Connor Maryniak is an (almost) instant hit at the college level
Connor Maryniak homered twice in just the third college game he played. It was probably the worst thing that could have happened to the Misericordia freshman.
After that, his swing suddenly got long. He started pulling his head off the ball. He went 0-for and struck out four times in his next game, then whiffed four more times the next day. That started an early season skid that left the Gov. Mifflin grad with a .207 batting average in mid March.
“I was just over-swinging,” Maryniak said. “When we got back (from Florida), Coach (Pete Egbert) worked with me every day one-on-one in the cage. He got me hitting the opposite way, seeing the ball longer, seeing it off my bat. After a couple sessions it clicked and I started hitting the ball hard, and the hits started coming.”
They never stopped. Over his final 31 games Maryniak, the Cougars’ everyday shortstop, batted a robust .388. He ended up fifth on the team in batting (.327), shared the team lead with six homers and led the team with a .615 slugging average. He was third with 64 total bases.
Maryniak was named MAC Freedom Conference Freshman of the Year, and to the all-conference second team (one of just two freshmern on either the first or second team.)
Last week he was named to the D3baseball.com Region 4 all-region team.
“Once he got to work and really started focusing on the pitch recognition part of it he got a lot better,” Egbert said. “He was on a tear to finish the season; he was our hottest hitter through the back part of the season.
“First-year guys, it usually takes them 125, 150 at-bats to really make an impact,” Egbert said. “He struggled for maybe 30 or 40 at-bats, (then) he made an adjustment pretty quickly. That’s how athletic he is.”
Seeing Maryniak succeed on the diamond shouldn’t come as a surprise. As a senior at Mifflin he enjoyed a season for the ages, batting .393 with 31 RBIs as the Mustangs went 21-4, won the Berks League championship and reached the District 3 Class 6A title game.
The Berks Player of the Year was even better on the mound, going 13-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 147 strikeouts over 93 innings. He had eight complete games, four shutouts and a no-hitter against Dallastown in districts.
That success carried over to college.
“As we were going through the season, I got more and more comfortable at the plate and definitely in the field,” Maryniak said of his college debut. “I started to calm down, and everything just sort of came to me. The game slowed down a little bit more. When I first got up there it was moving fast. I just took a step back and gathered myself.”
Maryniak said one of the biggest differences in the college game is the speed of his opponents. In high school he rarely felt rushed to get rid of the ball from shortstop.
“Every ground ball, (hitters) one through seven, can absolutely fly,” he said, “and you have to get rid of it as quick as you can. Everyone’s fast.”
Connor Maryniak’s game-by-game stats
That didn’t seem to affect Maryniak’s fielding. He committed just three errors, strung together 22 consecutive error-less games late in the season, and recorded a .974 fielding percentage.
“He’s a better defender than he is offensive player,” Egbert said, “but he’s getting a lot of the accolades because he finished so well offensively. Prior to the last weekend (of the season), he had two errors, which is unheard of.
“His fielding percentage is through the roof, he has great range, and good command of the infield. He’s like a coach on the field, a leader.”
Maryniak was also used as a pitcher, and struck out 28 batters over 24 2/3 innings. Early in the season he came in to close, and recorded three saves. As Egbert realized what good stuff the right-hander has he went to him for longer stretches, and even gave him a late-season start.
“His stuff is probably as good or better than (anyone) we have,” Egbert said.
Maryniak’s fastball is up a tick since last season; he’s sitting in the 87-89 mph range. If he trained full-time as a pitcher, Egbert believes Maryniak could consistently throw in the low 90’s.
And there’s the rub: Maryniak is such a natural in both endeavors that his coach doesn’t know what to do with him. He’d love to have him on the mound full-time but can’t afford to lose him at shortstop. It’s rare at the college level for position players to also pitch, and those that do do it only in short stints.
“We know if we took the bat away from him he’d end up being our ace pretty quickly,” Egbert said. “He’d be a high-impact guy on the mound right away. I don’t know if we can afford to do that.”
If Maryniak has a say in it he’s not about to become a full-time pitcher.
“I love hitting too much,” he said. “I told Coach: ‘If you need me to pitch any time, I’ll be ready.”
Maryniak is playing this summer with the Northern Yankees of the Blue Mountain League, a Lehigh Valley league for college players. Off the field he’s working on improving his speed. He finds concentrating strictly on baseball for the first time has helped his game.
In high school he played basketball and quarterbacked the Mustangs to their only District 3 championship as a senior, so he wasn’t able to train year-round for his No. 1 sport.
“It’s cool to hone in on one thing, but I definitely do miss it,” he said of football. “I loved it.”
Maryniak certainly doesn’t regret being a multi-sport athlete in high school. He say each of his other sports helped his baseball game. Basketball helped his conditioning; football helped his mental toughness and sharpened his leadership skills.
“The things that I’ve learned from football I’ve taken into college, and it definitely helped,” he said. “I miss the Friday night lights a little bit.”