In the Dugout with Will Kaczynski
By Micah Rodriguez
Uncommitted right-handed pitcher, rising redshirt sophomore
In high school, Will Kaczynski was surrounded by talent. In his senior season at Westlake High School – a year where the program won the Marmonte League and made it all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals – Kaczynski's classmates were committed to Miami, Tulane, and Michigan, to name a few.
His motivation was simple: prove he could play alongside them.
"In high school, I was proving to others I could play at a high level," Kaczynski said.
However, over the past two years, baseball has asked Kaczynski to embrace uncertainty. Mere days after stepping on campus, he was asked to leave behind the position he'd known for four years – a choice that redefined his entire career.
Initially, Kaczynski successfully used outward motivation; during his senior season, he committed to Westmont College as a catcher.
Yet upon his arrival in the fall, he was met with career-changing news in only his second week on campus.
"[My] head coach came up to me and said, 'We're going to put you on a pitching program,'" Kaczynski recalled. "It was because of my size and frame; he told me there's no catchers my size that play baseball."
Standing at 6'4' and weighing in at nearly 210 pounds, Kaczynski did not have your standard, stocky build behind the dish. But he caught his entire high school career; he had not pitched off a mound in over four years.
With it being his second week on campus, the proposition came as a total shock.
"I [hadn't] even had the chance to hit or catch yet," Kaczynski said. "I had no clue this was coming whatsoever."
The head coach at Westmont, Tyler LaTorre, recruited Kaczynski to come join the Warriors. But the summer before Kaczynski arrived on campus, LaTorre accepted an offer to become the head coach at Pepperdine University.
Paul Svagdis took over as the head man for the Warriors and, without ever seeing Kaczynski at the plate or behind the dish, believed he had a bright future ahead of him on the mound.
"It was definitely really nerve-racking," Kaczynski said. "It was a first-year head coach at the school. And obviously you can't say no, especially as a freshman."
But immediately after his conversation with Svagdis, Kaczynski called his parents, seeking their guidance.
"My dad was like, 'Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?'" Kaczynski recalled. "I was like, 'Yeah, why not.'"
But there still was some hesitancy. In the coming days, Kaczynski continued to rely on his parents and lean fully into his faith.
He spent the next week praying for clarity, hoping for a sign to show him the right decision.
The answer came during what became the final bullpen he caught.
"On the first pitch of the [bullpen], my glove broke," Kaczynski said. "I thought, 'Dude, this is a sign. This is exactly what I was praying for and looking for. It was super cool. Ever since that moment, I've been all in."
Kaczynski spent the rest of his year at Westmont acting like a sponge, both for baseball and his faith.
At first, Kaczynski found the process exciting.
"I was excited. I was trying to learn as much as I could from everyone else," Kaczynski said. "I [was] constantly talking with pitchers in the bullpen about their process and how they learned to use their body."
While he was learning what was essentially a new position, Kaczynski prioritized being an athlete and emphasized maintaining fluid movements.
"It was just about being an athlete," Kaczynski said. "Some of the first talks I had with the older pitchers was how this might be the hardest I'm ever going to throw. It's because you don't care about mechanics. I'm just out there hucking the ball."
Week by week, he continued to stack results while throwing live at-bats during practice.
"After every outing, I'm like, 'Okay, that felt good,' and I write it down to remember," he said. "The next week, it feels better. You just keep stacking. Then there would be weeks where everything just felt terrible. You have to reset, think about what felt good, what felt bad, and just break it down."
He also reached out to high school teammates, Andrew Haberman, Dylan Volantis, and Jesse Beer, who all played at four-year universities.
"I caught all of them which is the funniest thing," Kaczynski said. "It's weird to text them and ask them for advice on pitching, but they're all so helpful."
And although pitching and catching are different mechanically and physically, Kaczynski quickly honed in on the similarities.
In fact, Kaczynski believed the transition was easier because of how the mental battle from pitch to pitch remained identical
"The transition was pretty seamless regarding pitch calling and what to expect because I used to do it all the time," he said. "All you're doing as a catcher is looking at the batter and how they approach pitches. If you go curveball, and you see [the batter's] out on their front foot, you're going to go to that pitch again. It's the same thing when I'm pitching. I pick up on the same stuff."
Going from catching to pitching is not a usual transition. Similar to two-way players, Kaczynski knows how it feels to stand in the box.
"I know how it felt in the box when you're [down] 0-2," Kaczynski continued. "I had no idea what was coming. And now, I have that feeling on the mound, like this dude has no chance no matter what I throw."
And while he wasn't making the impact he had imagined on the diamond at Westmont, faith began to make a bigger impact on his life and career.
"I really got into Bible studies and Bible groups," he said. "I started to learn how other people dealt with things and how they thought of Jesus. How it all compiled together [was] really fun to learn and awesome to be around people like that. That's something you carry with you forever."
Following his year at Westmont, where he ended up redshirting, Kaczynski reached out to David Soliz, the Head Coach of the Conejo Oaks.
Kaczynski's high school teammates played under Soliz the prior summer, and he knew he would have an opportunity to get innings at Ventura College, and even potentially play for the Oaks in the summer.
Kaczynski took the next step and committed to Ventura with the idea he would be a relief pitcher. After ramping up on the mound for less than a year, he was unsure what his arm could handle.
"I was worried about potential injuries or throwing too much or too many times a week," he said. "But the way [Soliz] explained it was I needed to get as many innings as possible."
And in his first season with the Pirates, that is exactly what Kaczynski did. The right-hander led the club with 51 innings. And in his first full-time season as a pitcher, he finished with a 3.53 ERA in 11 starts. He also punched out 44 batters and posted a 1.22 WHIP.
Not bad for somebody who squatted behind home plate his entire high school career.
In a game riddled with peaks and valleys, Kaczynski never doubted himself or his process, even in difficult moments.
After a three-inning appearance against El Camino where he allowed five earned runs and walked four, Kaczynski was back in the lab the next day.
"I was back at it, just trying to figure out how to get better and improve," he continued. "And in my next outing, I went six perfect innings."
Seven days later against Rio Hondo, he faced the minimum through six innings with two strikeouts.
This summer, Kaczynski achieved his goal of pitching for the Oaks. A few years ago, that thought was unimaginable. It never crossed his mind. It never had any reason to. He was a catcher. He wanted to prove to outsiders he could play the next level.
But now Kaczynski, the pitcher, sits in a position he never would have imagined. Through 12.2 innings across four starts this summer, he's posted a 3.55 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
"I just had a constant belief it would work out," Kaczynski said.
Looking to the future, Kaczynski knows he has so much room to grow. After all, he has only been pitching for a little over a year and a half.
"Everyone wants to play in the MLB, but I like just setting goals where once you reach one, you can move on to the next," he continued.
In changing positions and reimagining his career, Kaczynski discovered a new source of motivation.
No longer was he trying to prove himself to everyone else. Instead, he was proving to himself that his leap of faith was worth taking.
"Right now, it's just proving to myself that I can do it and I can make it," he said. "Going to church and constantly reading the Bible made me realize I'm not doing this for [me] anymore; I'm doing this for the Lord. After I realized that, I [thought], 'The battle's already won."