Fountain Valley Reliever Ponchak Won’t Let Up

Chris Ponchak looked like a beaten man.

The junior pitcher had been touched--no, slammed--for six runs in the sixth inning. Fountain Valley’s lead had dwindled to 8-6 against Esperanza Tuesday in the Southern Section Division I baseball playoffs.

Ponchak looked physically whipped as well. He had been tagged in the face on a play at the plate in the top of the seventh, resulting in a bloody nose. It took several minutes, and a cut man, to get him ready to pitch.

Needless to say, Coach Ron LaRuffa was a tad concerned.

“Chris was filthy and bleeding,” LaRuffa said. “I mean, he was a real mess.”

Would you trust your baseball team’s future to a wobbly pitcher who looked as if he’d been through 12 rounds in an under-card bout?

LaRuffa didn’t even hesitate. Neither did Ponchak. He set the Aztecs down, 1-2-3.

“I had no doubts,” LaRuffa said. “That’s a situation Chris thrives on. There was something on the line. I had complete confidence in him.”

Few high school teams have relied on a relief pitcher more than Fountain Valley. Few have had one like Ponchak.

“Big Dog”--as his teammates refer to him--has made team after team yelp with his nasty fastball and fierce personality.

Ponchak is 7-2 with a 1.88 earned-run average heading into today’s quarterfinal game at Simi Valley. He has pitched in 18 games this season--14 in relief--and only failed to deliver once. He has won three games and saved four since becoming the Barons’ closer.

“The other team will have men on base and I start to feel my blood pumping,” Ponchak said. “I get in and shut them down and the momentum shifts. You can feel it. I love that.”

Said outfielder Geoff Wilson: “Big Dog comes in and we all get excited. He takes us to a higher level.”

Which is why LaRuffa made Ponchak the closer in the first place.

Ponchak, who spent half the season on the varsity as a sophomore, was the Barons’ No. 2 starter when this season began. He had not won a game on the varsity level, but then neither had any of the other pitchers.

With such an inexperienced staff, LaRuffa was looking for the right person to use when things got dicey. He didn’t have to look far.

Ponchak had been a reliever for the Barons during the summer, helping the team win the Colt League World Series. He saved the West Regional championship game and picked up the victory in relief in the World Series semifinal.

So he had experience at the job. He also had the right attitude.

“Chris is one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached,” LaRuffa said.

Almost everyone in the Sunset League knows how competitive the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Ponchak can be. Those who don’t haven’t seen him play.

Ponchak is not one to go quietly about his business. He’ll make a pitch, then walk toward home plate to get the ball back.

“There have been a couple times when I made it all the way to the plate before I got the ball,” Ponchak said.

It can be be a little unnerving.

“Chris knows that,” Wilson said. “He knows it’s intimidating for a batter to see this big guy walking toward him. Chris talks about it.”

To everyone, sometimes.

Ponchak was brought in against Ocean View with runners on first and third and two outs. He threw a strike, then made his customary stomp toward the plate.

“The guy tried to stare me down, so I said, ‘OK, here it comes again,’ ” Ponchak said. “I threw a curveball on the corner for Strike 2. He was still staring at me. I threw a fastball and he couldn’t touch it. Boy, that was fun.”

Yet, while Ponchak has a forceful presence on the mound, he was putty in LaRuffa’s hands.

Ponchak won his first four starts and then was asked to become a reliever. Tony Liuzzi’s development as a pitcher made the change possible.

But LaRuffa still had to break it to Ponchak.

“Coach asked how I felt about being a reliever,” Ponchak said. “I told him yes, if it was best for the team.”

And it has been.

Ponchak, who is also the team’s designated hitter, allowed only two runs in his last six appearances during the regular season. The Barons won all six games to wrap up their second consecutive league title. They entered the playoffs as the No. 1-seeded team.

“Chris was the difference between us being a good team and a great one,” LaRuffa said.

Still, Ponchak was omitted from the all-league team.

“The way we used him probably cost him some personal awards,” LaRuffa said. “I even apologized to him last week. He said he had no complaints.”

What is there to complain about? Ponchak was the winner in the Barons’ first-round game against Montebello Schurr. He pitched three innings in 14-1 victory Friday.

He came back Tuesday and was racked by Esperanza. Ponchak gave up four hits, two of which were doubles, hit two batters and walked another in the sixth.

Still, he had a what-me-worry attitude.

“He finally got the third out and by the time we got back to the dugout he was fired up,” Wilson said. “I knew he was going to go right back out there and end it.”

With Ponchak, there are never any doubts.

“It was a mental thing,” Ponchak said. “I wasn’t going to let our season end. I just said, ‘Give me the ball.’ ”