Sam Gelardi had a decision to make.
Sahuarita’s baseball coach had two of Southern Arizona’s top pitchers — Sati Santa Cruz and Austin Bryan — on his roster. To decide who would be the staff ace or get the big start that day, Gelardi would flip a coin.
“Sati obviously had so many tools, but Austin made a lot of strides very, very strong in his sophomore and junior year,” Gelardi said. “The strides that he made had him catch up pretty quick. I think he matured a lot faster than we thought he would.”
Bryan finished his junior season with a 9-1 record, a 3.59 ERA, 65 strikeouts and two saves in 50⅔ innings pitched. With Santa Cruz now off in college, Bryan has emerged from his shadow to become the ace.
“I knew his day would come,” Gelardi said. “I’m not surprised by it, and I’m ready to embrace it. I know he’s prepared himself for it, and I’m very confident he’s going to be successful.”
Bryan, now a senior and in his third season on the varsity team, credits his development to this point to playing on the local New York Yankees scout club team over the last few years and keying on pinpointing strikes in his bullpen sessions.
The crafty lefty is armed with four pitches in his repertoire. He throws a two-seam fastball and four-seam fastball — both with natural movement — a deceptive change-up and a developing curveball. Backed by a deep offensive, senior-led squad that averaged 7.7 runs per game, Bryan believes his confidence is bolstered by the run support.
“Every single game, we’d get a bunch of runs, so I’d get comfortable on the mound,” Bryan said. “So every game I felt like all I had to do was hold them to a couple of runs and we’d win the game.”
Bryan, a New Mexico State signee, will make his first start of the regular season on Friday. He and the Mustangs are on a quest to get back to the Division III state quarterfinals, where their season has come to an end each of the last two years.
It’s something that’s fueled Bryan and his teammates.
“My goals for this year are to keep my control in check and to win a state championship,” Bryan said. “I know I just have to throw strikes and my defense will back me up. I’ve always wanted to be the ace, and now it feels good.”
