At this time of year, Christmas is generally the furthest thing on anyone’s mind.
For El Dorado’s Austin Jobe, June 11 might as well have been Christmas.
After undergoing labrum surgery on his pitching shoulder last year, Jobe, who has verbally committed to Arkansas, did not pitch for the Wildcats this spring while continuing his rehab from surgery.
On Friday, Jobe returned, throwing 2 1/3 innings while on a strict pitch count at the 2D Sports Tournament at Hendrix College.
Pitching for Coach Keith Sticks Baseball, Jobe didn’t allow any hits, walked two and struck out five while allowing one run against the Little Rock Patriots.
“It felt great,” Jobe said. “It was nine months way too long.”
Jobe said he was on a pitch count of 40 and he felt nervous after wrapping up his bullpen session before taking the mound.
“My bullpen was a little shaky before the game, so I was a little nervous, but it was muscle memory once I got on the mound,” Jobe said. “I had a friend watching and they didn’t have a radar on me, but he said I was probably mid-to-upper 80s. It felt pretty good.”
The El Dorado standout added that he was happy with his command.
“I think I threw pretty well,” Jobe said. “The command was a little shaky here and there, but for the first time out in nine months, it was pretty solid.”
Jobe said his coaches would increase his workload incrementally this summer.
“Starting off, it will probably be two to three innings at the most,” Jobe said. “We’re going to get back into it slowly.”
Jobe also had a teammate with him for his return in catcher Joseph Bolin, who also caught his last outing nine months ago.
“It was pretty special to throw to him for the first time back,” Jobe said. “It was much easier to throw to him. There’s another catcher on the team, but Joseph has caught me for many years.”
Jobe said he is expecting to feel some after effects on Saturday from Friday’s outing.
“I’m expecting to be pretty sore. I’m running on adrenaline right now,” Jobe said. “I imagine I’ll be pretty sore, but I’m going get ice and maybe some ibuprofen and see how the recovery goes.”