Chad Ellingson’s arm is neither titanium nor rubber, but one might be forgiven for thinking as much after looking at his latest pitch counts for the Aberdeen Circus amateur baseball squad.

In his last two starts, both in postseason games, Ellingson has thrown nearly 300 pitches.

It’s a feat no Major League player would dare even consider, much less attempt. It’s also one Ellingson never really set out to accomplish.

Ellingson threw 144 pitches in Circus’ region tournament game. Then, if that weren’t enough, he topped that effort with a 155-pitch outing in the team’s opening state tournament game.

“I was kind of surprised,” Ellingson admitted. “I don’t play a whole lot of catch during the week, so that maybe helped a bit.”

So if he’s not half-bionic, is he missing the ligaments that limit other pitchers? Ellingson’s not sure of that, either.

“I’ve never – knock on wood – had to go to the doctor for it,” he said.

Ellingson’s season trajectory is unusual, for sure. He starts the year just playing a bit of catch, then ramps up his throwing with every start. By the end of the season, his arm feels the strongest.

“Honestly, it’s been kind of interesting thinking about it,” he said. “There’s some guys on the team, a couple that have had some major surgeries and they try to avoid throwing because of that.”

Still, throwing back-to-back 150-pitch outings doesn’t come without repercussions.

“A day or two after, it’s a little sore,” he said.

Ellingson, who pitched for Presentation College, said he’s always been able to throw a lot of innings, even dating back to his American Legion days before pitch counts were really a thing.

The former Saint said he has a 3-pitch arsenal – fastball, curve ball and change-up – and doesn’t really shy away from throwing any of them, but instead relies on catcher Kelley Coates to call pitches.

“We’ve kind of formed a good rapport between us,” he said. “We usually know what the other is thinking.”

But if Ellingson shakes off a pitch call, it’s usually not because his arm isn’t feeling it.

“Usually (the pitches) feel pretty much the same,” he said. “Every once in a while a change up or a curve ball puts a little more pressure on it.”

Nothing a little bit of post-game ice and about a week off can’t fix, though.

Ellingson said he’ll probably get the call on the mound when Circus takes the field Friday looking to stay alive in the state tournament. But he also knows it’s not all up to him to get the job done.

“We’ve got a good assortment of arms this year, he said. “We’ve had a couple guys who have come up big at different times.”

For now, he’ll just do what he’s done all season – live his day-to-day life and go play baseball at night.

Well, that, and put up pitch counts that resemble the impossible.