This Rough Diamond Is Polishing Up His Act

It’s not uncommon for a high school coach to discover hidden talent in a physical education class. What’s a little more unusual is finding an ace pitcher in an English class.

That’s the tale of pitcher Jonathan Hernandez from Carson High. He was plucked out of his sophomore English class two years ago by baseball Coach Kurt Ruth, who had a hunch.

“He looked like a physical guy and always talked about baseball,” Ruth said. “I told him, ‘Why not try out for the team?’ ”

Except Hernandez was afraid of being cut.

“I had to almost tell him, ‘If you come out, you’ll make the team,’ ” Ruth said.

Hernandez had played soccer until his freshman year and was playing baseball anonymously at a park. He startled friends by showing up at the tryout.

“When I was walking toward the field, they were like, ‘Hey, Jonathan, what are you doing?’ ” Hernandez said. “They thought I was a soccer player only.”

Hernandez made the freshman-sophomore team as a first baseman-third baseman. He was promoted to junior varsity last season and started to pitch, but the season was cut short because of a bus strike.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound right-hander had shown promise, but Ruth still wasn’t ready to declare him a talent -- until now.

Hernandez is 4-2 with a 2.00 earned-run average for the varsity this season, and has victories over Wilmington Banning, Lake Balboa Birmingham, Gardena and Redondo, all playoff-caliber teams. On March 27, he struck out six and walked none in a 5-1 Marine League victory over Banning.

“We thought he had a chance to be pretty good but didn’t want to put too much pressure on him,” Ruth said. “Now that he’s done well, we can’t keep him a secret anymore.”

Hernandez doesn’t throw particularly hard, but he throws strikes and has unusual poise for someone with little playing experience.

“I’m just doing what I can,” he said. “I’m still learning. This is better than anything. I can do this all day, all night.”

With Carson off to a 5-1 start in the Marine League, it’s not inconceivable that Hernandez could get a chance to pitch in the June 10 City championship game at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s been my childhood dream to play at Dodger Stadium, to come off the mound, to come out of the bullpen, anything,” he said.

Carson was desperate to find an ace this season after its best pitcher, Nigel Campos, was lost for the season because of an elbow injury.

Hernandez is grateful for Ruth’s hunch and no longer fears rejection.

“I learned it never hurts to try,” he said. “Now I’m going for anything.”

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Another pitcher who’s emerging from anonymity is right-hander Nolan Bruyninckx of Arcadia. He was the team’s starting third baseman last season as a junior. Seventeen seniors graduated from the Apaches, leaving Coach Mike Parisi with few options.

“We were forced to throw him on the mound and he’s been absolutely dominant,” Parisi said.

In a game for first place in the Pacific League on March 28, Bruyninckx struck out 13, walked six and gave up only two hits in a 3-2 victory over La Crescenta Crescenta Valley. On the season, Bruyninckx is 5-2 with two saves. He gets to face Crescenta Valley again tonight at Stengel Field in Glendale.

“It’s something new and something I became good at,” Bruyninckx said.

He played at La Puente Bishop Amat his first two years and briefly tried pitching, but he had to stop because his arm would become sore after a couple of innings. Parisi and pitching coach James Clelland worked with him during the summer and fall.

“When I first started, I was kind of wild,” he said. “I couldn’t throw a strike. I knew it would take time. You can’t just learn how to pitch after not pitching before.”

Bruyninckx’s early success is no beginner’s luck. He outdueled perhaps the best sophomore pitcher in the state, Crescenta Valley’s Trevor Bell, with a fastball clocked in the high 80s.

“Once I threw strikes, I knew I’d be successful,” Bruyninckx said.

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Still another pitcher making a dramatic rise is junior right-hander Adam Olbrychowski of Reseda Cleveland. He was too wild to pitch on the varsity last season.

But with a fastball approaching 90 mph and improved control, Olbrychowski, has 57 strikeouts in 35 innings and a 1.24 ERA.

“My arm has just clicked,” he said. “I’ve been throwing a lot more strikes.”

He’ll get to face his biggest test of the season next week when Cleveland takes on City title favorite Chatsworth in West Valley League games Monday and Thursday.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com