Former Fox Chapel pitcher Pilarski makes jump to Division I

When former Fox Chapel pitcher Jacob Pilarski finally got the call that his senior baseball season at Virginia Wesleyan was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, he was disappointed.

He wanted his final season at VWU to be a big one. He was hoping he could make a big enough of an impression to get drafted or sign with an MLB team. But looking back, Pilarski called it a blessing in disguise.

“I lost this season, but now I am going to be able to go on to a Division-I program and possibly further myself for a better career,” Pilarski said.

When he was granted another year of eligibility because of the cancellation of his senior season, Pilarski considered coming back to Wesleyan for another year. But after conversations with friends, family and the coaching staff, the hard-throwing right-hander, who has aspirations to play at the big league level, thought it might be best to test himself against tougher competition.

Last week, Pilarski announced he will transfer to The Citadel, a Division I school in South Carolina that started this season 10-6.

“It’s D-I baseball, and I really wanted a challenge after playing D-III at Wesleyan,” Pilarski said. “They seemed like good people. I really liked the head coach and the pitching coach. Coach (Tony) Skole is an amazing guy. I mean he called my family and talked to them for about an hour one day.”

Pilarski had quite a run at VWUon the mound and at the plate. But it didn’t get off to the best start.

During his freshman season, Pilarski threw 22 innings and racked up a 10.23 ERA in 12 appearances. He registered only eight at-bats and produced a .125 batting average.

The 6-foot-2, two-way player didn’t let that affect him, and he came back with a change in mentality.

“In high school I threw pretty hard, so it was easy to go up there and make mistake pitches and get away with it because I could overpower people,” said Pilarski, who had an ERA of 1.83 at Fox Chapel. “But I learned freshman year that with experienced, college players, when you miss a pitch, it doesn’t matter how hard you’re throwing. They are going to hit it.

“So I took that mentality, that I couldn’t just go out there and throw hard, I had to work the count, work both sides of the plate, mix in some off-speed stuff.”

It paid off. In his sophomore year, Pilarski made 16 appearances (12 starts), went 11-0, struck out 80 and produced an ERA of 2.05. He also hit for a .308 average in a career-high 130 at-bats.

For Pilarski, the funny thing was he didn’t even begin the season in the starting rotation. About five games in, the Marlins needed a spot start against Brockport, and Pilarski stepped up.

“I went seven innings, allowed one hit, had eight strikeouts, and we ended up 10-running them, so it was only a seven-inning game,” Pilarski said. “But that’s kind of where it started. From there, I just kept rolling. I was just going out, getting outs and letting guys get themselves out and rack up as many strikeouts as I could. It just kept working out.”

Pilarski earned third-team All-American honors that year, and his success continued. He ended his time at VWU with a career ERA of 3.81 and threw a total of 226 2/3 innings. He had a .314 batting average and 58 RBIs in 293 at-bats.

Now, Pilarski is excited to help The Citadel in any way he can while also furthering his career.

“I want to play pro ball,” Pilarski said. “My goal is to go to The Citadel, help them win a championship, perform well and then get picked up somewhere.”