TERRY COLUMN: Patience pays off
Patience has paid off for Joe Pistorese in his baseball career.
A 6-foot-1 standout pitcher for the Kalispell Lakers, he threw a perfect game, a 21-strikeout game and a no-hitter in his illustrious prep career before graduating from Flathead in 2011. Even in the relatively remote baseball world of Montana, one of three states where the sport isn’t sanctioned through high schools, his exploits drew the attention of Major League Baseball. He was drafted in the 44th round out of high school, 1,341st overall, but rather than jump at the chance to pitch in the pros he waited.
Pistorese pitched four years at Washington State University, setting the school record for innings pitched and career starts, earning all-Pac 12 conference selections twice in his career while going toe-to-toe with some of the best pitchers in college baseball.
On draft day this spring, he had to be patient again.
Expecting to be selected in the first 10 rounds, Pistorese was taken in the 17th round, 515th overall, this time by the Seattle Mariners, the team he grew up watching and cheering for in the Northwest.
His perseverance made an impact on Mariners’ director of amateur scouting Tom McNamara, who told the Seattle Times:
“I couldn’t get this performance out of my head. I went to see a pitcher at Arizona State. I think the final score was 1-0. Looking back, (Pistorese) pitched a gem … I just kept looking at my list of eight million players, I said, ‘You know what? I’d be a fool not to take this guy.’ I think he pitched a complete-game shutout right in front of my face. Those are the things that make you toss and turn at night, wondering, ‘Well, why didn’t I take him?’”
Now a member of the hometown team and assigned to short-season Class A Everett (Washington) AquaSox of the Northwest League at the start of the season last Thursday, he’s had to wait again.
The AquaSox started two players with previous minor league experience to begin the season before giving the ball to Mariners veteran Hisashi Iwakuma on Saturday for a rehab start. On Monday, after another former rookie leaguer started, the AquaSox gave the start to the Mariners’ second-round pick, former Oregon State right-hander Andrew Moore. Four left-handers had seen action in relief, all drafted above him or with previous bullpen experience. Pistorese was one of three players on the roster that had yet to see the field.
As close to Montana as he’ll be all season, Pistorese spent Tuesday afternoon keeping the mood light in the dugout at Spokane’s Avista Stadium. The AquaSox scored two runs in the ninth inning to beat the Spokane Indians 4-3 and improve to a league-best 5-1 on the season.
On Wednesday, with the second game of the series in Spokane tied at 0-0 in the sixth inning, Pistorese got his chance, taking the mound in relief with two men on base and two outs, pitching in relief for the first time he could remember.
It took him one pitch to get out of the inning, a curveball forcing Spokane’s Ti’Quan Forbes into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
“I like pitching out of the windup a little more than out of the stretch, being a starter,” Pistorese said. “To go in and get a first pitch curveball and keep it down in the zone and get a rollover ground ball was huge for me. I was able to relax and come out and pitch another inning.”
He forced the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh into groundouts and struck out the third. The AquaSox scored twice in the top of the eighth to give Pistorese the win in his first pro appearance.
He pitched 1 2/3 innings with two hits, a strikeout and no walks.
“I had a little bit of adrenaline pumping but I was happy with the way I commanded the zone and my pitches were looking good,” Pistorese said.
For Pistorese, his patience paid off.
“It was all exciting,” Pistorese said. “It was kind of stressful at first, getting used to everything and how everything works. Getting to see Iwakuma pitch was huge and he bought us some sushi after the game. It’s been fun.”