One-Time Pitching Prodigy Passes On Tips to Next Generation : High school baseball: Fullerton ace Ryan Golisano is being tutored by Jim Derrington, the youngest pitcher to start a major league game.

One was rapping grounders during practice. The other shagged the return throws.

Jim Derrington, the youngest pitcher to start a major league baseball game, hit the grounders. Now 54, with his career behind him, he spends his free time working as an unpaid assistant coach at Fullerton High School.

Ryan Golisano, who would like to pitch in the major leagues, caught the throws. At 16, with his career ahead of him, he spends as much time as possible with Derrington, sopping up that knowledge.

The has-been and the wannabe?

“Ryan’s success has a lot to do with the work Jim has put in,” Fullerton Coach Dolf Hes said. “Every time Ryan pitches, Jim is in his back pocket. It’s been the two of them together.”

The tandem has been unbeatable this season. Golisano is 7-0 with a 1.73 earned-run average. He has struck out 46 in 36 1/3 innings.

Those are numbers that make Derrington beam with the prospect of Golisano’s prospects.

“He’s not even close to what he will be physically,” Derrington said. “He’s still growing. It’s hard to say how far he can go.”

If Golisano is going to get better, then Freeway League coaches must certainly be happy he’s a senior. Already, he’s a handful.

The Indians are 12-2 and 4-0 in league play. They are alone in first place, with a great deal of the credit going to Golisano. He has won three of the team’s league games.

“Golisano can dominate a game,” Troy Coach Dane Ilertsen said. “When he’s on, he’s tough to hit.”

Troy found that out Wednesday. Golisano struck out six and gave up only one earned run in a 7-3 victory over the Warriors.

Golisano did it solely with his fast ball.

“I had no curveball today, but the fastball was right,” Golisano said.

And when the fastball is right . . .

“If I feel it in the bullpen, I can’t wait to get out there,” he said.

That confidence has been developed through two-plus seasons under Derrington’s tutelage.

Golisano transferred from Sonora after his freshman year after his parents divorced. He also played basketball, so he didn’t start working out with the Fullerton baseball team until late February.

It didn’t take long for him to make an impression.

“You could tell he had physical ability,” Derrington said. “It was just a matter of refining it.”

Golisano was 16, the same age that Derrington was when he became the youngest pitcher to start a major league game. Derrington got a $65,000 bonus to sign with the Chicago White Sox in 1956. He started against the Kansas City Athletics in 1956, giving up seven runs in six innings in a 7-6 loss.

Derrington was with the White Sox in 1957, appearing in 20 games and finishing with a 0-1 record. He then spent five years in the minor leagues and his baseball career was over when he was 22.

“He’s always telling me about the longest home runs he gave up,” Golisano said. “He says, ‘Never hang a slider. Hanging sliders go the farthest.’ ”

But Derrington, a produce broker in Anaheim, has done more than wax nostalgic. He tinkered with Golisano’s pitching motion and taught him how to pitch.

Derrington, who has been a volunteer coach at Fullerton the last three seasons, has put in extra time with Golisano and it has paid off.

He has been a key pitcher for the Indians since his sophomore season. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and three hits, against Sonora in his first varsity start. Golisano was the No. 2 starter on a team that won the Freeway League championship.

Golisano went eight innings to beat Sunny Hills, 4-1, which clinched a tie for the league title.

The Indians struggled last season, winning only three league games. But Golisano was 4-6, including a two-hitter against La Habra.

Looking over his shoulder was Derrington.

“He’s really taught me the mental part of the game,” Golisano said. “I use to just throw. Now I think about location and try to be smart. I don’t throw 0-2 pitches right down the middle.”

Said Derrington: “Ryan is mentally tough. He doesn’t get flustered. If you beat him today, you’re still going to have to beat him tomorrow.”

No one has beaten him so far this season.

Golisano has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. He opened league play by striking out 12 in a 9-2 victory over Sunny Hills, a game that was called after six innings because of darkness.

Each game he pitches attracts more scouts, many of whom played with Derrington, who has become Golisano’s pitch man.

“I keep telling them that this kid hasn’t matured yet,” Derrington said. “These guys are looking for potential and Ryan has a bunch of it. He’s definitely a prospect.”

It takes one to know one.