Teddy Stankiewicz doesn't back off. It's part of his makeup. It's the reason why he kept playing a sport he wasn't very good at and developed into becoming much better. It's why he keeps coming at hitters, and coming at them, challenging them. Here, "Hit this," each pitch seems to scream when it's released from his right hand.
It's why the 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior from
Fort Worth Christian (North Richland Hills, Texas) isn't afraid to pitch to contact.
Teddy Stankiewicz, Fort Worth Christian
Photo courtesy of Stankiewicz family
As of May 11, Stankiewicz carried a 12-2 record with 135 strikeouts and just 20 walks (two intentional) in 93.1 innings pitched. He's committed to Arkansas on a baseball scholarship and should go in the high rounds a few weeks from now in the Major League Baseball amateur draft June 4-6.
Though he consistently throws between 90-93 mph, Stankiewicz isn't your typical power pitcher.
"I have no fears about pitching to contact," he said. "I have a good defense behind me that will make plays. Pitching to contact, you get ground balls, throw less pitches. My attitude is if they hit the ball, they hit the ball. They get on base, I have a feeling that they're not going to score. It's when my switch turns on, you can say.
"I'm different. It's something I always did. I throw it down the plate, if they hit it, great. If they don't, great. I know scouts like the strikeouts, but I like to go for it and attack a hitter. There isn't anything cute about me. I just feel like I'm out there and nothing can beat me except myself. I don't let anything get to me. I don't drag things around with me. I enjoy pitching. If I fail, I concentrate on throwing the next pitch."
This year ends an interesting odyssey for Stankiewicz. He started at Keller (Texas), his local public high school, his freshman and sophomore years. In his junior year, he transferred to Southwest Christian (Fort Worth, Tex.), which meant almost a two-hour roundtrip commute each day. It also meant baseball practices running from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., an hour-drive back home in rush hour traffic, and not getting home until about 8 p.m.
Eat dinner. Do homework. Then, continue the same grind again. It was hectic. Taxing.
"I kind of got used to it, after the first semester," Stankiewicz said. "It seemed to be shorter making that drive every day. It was part my routine. But I was going through some things, because I had no social life. I'd get done with baseball and the team would go out and I wasn't able to go with them because of the long ride home. One thing that did help me is I had a friend go with me to Southwest and we would carpool together.
"The driving grind would ease up. But it just became too much. That experience pretty much taught me that whenever you have to make a commute like that, you have to fulfill your obligations. It challenged me last year, challenging me waking up early every morning. It was pretty much set in stone what I did every day. There was no room for error."
Something had to give. In late July, Fort Worth Christian coach Tracy Howard received a call, while he was preparing for football season. It was about Stankiewicz, and the possibility of attending Fort Worth Christian, which is much closer.
"I knew Teddy, and just talking to the coach at Southwest Christian, who is a good friend of mine, we go to the same church together," Howard said. "I knew Teddy was a good player, but as a kid. The coach told me, he's great player, but a better kid. We had 15 seniors coming back, which is unusual for a school our size, and with the work ethic of Teddy, and how seriously he takes baseball. Once he arrived, he's been the first guy out there, and last guy to leave. That's Teddy's mentality."
What may also speak volumes about Stankiewicz's attitude is picking up tennis in grade school. His elementary school didn't have a baseball team, so Stankiewicz was looking for something to quench his competitive thirst. He chose tennis.
The problem was, despite being tall and athletic, well … "I was no good at it," Stankiewicz recalled, laughing. "I grew to like tennis. I started working at it and it became a lot more fun winning. Playing tennis helped my agility and it helped build my legs and my endurance, a lot of endurance. I played tennis four hours a day.
"The sport is also very mentally demanding. The first few years were really tough for me. You realize you have to play the next point and learn to erase things and flush it. I'm very competitive. I don't accept losing very easily, not at all. Playing tennis taught me that something you're not good at, to keep trying. I wasn't going to quit. I learned if you work hard, that you can succeed."
He went from losing every match his first year to becoming a first-team, all-district player by his freshman and sophomore years. But the shuttling between tennis practices and baseball became a conflict, and there was no choice, it was baseball.
That drive to succeed has forged Stankiewicz's name into a high position on more than a few big league draft boards.
"The great thing about Teddy is that he's a pitcher, he's not a thrower," Howard said. "He has the ability to throw in the 90s, but he has a great changeup and a great slider. He has a great curveball that he throws for strikes."
Howard also couldn't help but notice Stankiewicz's composure on the mound the rare times he struggles. It doesn't affect his emotions. When there are runners on base, Stankiewicz has another gear.
"When Teddy senses he has someone on the ropes, he'll make a great pitch, and in crucial situations, he'll make a great pitch," Howard said. "When the ball leaves his hand, it's an effortless release and I know that's what the scouts really like about him. But he's a very good athlete; he is a lock-down third baseman, the best I ever had. He's a big kid who moves well. His athleticism is what struck me first about him."
Teddy's life could possibly change — maybe drastically — in June. But it's going to have be an acceptable offer for him to pass up pitching in the SEC for Arkansas.
"Ever since I was 6, I always dreamed about being a big league pitcher and being on that mound and pitching in the World Series," Stankiewicz said. "It would be a dream come true. The feedback I'm getting is I might be a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds. But my philosophy is that I'm going to Arkansas unless someone blows us away with an offer to change our minds. My family has an adviser. It's an exciting time for me. I can't wait. It's going to be awesome."
And a new challenge Stankiewicz will probably approach like he does everything else — attacking it.
