Katella’s Fraser Has Taste for Dominating Opponents

If you ever go to lunch with Katella right-hander Joe Fraser, do not offer to pick up the check.

According to his coach, Tim McMenamin, the only thing more prodigious than Fraser’s fastball is his appetite.

“Last year, I had a former player, now in Arizona, come watch a Saturday practice,” McMenamin said. “Afterward, we were going to eat, and Joe and [former Katella pitcher] Jason Stockstill [now in the Angels’ farm system] asked if they could tag along.

“I thought they would all get a sandwich, and I’d spend about $15-$20. But Joe and Jason ordered the biggest thing on the menu--a Paul Bunyan sandwich, about eight feet long--along with appetizers. Both of them ate everything in sight. I had to borrow some money from one of the coaches to pay for it all.”

Then there was that doubleheader last season against Foothill. Between games, McMenamin spotted Fraser at the snack bar purchasing “about 100 pieces of red licorice.” Fraser, scheduled to play in the outfield, assured McMenamin it was a small snack.

“In the second inning I had to take him out because his stomach hurt,” McMenamin said.

Hitting a Fraser pitch has proved more difficult than filling his stomach.

In his third year on varsity, Fraser, 18, has put together an impressive run for Katella. In his last 21 games, dating to last season, Fraser, a senior, has gone 14-3. This season, he is 6-1 after nine starts with a 1.29 earned-run average.

One reason Fraser has become such a good pitcher--in addition to his 90-mph fastball--is plenty of practice and tutoring.

Born in Orange and raised in Anaheim, Fraser has wanted to pitch since his Little League days.

“It’s a position of control, and I like being in control,” Fraser said. “When everything is working, you can dominate a team from the mound.”

Fraser points to two games last season when everything was working. In the final Empire League contest against Cypress, Fraser shut out the potent Centurions on three hits. And in the second round of the playoffs, he beat Mater Dei, 5-1, allowing only six hits and striking out eight.

As for the tutoring, he has been helped by two of the best pitchers in Katella history.

As a sophomore, Fraser watched and learned from starters Jared Wright (Cleveland Indians’ organization) and Stockstill. Both showed him how to handle hitters and attention from scouts, who have occasionally outnumbered spectators at Fraser’s games and who regularly call his house.

“Sure I’d like to play pro ball,” Fraser said, “but I won’t just sign anything.” He has scored 840 on his SAT and has attracted interest from several colleges. “I’d like to go somewhere hot, like New Mexico, Nevada or Arizona,” he said.

Fraser said the attention he has received from the pro scouts and colleges has lessened since the serious injury he sustained last summer.

Fraser and teammate Drake Gustafson were in a vehicle with six other teenagers, returning from an overnight camping trip near Victorville in July. The vehicle flipped over several times in the desert, and four of the passengers were killed.

Fraser, who was thrown from the vehicle and knocked unconscious, sustained a broken left wrist and cracked right shoulder. He was not able to throw again until mid-November.

Neither player wants to talk about the accident anymore. Both have put it behind them--at least on the field. Gustafson is batting .414, with a home run and 10 runs batted in. Fraser has given up 27 hits and nine earned runs in 48 1/3 innings, striking out 60.

McMenamin said Fraser has always been a focused competitor.

“The best thing about him is, he doesn’t let things bother him,” McMenamin said. “Looking at his face, you’d never know if he was getting hit or throwing a no-hitter.”

Though Katella began the week ranked third in the county, Fraser is not yet sure his team is that good. “I don’t know if the talent overall is as good as it was the last couple of years,” he said. “Last year, everybody hit; this season, it’s been three or four guys. But we still pitch and play defense.”