Marks Are Up, in Every Case
There are lots of high school pitchers who throw hard. There are far fewer who throw hard and throw strikes.
Josh Ravin of Chatsworth never could do both -- until this season.
“This is the way I wanted to pitch, and it feels good,” he said.
Ravin might be one of the fastest-rising professional prospects in Southern California. At 6 feet 4 and 195 pounds, with a fastball clocked at 89 mph, he certainly ranks as one of the most intriguing players.
As a freshman, he was academically ineligible.
As a sophomore, he was academically ineligible for the first half of the season and never played in a varsity game.
As a junior, he made a couple of varsity starts, then went 13 games without making an appearance after exhibiting wildness in a tournament game in Las Vegas.
But by the end of the season, his potential was beginning to come through. Chatsworth Coach Tom Meusborn made Ravin the starting pitcher in the City Championship game against Woodland Hills El Camino Real at Dodger Stadium. Ravin pitched into the third inning of a 5-1 defeat. He handled the pressure well.
During the summer and fall, he received private lessons from Pierce College pitching coach John Bushart, who fixed Ravin’s mechanics and tried to boost his confidence. Suddenly, Ravin’s naivete was replaced by a realization that he could pitch with the best.
“Everything started to fall into place,” Ravin said. “It’s definitely new. I can throw harder and throw strikes. And that’s what I didn’t know how to do. I step up on the mound, see the glove, go through the mechanics and throw it.”
Bushart, who helped develop Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox, said of Ravin: “He’s got as good an arm and as bright a future as anyone I’ve worked with.”
There’s a humbleness and freshness to Ravin because he has pitched so little in high school. He didn’t really know how good he could become, though his father has told him since he was a youngster that he had the arm to pitch.
“I didn’t realize the ability and potential to play, and I realize it now,” he said. “I was just a pitcher who rarely threw. I knew I threw hard but didn’t know how hard. I never looked at my height. I never took my dad seriously when he would always tell me that.”
Whether because of maturity or urgency that time was slipping away, Ravin got his act together. First up was fixing his academic problems related to his not doing his homework.
“I didn’t focus,” he said. “I figured ‘I’ll do it tomorrow,’ and tomorrow would come. It’s kind of upsetting. It’s my fault. I learned to take care of business. School is the most important thing. Without school, I wouldn’t have any of this.”
Ravin just turned 18, and he’s off to a good start in his senior season. He’s 4-1 with a 2.13 earned-run average. He still encounters games in which his control is out of whack.
A week ago, he walked four in five-plus innings against Reseda Cleveland. His curveball was nonexistent. It created anxiety among longtime observers that the old Ravin might be back.
“My mechanics didn’t feel right,” he said. “I wasn’t getting the ball out of the glove. My curveball was horrible.”
On Monday, he struck out 10, walked two and showed effective command from start to finish in a 7-0 shutout of Granada Hills.
“I think he responded well,” Meusborn said.
Ahead could be three appearances against West Valley League rival El Camino Real, the City title favorite.
“I want to have another game against El Camino and win,” he said. “I want revenge.”
Professional scouts are coming out in increasing numbers to evaluate Ravin, who receives their phone calls at home and text messages on his cellphone. Most want to see what he can accomplish pitching for an entire season.
Meusborn said Ravin has “the liveliest arm of any pitcher I’ve coached.”
Ravin, though, has learned that if he wants to please Meusborn, throwing hard alone won’t pass muster.
“Throw strikes,” Ravin said, is what would most please his coach.
Throwing hard and throwing strikes is what Ravin does these days, making him a pitcher with a future.
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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
