St. Charles East’s Jake Zitella has a lot going on these days.

In addition to being the offensive catalyst for the Saints, the Illinois-bound senior third baseman looks down the line and consistently sees MLB scouts checking him out.

The key is not letting that extra attention faze him.

“I see them, but I try to block them out and play the game,” Zitella said. “I’ve been talking to a few teams, but it’s not going to change my game.

“Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’m just trying to live in the moment and have fun with this team.”

Zitella is in the unique position of being close to realizing his dreams of becoming a professional baseball player or moving on from St. Charles East to the Illini.

Regardless of how things work out, he’s in an advantageous position, but MLB scouts are increasingly noticing him as the spring moves along.

Before Tuesday’s game against Batavia, upward of a dozen scouts will be in attendance for batting practice just to watch Zitella.

St. Charles East coach Len Asquini has had a handful of players drafted during his tenure, but they’ve always been pitchers, including Wes Benjamin and Matt Reynolds.

Asquini hasn’t had a position player garner attention, which makes this process special.

“He’s attracting scouts because of his tools,” Asquini said. “The fact you’re being looked at in a serious manner as one of the top 600 players in the nation is impressive. You should embrace it.”

The MLB draft has been reduced to 20 rounds, meaning only 600 players between high school, junior college and four-year colleges get selected.

Zitella is among that group of players being evaluated. He hit two homers Saturday as the Saints won their series against St. Charles North.

“For me, I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself,” he said. “I get in my head when I do that. Whether I get a chance to chase my dream or go to college, either is a great pathway.

“If someone wants me, I’ll figure it out from there. I’m just having fun.”

Asquini knows playing professional baseball is Zitella’s dream. The time may come sooner rather than later.

“He’s so fun,” Asquini said. “At 10 years old, I was getting videos of him, and he said that was his path to the major leagues. It’s been in his head for a long time.

“Everybody has a goal. He had a plan and a goal, and he’s working toward that.”

Panther power: Oswego (18-8, 8-1) is on a resounding roll heading into its three-game series against rival Oswego East.

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The Panthers’ only loss through three series in the Southwest Prairie West has been a 7-6 setback to Minooka. Oswego East (16-7) checks in at 7-2 in conference.

Oswego completed sweeps of Plainfield North and West Aurora in addition to winning its series against Minooka.

It has been a busy schedule, but coach Joe Giarrante will take it.

“There’s never a dull moment in this conference with the teams we play,” Giarrante said. “After the 14-inning game we played against Minooka and riding the high of sweeping Plainfield North, plus prom and the weather, when you’re winning, you want to stay on the field. When you’re losing, sometimes you need a break.”

The Dukes of Hazzard: After starting the season 1-6, Yorkville Christian (10-9) moved past the .500 mark with two wins Saturday over teams from Indiana.

Cody Hazzard is a big reason why. He struck out 14 over six innings and drove in a pair of runs Saturday in a 3-1 win over Calumet Christian. He also had three hits later in the day for a 13-6 win over South Bend Riley.

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.