The Preps : Boys’ Athlete of the Week : He’s Star for All Seasons at Katella

The trouble with being a three-season athlete is that you always seem to be behind everyone else. Billy Fitzgerald of Katella High School has had that problem for the last three years.

During the fall, Fitzgerald was the starting tight end and linebacker for the football team. In the winter, he wrestled and was runner-up in the Empire League at 191 pounds.

Now it’s spring, and Fitzgerald is hitting and throwing baseballs. But wrestling against the likes of Joe Pastorello and Chris Mollkoy (both teammates and state champions) in practice did not help Fitzgerald’s baseball skills.

“It’s tough for the first couple weeks,” Fitzgerald said. “My shoulders were tight and sore. It was at least a week before I could throw a baseball.”

Fitzgerald, The Times’ athlete of the week, has assimilated nicely and just in time for league play. After hitting only .211 through the first couple of weeks, he has raised his average to .303.

Last week, Fitzgerald was a big reason the Knights took over first place in the Empire League.

On Wednesday, Fitzgerald had three hits, including two triples, two RBIs and two runs scored in a 4-2 victory over Cypress. He also was the winning pitcher.

Fitzgerald, who also plays right field, followed that with two RBIs in an 8-4 victory over Esperanza Friday.

“Those are the kind of games we expect out of Billy,” Katella Coach Tim McMenamian said. “We had him penciled in to hit fourth before the season even started.”

Fitzgerald is happy that baseball season has arrived. For one thing, he can eat as much as he wants and is back to his normal weight of 200 pounds. During wrestling season, he had to work to stay below 191.

But Fitzgerald also sees some disadvantages.

“You get into a slump in baseball, it’s hard to get out of it,” he said. “In wrestling, all you do is work hard in practice and everything falls into place.”

But everything is falling into place right now in baseball. In the league opener two weeks ago, Fitzgerald hit a three-run homer in a 6-5 victory over Los Alamitos.

“Billy is starting to get into a groove,” McMenamian said. “You can see it when he hits. He hits the ball further then anyone on the team. He drops his hands a little when he swings and it looks like he’s launching the ball.”

Which he almost has to do at Boysen Park, where the Knights play their home games. Against Cypress, both of Fitzgerald’s triples hit the fence at the 390-foot sign in right-center field.

“Both of those hits would have been home runs at any other ballpark, including Anaheim Stadium,” McMenamian said. “We’re going on the road next week to play at smaller parks. It’s scary to think what Billy might do.”

Which could be a problem for the Knights’ opponents to wrestle with.

TOP PERFORMERS

Paul Barrera of Tustin swam Southern Section qualifying times in the 100-yard freestyle (57.91 seconds) and 100 butterfly (53.2) Thursday.

Ernie Franco of Kennedy hit three home runs in two games.

Lee Green of Fullerton had seven hits, five RBIs and three runs scored in two games.

Billy Fitzgerald

Katella High School

Position: Outfielder/pitcher

Height, Weight, Class: 6-4, 200, Senior

Last Week: On Wednesday, Fitzgerald had three hits, including two triples, in the Knights’ 4-2 victory over Cypress. He also was the winning pitcher. Friday, Fitzgerald had two RBIs in 8-4 victory over Esperanza.

Season: Fitzgerald is hitting .303 with one home run and 11 RBIs.