Former Mars pitcher Will Bednar making most of time at home after successful start at Mississippi State

Throughout his baseball career, Will Bednar has created countless memories, which has made his past two seasons quite different.

First, as a senior at Mars, Bednar was able to pitch only three innings because of biceps tendinitis. During his junior year he went 8-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 66 innings for the Fightin’ Planets.

Then, his freshman season at Mississippi State was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, and it has been a strange experience.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this or like a stop in the middle of a season before,” Bednar said. “I guess the high school season is kind of similar to it. But it stunk to have a season that I was looking forward to be cut short like that.”

Bednar has made the most of his time away from Starkville. Back in Pittsburgh, Bednar and his father, Andy, who coached him at Mars, built a mound in their backyard so he can stick to a throwing program.

“It was pretty fun to build it,” Bednar said. “Because in late April, it was still snowing out for some unknown reason, so it took a little while. But I was really happy when we finally got it done.”

The Corona-Mound is finally complete!! @bednar_will pic.twitter.com/mxnH3ABLTU

— Andy Bednar (@BednarAndy) May 3, 2020

Now, Bednar is hoping to build on his truncated freshman season.

The 6-foot-2, hard-throwing right-hander made the most of his shortened season. In four appearances, Bednar threw 15 1/3 innings, tallied 23 strikeouts and produced a 1.76 ERA for the Bulldogs.

His performance was good enough to earn him a spot on the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American team, along with teammate Christian MacLeod, who was one of four players named Freshman Player of the Year.

“It’s something that’s pretty incredible,” Bednar said. “Playing college baseball is something that’s always been a dream of mine since I was really young. So to have the honor of being a freshman All-American is something that’s incredible.”

In his final appearance, Bednar earned the first start of his collegiate career in a nonconference matchup against Quinnipiac on March 7. The former Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Year threw 5 1/3 innings, allowed two hits, one earned run and struck out eight while walking two.

Although Bednar got a no-decision, the Bulldogs got the victory, and Bednar said it was an experience he will never forget.

“Getting to pitch at Dudy Noble Field is an experience unlike everything I’ve ever gone through in my life,” Bednar said. “Just having the fans and the crowd that that place gets, it’s just electric.”

Before that game, Bednar had been working primarily in relief. In his three relief appearances, he pitched 10 innings, seven of which were scoreless, and recorded 15 strikeouts. But Bednar knew at some point he would be working toward a spot in the starting rotation.

“Probably after my second or third appearance, my pitching coach, coach (Scott) Foxhall, had been telling me that he had wanted to build up my pitch count a little bit so they could kind of use me however we needed,” Bednar said. “Then, about a week before Quinnipiac, I was getting ready to go lift, and he told me that I had the start and it was awesome.”

Little did Bednar know that would be the last time he would pitch as a freshman. But he has his eyes on the future, and he is hoping to build on what started at Mississippi State.

“I just want to get more of a feel for my changeup. I think that’s going to be huge,” he said. “But I think just kind of keep working on everything but changeup more. I think it should be a good sophomore year, or freshman Part 2, I guess.”