteria last semester.

But we're not talking about missteps in etiquette here. We're talking about feelings.

Each day at lunch, Jeremy Scheck and Dalsen Ferbert would lay their frustrations on the table. About their darned elbows.

“I'd always feel bad for whoever else sat with us,” Ferbert said. “Because all we'd ever talk about was baseball and our elbows. We were always trying to encourage each other.”

Scheck and Ferbert certainly needed encouragement. And they needed to commiserate.

Above all, Scheck and Ferbert each needed support, from someone else who knew firsthand how miserable it is to be a pitcher nursing a major arm injury.

Last spring, the Stevenson baseball team put together a dream season. The Patriots rolled to a 35-4 record, bagged the North Suburban Conference championship and then won regional, sectional and supersectional titles to advance to the state finals for the first time in school history.

And Scheck and Ferbert missed it all. Every last second of it.

“I was hoping for a miracle to happen so that I could play,” Ferbert said. “I was just hoping my arm would heal. But it didn't.”

As juniors last year, Scheck and Ferbert were supposed to be prominent members of the Patriots' pitching staff. But as tryouts got underway, that planned changed. Both Scheck and Ferbert suffered serious elbow injuries that left them in constant pain.

Both wound up being sidelined for the entire season.

“It was killing me,” Scheck said of missing all the fun. “I was really happy for all my teammates. I had played with those kids my whole life. It was so awesome for them, winning conference and getting downstate and everything.

“But it was also hard. It was hard for me knowing that all I could do was just sit there and watch it. I know Dalsen felt the same way. We wanted to be playing so bad.”

Scheck and Ferbert will finally get their chance.

As the 2011 baseball season gets underway, the two seniors are back in action, albeit in varying degrees. They'll try to help Stevenson defend its slew of titles and return to Joliet for another crack at a state championship.

Last season, the Patriots took home the third place trophy in Class 4A.

“After last year, you can tell those two are so excited just to be on the team. They really want to help the team win again this year,” Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca said of Scheck and Ferbert. “They were so down last year, devastated. It's really nice to see them back.”

Scheck is only partway back.

His overworked elbow required Tommy John surgery to repair a damaged ligament.

Rehab from Tommy John surgery can be a long, drawn-out process, sometimes spanning an entire year. Scheck is getting stronger but isn't quite ready to pitch yet.

In fact, he likely won't pitch at all for Stevenson this season, meaning that, even though he has signed a Division I letter-of-intent to pitch for Clemson next year, Scheck will have pitched in just one varsity game over his entire career at Stevenson.

The hard-throwing lefty made one start on the mound as a sophomore.

“It definitely hurts to know that I will have never really pitched for my high school team, especially during my senior year,” said Scheck, who was able to impress college scouts on the travel ball circuit and secure an offer from Clemson before his injury occurred last February.

“But at least I'll be able to contribute this year,” Scheck said. “I can help the team in other ways, and that's better than nothing.”

Scheck has been cleared to be a designated hitter for the Patriots. He is hoping that he'll also be allowed to play a little first base as the season progresses.

By then, Ferbert should be looking almost entirely like his old self again.

He's getting close to that already.

Ferbert has been pitching full tilt since the fall, which is quite a stunning turn of events considering where he was less than a year ago.

For the longest time last spring, Ferbert had no idea what was causing his elbow trouble. All he knew was that he was in agony. So much agony, in fact, that he decided with a heavy, heavy heart that his only option was to retire from baseball altogether.

“I thought I would never play again,” Ferbert said. “I went to so many different doctors, at least 10 or more, and no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I was in so much pain. I knew I couldn't play anymore. I remember turning in my uniform and my practice shirts to coach and I walked out crying. It was heartbreaking.”

Ferbert was ready to give up searching for answers. But his father used a family connection to get an appointment with the surgeon for the Chicago White Sox.

“I told my dad, ‘This is it. This is the last doctor I'm going to,'” Ferbert said.

To his amazement, and relief, Ferbert finally found out what was wrong.

He was told that the main nerve near his elbow had shifted out of place and was getting pinched with movement. In May, the surgeon for the White Sox relocated the nerve and sewed it into place, out of harm's way.

As his rehab progressed, Ferbert couldn't believe how good his arm felt. He told the baseball coaches that he wanted to give pitching another try.

“When my assistant coaches told me that Dalsen was thinking about coming back, I said, ‘You guys better not be teasing me,'” Mazzuca said. “I couldn't believe it. That was such great news.”

The news keeps getting better and better for Ferbert.

In recent weeks, he's been feeling like a million bucks. And he's been pitching like it, too.

Retired for good less than a year ago, Ferbert is now expected to be Stevenson's No. 1 or No. 2 pitcher this season.

“I'm feeling so great right now. This is just all so unbelievable,” Ferbert said. “Everything just came back so naturally. Once I was allowed to start pitching again, I was throwing strikes, and my velocity was back.

“My coaches are joking that every pitch looks like I'm putting two years (worth of effort) into it. I guess I'm just so excited to get my chance to prove myself again and to be a part of a winning team.”

Ferbert deserves that much.

So does Scheck.

They've paid their dues…and then some.

“I think both of us are going to savor every moment of this season,” Scheck said.