Rouwenhorst Brings Super Repertoire to Mound

CYPRESS — You can barely tell Jonathon Rouwenhorst is bursting with anticipation.

He is sitting on a bench next to Brethren Christian’s baseball field, calmly answering questions about starting today’s Division V championship game against Santa Maria St. Joseph at Long Beach Blair Field.

But beneath Rouwenhorst’s serene exterior lies an analytical and intense competitor who expects to do what other teams have failed to do this season: beat St. Joseph.

Brethren Christian is 22-7; St. Joseph is 28-0.

Rouwenhorst, 17, will carry no false bravado to the mound. Instead the senior right-hander will bring three different curveballs, a changeup and a sneaky fastball. Those weapons made him the county’s winningest pitcher this season with a 14-0 record. He has 11 complete games, and in 94 innings he has struck out 175 (an average of 13 a game), walked 36, and given up 18 earned runs. His earned-run average is 1.34.

“The year has gone by so fast,” he said. “I really wish I could play some more games with this team. Many of us have been together three years. We’re not surprised to be in the finals. We expected to be here.”

Rouwenhorst, who plays in the outfield when not pitching, is also handy with the bat. He’s averaging .470, has hit five home runs, and his 44 runs batted in are second on the team to catcher Aaron Ireland’s 47.

Warrior Coach Dave Posthuma thought his team had a chance to do well this season, especially after he noticed a change in Rouwenhorst’s attitude.

“He broke his ankle last year and had to sit out the last three weeks of the season,” Posthuma said. “When he came back this spring, I got the impression he wanted to make the most of his senior year; to go as far and as hard and as long as he could.

“The speed on his fastball and curve are the same. But he is mentally tougher. I knew he’d be good, but I had no idea he’d be this good. And to pitch as many innings as he has. . . . It’s been an incredible one-year performance.”

It certainly is in comparison to the 1996 season, when Rouwenhorst was 6-2 with a 3.69 ERA. Last year he pitched 55 innings, struck out 76, walked 29 and gave up 29 earned runs. Which means that in 39 more innings this season, Rouwenhorst has struck out 99 more batters, walked only seven more batters, and given up 11 fewer earned runs.

Every victory for Rouwenhorst has not come easy, however. In the season opener against Sun Valley Village Christian, Brethren Christian won on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh. Calvary Chapel, which beat Brethren Christian for the Olympic League title, and Whittier Christian made Rouwenhorst sweat out victories.

Nonetheless, Rouwenhorst has met every challenge this season. And he is one victory shy of tying the county record for wins in a season, jointly held by Andy Messersmith (Western), Jim Livernois, Craig Jones (La Quinta) and Steve Schenewerk (Fountain Valley). Jones is the only pitcher among the four to have gone 15-0.

Posthuma will give his pitcher every chance to become part of that select group.

“As far as I’m concerned, we could not be in a better position,” Posthuma said.

Said Rouwenhorst: “We will be disappointed if we lose, but we also know you can’t win every game.”