West Haven’s Dominic Konareski made his highly anticipated pitching debut on July 24th. Coming in relief for southpaw Andrew Carfora who allowed a hit into the outfield to start off the inning, leading him to be relieved by RHP Dominic Konareski in the bottom of the 4th inning. Dominic Konareski, who is in his third season of baseball was never seen as a spotlight pitcher. The big righty has a sidearm slider, dropping sinker and a high splitter in his arsenal. Not the fastest pitcher clocked in the league, Konareski uses his control to get outs.
Coming into the game with a runner on second it was not a save situation for the No. 4 jersey wearer as he just looked to keep the score where it was and that’s exactly what he did.
Dominic Konareski wasn’t pitching against left handers, he wasn’t pitching against right handers, he wasn’t pitching against pinch hitters, he wasn’t even pitching against New Haven. He was pitching against time, against age and even when you think about his pitching career, against ending. Giving up a hit off a splitter into the outfield to the first batter he faced on a 1-1 count there was then runners on the corners. konareski then threw a slider to the second batter he faced several pitches later to record his first career strikeout. The strikeout was then followed by a walk, making the bases loaded with one out. Konareski then struck out the next two batters faced, making both swing for the third strike to record the second and third outs of the inning.
Three swinging strikeouts for Konareski in the inning as he was congratulated by his team. In a postgame statement Dominic Konareski said “Everything felt like it was going into slow motion, three swinging K’s in one inning that is something I have always dreamed about.” “In a way it seems surreal, I couldn’t really hear anything” as the Knights of Columbus pitcher was still absorbing his pitching debut.
FINAL STAT LINE + SEASON STATS: PITCHING
1.0 IP, 1H, 1BB, 3K’s, 0 R, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 2 WHIP, 27.0 K/9
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