Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
A standout centerfielder at Bartlett High School, Josh Colaizzi has all the attributes of a pro player according to his coaches.
Among all the athletic luminaries honored at the 2024 Chicago Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame ceremony gala in November, Josh Colaizzi was the only one too young to enjoy a celebratory glass of wine.
Colaizzi, 17, took home the evening’s Future Star Award for all the baseball accomplishments he’s managed to rack up as a teen.
Colaizzi, a centerfielder, made the Bartlett High School varsity team his freshman year and quickly established himself as a star player and leader. As a sophomore during the 2023-24 season, he was named Upstate Eight Conference Player of the Year after hitting for a batting average of .435 with 5 homers, 10 doubles and 30 RBIs during the 35 games. To top it off, the Bartlett squad won the conference tournament. When asked which prize meant more, Colaizzi answered like a seasoned veteran.
“I think winning as a team, it’s so special because you get to share it with all the people you grew up playing with,” Colaizzi says.
In the fall of 2024, Perfect Game, a baseball organization that hosts tournaments and maintains lists of the top young ballplayers across the country, ranked Colaizzi, now a junior, as the third best outfielder in the state and 7th best player in Illinois overall. Later in the year, Perfect Game ranked him among the top hitters in the nation as well.
Like so many other talented teen ballplayers, Colaizzi also is on a travel ball team, spending his summers going to games and tournaments all around the country. He was recruited by Cincy Legends Baseball out of Ohio in 2023 after footage of Colaizzi in action made its way to club staff via social media.
“He was one of the best players, if not the best player, we had all summer,” says Cincy Legends coach John Sullivan. “He’s always looking at what is the next move, what can I do to continue to get better against the guys I’m competing with.”
Colaizzi currently stands at around 5 foot 9 inches, which, despite being the average height of an American male, can be considered a bit short for a baseball prospect.
“I tell coaches all the time, I know you’re looking for a 6-foot-4 kid but I am taking this 5-foot-9 kid,” Sullivan says. “He is a little undersized, but he’s built like a brick house. He’s fast and strong as hell. The kid lives on the sweet spot of the bat and his hand-eye coordination is insane.”
Sullivan adds that Colaizzi is a role model in the way he handles himself off the field as well.
“His character is off the charts, we’re extremely lucky to have Josh,” Sullivan says. “If there were more Joshes in our community, we’d all be in a better place.”
Like other star athletes, Colaizzi has high aspirations for the coming season and for his career. He wants Bartlett High School to repeat as conference champions, to defend his title as conference player of the year and eventually to be ranked as the top outfield prospect in Illinois.
“I want to play D1 baseball at a high level and make it to the League,” Colaizzi says.
At the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame gala, he got to meet big leaguer Nicky Lopez of the Chicago White Sox, noting that when Lopez was his age he played at some of the same travel ball tournaments on his way to the MLB.
“It was fun, really a blessing to be there and it was nice meeting a ton of new people,” Colaizzi says.
And getting an award was nice, too.
“I love the attention, but I’ve just gotta stay humble and not get cocky,” Colaizzi says.
