Bryniarski soars past season goals
Before the baseball season began, Fountain Hills baseball coach Mike Briguglio gave junior Andrew Bryniarski the same sheet he gives to the rest of his players listing team and individual goals to shoot for.
The team goal was to win a Division III state title after falling in the semifinals the year before. Bryniarski’s goals included batting .400 and hitting seven home runs.
Check, check and check for Bryniarski, azcentral sports’ Small Schools Player of the Year.
And Bryniarski didn’t just meet his statistical targets in leading his team to the title but soared past them. The 6-foot-2 righty hit .444 with 41 RBIs and eight home runs — all team highs.
Perhaps his biggest impact came on the mound, where he posted a 1.40 ERA and an 8-1 record in 55 innings. His 71 strikeouts were second behind teammate Nick Wojtysiak’s 93, and his .177 batting average against was tops among Fountain Hills starters.
With the state title on the line, it was Bryniarski who got the ball on the mound, holding freeswinging Tucson Empire to three earned runs in seven innings. It tied the most earned runs he’d given up all year.
“I’ve always been comfortable pitching,” Bryniarski said. “I’ve been throwing my whole life. Whenever they called on me, I threw mybest and got the ‘W’ at the end.”
Still, the rising senior is a hitter first. He may have been throwing a little harder in 2013, and his breaking ball may have been a little sharper, but Bryniarski’s goals for 2014 all involve gripping a bat.