A pair of aces

By Joe Scalzo

Fitch’s Steve Gruver and Jim Kinnick are masters of the mound

AUSTINTOWN — For the past few years, nobody needed to introduce a baseball scout to Steve Gruver. He stands about 6-foot-3, weighs 215 pounds, has started since he was a freshman for a Division I program, owns a fastball that can hit the low 90s and is just as promising in the classroom as he is outside of it.

But Jim Kinnick? That’s a different story.

Kinnick showed promise, sure, but it wasn’t until last May, when the Fitch High junior introduced himself to the world by holding Lakewood St. Edward scoreless for five innings in the district final, that scouts started paying close attention.

“That game got me out there,” Kinnick said.

His pitching kept him out there.

Kinnick (6-foot, 180) went 4-1 in five starts for Rondinelli Tuxedo in last year’s Class B league season, giving up just two earned runs in 33 innings while striking out 40 and walking 23. His 0.55 ERA led the league (the second-best was 1.80). His fastball is consistently in the upper 80s and he’s hit low 90s at times.

“Jimmy came on about the midway point last year,” said Fitch coach Wally Ford. “He had a really nice game in the district final and then had a great summer.”

His performance caught the attention of a Slippery Rock assistant coach named Rich Pasquale, who was hired to coach YSU in October. Pasquale offered Kinnick a scholarship — he’ll sign his letter-of-intent today — and both sides got what they wanted. YSU got a local standout and Kinnick got to stay home.

“It was an easy decision,” said Kinnick, who is also a starting third baseman. “I wanted to stay home and I really like Coach Pasquale. Everything about YSU I liked.”

Gruver, meanwhile, gained a lot of attention while playing for the Cincinnati-based Midland Braves, one of the top summer league teams in the country. Tennessee’s baseball coach called him last summer, Gruver visited the campus and loved everything about it.

The weather, in particular, stood out.

“They’ve been playing for a month or two now,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re just now getting our fourth game in.”

Gruver has also garnered attention from major league scouts — the Reds and Marlins were at a recent game — but outside of a terrific offer (when asked if he’d sign with a pro team if he were, say, the No. 1 overall pick, he laughed and said, “yeah, maybe”), he plans to go to college.

Gruver is a 4.0 student — “As long as I don’t mess anything up in the last nine weeks, I’ll be valedictorian,” he said — and plans to major in either sports medicine or a biology field.

“Right now, college is my No. 1 option,” he said. “I want to get that education.”

Gruver had some arm issues last season but is at full strength now. Together, he and Kinnick give the Falcons a pair of aces that would make just about any team in the state envious. Fitch generally plays Federal League games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is when Gruver and Kinnick take the mound. It gives them a chance to rest their arms during the week and it gives the Falcons a good chance to win every time they play a league game, which no small feat in a league like the Federal.

“Our pitching is really strong,” said Kinnick. “And the bats are coming around. I think we can go pretty far in the tournament and in the Federal League. We should be real strong for that [the conference race].”

Fitch was only a .500 team last year entering the tournament, but the Falcons’ schedule prepared them well for the postseason. Gruver and Kinnick each went 4-1 and the team warmed up with the weather. Then-sophomore catcher Jason Bagoly hit a walk-off homer in the district final and has emerged as a pretty promising prospect as well. Bagoly, who batted .370 last season, looks like he could play tight end at YSU right now.

(Ford tried to get him to play football this fall, to no avail.)

The Falcons returned four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s team, including senior outfielder Nick Wiery, who hit .495.

There’s a quiet confidence about the team, due in large part to its two aces and its success in last year’s tournament.

“If we all pull together and our potential comes through, we can go as far as any team has in the last 10 years here,” said Gruver. “We want to get as far as we did last year and go even farther.”

scalzo@vindy.com