St. Charles North senior pitcher Ankur Shah is much more self-assured about his baseball career now compared to this time last year. For one thing, the left-hander made an offseason college commitment to Illinois-Chicago. For another, he’s added about five miles per hour to his heater, and is now throwing in the mid-80s. In this week’s Weekend Chit-chat with Chronicle sports editor Jay Schwab, Shah touches on a childhood injury that became a blessing in disguise, his offseason progress and the 2013 North Stars’ prospects. The following is an edited transcript:

How old were you when knew pitching was the right path for you?

I knew ever since when I broke my wrist [in fourth grade]. I broke my wrist and when I came back, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a pitcher because once I broke my wrist, my ball started moving a lot better. My wrist was broken and then my dad actually set it at a 15-degree angle because my dad is a doctor. … It’s not really straight so I can’t really throw without having movement on my fastball.