"It's not an issue!"

Kane County Cougar pitcher Craig Italiano is back on the mound after a scary incident from 2007.

Craig Italiano stood before reporters at media day Tuesday at Elfstrom Stadium, suited up in the same Kane County Cougars uniform he’s worn the past two seasons.

Before answering the question that he and the rest of the Kane County staff knew he’d have to answer, pitching coach Don Schulze slid in.

“It’s not an issue!” Schulze said.

“Yeah, it’s not an issue,” Italiano said, quietly. “I don’t like thinking about it, honestly.”

The “it” the two were referring to is how Italiano, the ultra-talented but star-crossed Oakland pitching prospect, figures to bounce back this season after the last one ended in horrific fashion.

On May 14, with two outs in the bottom of the third inning against Wisconsin, Italiano took a line-smash off his forehead. The ball ricocheted into the Cougars’ dugout along the first-base line, while Italiano lay face down on the mound.

The best line in the story is at the end.

“Pretty much the worst that can happen has happened to me,” he said. “I’ve been through that part of it – it’s time to see what the good stuff is.”