O’Fallon senior’s dramatic return to the pitching mound halted by coronavirus

Josh Krneta was meant to be a baseball player.

Taught the basics of the game by his dad, Milan Krneta, a former collegiate pitcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Josh Krneta developed a love for pitching and a passion for the sport which has continued to grow over the past decade.

A senior at O’Fallon High School, Krneta is one of the thousands of students throughout southwestern Illinois finishing their high school academic requirements at home due to COVID-19. But after sitting out two years of high school baseball after a negative experience as a freshman, Krneta, who decided to return to baseball this spring, is also missing out on what could be his final chance at playing organized baseball.

An 18-year-old left-handed pitcher, Krneta has been clocked at 85-86 mph and throws both a 2-seam and 4-seam fastball to go along with a curve and change-up. Expected to be one of the top pitchers in a talent rich Southwestern Conference which included defending Class 4A state champion Edwardsville, Krneta is instead looking ahead to a promising future but without baseball.

“I don’t plan on playing in college, but if the opportunity presented itself, I would consider it. I plan on going to the University of Missouri and majoring in accounting,” Krneta said.

“When the COVID-19 outbreak began and I knew that we weren’t going to have a season, I was upset and a little disappointed. It stunk that I had put in a lot of work over the winter to get back into shape to compete this spring. But, at the same time, I realized that there wasn’t really anything we could do about it, as the situation is much bigger than baseball.”

Starting out a Crusader

The youngest of Milan and Jennifer Krneta’s two children, Josh grew up in O’Fallon and played football, basketball and baseball. He eventually started playing golf, a sport he enjoyed and played all four years of high school.

But baseball was always his first love.

“The love of baseball came from my dad loving the sport. He got me into it when I was about 6 and I loved it ever since,” Krneta said. “It was a sport I was really good at right when I started so it made it easy to love.”

Krneta carried that love onto the field where he excelled as a select league player and as a freshman at Althoff where he was a member of the Crusaders pitching staff during his freshman year. But something wasn’t right.

“It was a much different experience than what I was used to. Growing up on my select team, we had such a rigid schedule and were always working on becoming better athletes. When I got to high school baseball, there wasn’t really any drive from anyone and no specific routine every day like there should be,” Krneta said. “Being there just wasn’t fun for me and it almost felt like I had to be there rather than wanting to be there.

“I had a few friends who went there from my select team thinking it would be a good opportunity, just like I did. They soon felt the same way.”

Krneta then transferred to O’Fallon. But for the next two years, the ultra-competitive Krneta would get his athletic fix on the golf course instead of the baseball field.

Living without baseball

At least early on, Krneta didn’t miss playing baseball. Be he did miss the competition and he never lost the love for the game.

“I knew that one day I was going to play my last game, so I figured my time was up playing the sport,” Krneta said. “I think the hardest part to give up was the competitiveness. I’m such a competitive person and I love to go out and compete. I knew I’d miss that part.

“After my freshman year, I transferred to O’Fallon. It was where I wanted to be and I knew I’d enjoy my years there. I didn’t play my sophomore or junior year at O’Fallon, but I didn‘t stop thinking about baseball. I don’t think you can ever stop thinking about or loving something you have done your whole life.”

Krneta started to waver a bit on his decision to come back to baseball last fall, but, with the urging of his good friend and longtime select baseball teammate Cody Bauer, he decided to give high school baseball one last shot.

Coronavirus, however, took that shot away.

Back in form

After making his decision to return to the mound, Krneta worked out all winter with O’Fallon High School pitching coach Brooks McDowell and with Brett Huber at the Batters Box in Belleville.

McDowell, who pitched four years at SIU-Edwardsville and played professional baseball for a season in Austria, knew from the first time he saw Krneta throw that he was special.

“My first thought was ‘Man, where has this kid been!’ When (O’Fallon) coach (Joe) Bauer asked me about Josh’s pen during tryouts, my response was ‘If we played tomorrow and it was a win or go home situation, Josh is getting the ball.’ That’s how impressive Josh’s stuff was,” McDowell said. “But at the same time his demeanor and how he handled himself was what got me.

“He was mid 80’s, great depth on his breaking ball with a free and athletic delivery. He was also a super coachable kid. I could tell he was willing to learn and embrace new ideas.”

Krneta said sitting out two years took its toll. The hardest part for him was getting back into baseball condition.

“I forgot how much of a grind it is and how much work is put in,” he said. “But I loved that about the game. I loved that I had to put hours and hours of work in.

“I started working with Brett Huber in November of my senior year. He helped me get my arm back into shape as well as my mechanics. My mechanics needed some fine tuning, but for the most part I was solid. On the mental side, he helped me realize that I had what it takes to come back and that I could go out and compete and to not be worried about not performing at a high level.”

McDowell praised Krneta’s tireless work ethic while also empathizing with the unfortunate baseball hand he’s been dealt.

“Josh worked all fall getting back into some kind of shape. Winter workouts rolled around and he never missed a day. He worked his tail off,” McDowell said. “Going into this spring season Josh Krneta was our No. 1 starter. He worked himself back into shape to be an elite arm in the SWC. The work he put in is indescribable.

“He worked his way back and now his senior year is gone. Baseball is done for him. He’s going to Missouri as a student. He could play college baseball if he wanted but will never get that opportunity to show it.”

This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.