By Phil English

From time to time, Bryant Holtmann still needs to recite the mantra in his head, a gentle reminder of where he?s been and where he wants to go.

"Get your stride out ? Make sure your shoulders are level ? Keep your butt out.?

?It took a long time before I could figure that out,? said Holtmann.  ?It involved a lot of repetition.?

But it was necessary.

?Get your stride out ? Make sure your shoulders are level ? Keep your butt out.?

Holtmann is a 6-foot-5 left-handed pitcher from Breese Central High School who?s still trying to figure out how so much good fortune has come his way in such a short amount of time.  Always known as a reliable pitcher with a solid arm, this time last year he was struggling physically and mentally with his game.

You see, his body played a mean trick on him his sophomore year, when he showed up for practice nearly seven inches taller than when he took the mound as a freshman.  And as he tried to adapt to his ever-changing physical frame, he struggled with his control.

?I thought I?d never be able to throw strikes again,? said Holtmann. ?I was all over the place.  And I?ve always dreamt of playing on the next level.?

Enter Scott Terry, a former professional pitcher for the Reds and Cardinals who currently operates All-Star Performance in St. Louis. To say that Terry liked what he saw would be an understatement.

?Everything I saw in him was everything you want to see in a pitcher,? said Terry. ?He?s long and lean, throws from the left side and has great arm strength.  He has the perfect body to pitch with.  I obviously had a tremendous athlete to work with.

?But what he didn?t have was the mechanics. He learned to pitch mostly with his arm and that?s why he has such good arm strength.  I worked hard to take that frame and work hard to get the lower half of his body involved.  He was very raw.  There were a lot of habits to change.  He fluctuated between what he was and what he wanted to be.  I give him credit for working hard at it to create the repetition.?

?Get your stride out ? Make sure your shoulders are level ? Keep your butt out.?

What followed was a good, but not spectacular junior season for Holtmann and a 12-19 Breese Central club ? a 6-3 record, a 1.77 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings.

?What I liked best was that I threw double the innings from the previous year but only walked five more batters,? said Holtmann. ?My mechanics were awful last year ? I couldn?t throw strikes.  But Scott made everything easy for me to understand.?

Another revelation came months later while Holtmann was pitching for his summer travel team.  During a tournament in Columbia, Mo., Holtmann unleashed a 92-mph fastball to go along with a curve and a changeup.  A little more than a month ago he started flirting with a cut fastball at the request of local pitching coach and Atlanta Braves scout Al Crocker. 

It was suggested the cutter would give him a better chance to challenge right-handed hitters.  He now considers it one of his best pitches.

Word was already out on Holtmann, mostly based on being an extremely projectable left-hander with great size. He had received interest from a number of prominent college baseball programs, including North Carolina, Clemson, Illinois and Missouri State, but announced in late September that he would play for Florida State and coach Mike Martin.

?The coaches were all so nice, they made everyone feel like family,? said Holtmann. ?I fell in love with it instantly.?

Holtmann?s story is one for the books - as improbable a rise as any in Illinois high school baseball.  He?ll enter his senior season as the No. 4 player in a state with a growing list of talent, and will no doubt earn some well-deserved looks in next year?s major-league draft.  His baseball team should rebound nicely as well, returning six starters with significant playing experience.

But it?s safe to say that whatever happens next for Bryant Holtmann may pale in comparison to the last 365 days.

 
?I never thought any of this would happen,? said Holtmann.  ?If you would have told me a year ago that I?d be where I am right now, I probably would have laughed.?

Instead he stuck to his mantra.  And the rest is history.