League provides home for competitive baseball
Atalented pitcher took the mound at Fenway Park a few weeks ago, using his 94 mph fastball to strike out two batters as he set down the side in orderin the first inning.
Onlythis wasn’t Chris Sale, Justin Verlander or Corey Kluber. Or any MajorLeague hurler, for that matter.
It was a teenager from Valencia who had just recently finished his junioryear at Mars High School.
Will Bednar is one of the WPIAL’s top players and is expected to be selected in next year’s MLB draft, potentially in the early rounds. He’s alsolooking for a college after decommitting from Ohio State in June. With that in mind, Bednar has spent his summer looking for exposure, traveling to events around the country to showcase his big arm in front ofMLB scouts and college coaches.
“That’s what it’s all about. Going to big events and playing against some of the best players in the country,”Bednar said.
Bednar had a huge junior season at Mars. A 6-foot-1 right-hander, Bednar was 8-0 with 120 strikeouts in 66 innings. He gave up 39 hits, 11 walks andboasted a 0.64 ERA while helping the Planets reach the WPIAL Class 5A championship game for the secondyear in a row.
Mars’ season ended June 7 with a loss in the PIAA playoffs. Since then, Bednar has had to pack his suitcase frequently for showcase events. First up was a trip to St. Petersburg, Fla., totry out for an East Coast Pro Showcase regional team. That event was held at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. A few weeks later, Bednar went to Fenway Park in Boston to pitch in an exhibition gamefor the Area Code Games.
On Tuesday, he and his dad Andy — also the Mars coach — flew to Hoover, Ala., for the East Coast Pro Showcase. Bednar will spend five days in Hoover before flying to Long Beach, Calif., to compete in the Area CodeGames, which begin Monday.
Bednar said playing at Fenway Park was “unbelievable.” He was on a team of high school stars that played the Orleans Firebirds, a team in the Cape Cod League that is made upof top college players.
“Getting to play at such a historic field was awesome,” Bednar said. “It was so cool. You look at the Green Monster.Just the size of that thing.”
Bednar started the game and said he was a bit nervous — “There were probably 100 guys with radar guns sitting behind home plate,” he said — but it didn’t show. He struck out two of the three batters he faced, one being J.J. Bleday, Vanderbilt’s leadinghitter last season.