The last thing Northwestern pitcher George Kontos wants to hear after a mediocre performance is: “It’s OK, you’re just a freshman.”
Although Kontos, 18, has pitched just five Big Ten games in his collegiate career, he says his age should never be an excuse.
“I don’t feel like, just because I’m a freshman, I should be allowed any room for error,” Kontos said. “I think I should be held to the same standards as everyone else. Just because we’re freshman doesn’t mean we can’t perform as well as everybody else on the squad. All it means is that we’re younger.”
Kontos and second baseman Caleb Fields are the Wildcats’ two freshman starters. Both have felt the thrill of being the unexpected star of the game — Kontos pitched a nine-inning shutout against Iowa and Fields hit a walk-off home run against Indiana — and both have experienced the frustration of inconsistency.
“You can pretty much project 50 percent of the time you’re really going to be awesome,” coach Paul Stevens said of the freshman.
In his first collegiate start, Kontos pitched a seven-inning shutout against Stetson. But after that impressive beginning, he lost three Big Ten games. In his shortest outing of the season, Kontos allowed seven runs in two innings against Purdue.
“The mistake a lot of young kids make is they try to make that perfect pitch,” Stevens said. “The whole key to George Kontos is he’s got to make them swing the bat. Once he gets ahead of them, he’ll dominate people.”
Kontos said he performed best when his pitching was slow and relaxed, as it was in his Stetson and Iowa starts.
“After Stetson I was kind of expecting a lot,” Kontos said. “I was expecting myself to come out and throw that way every time. I wouldn’t say I went down, but I didn’t pitch as well in those other games.”
While Kontos has had five chances during the Big Ten season to prove himself, Fields has started 38 games.
Fields kicked off the first game of the Big Ten season with a walk-off homer. He said the game was one of the top two in his career.
“I had some good 12-year-old days,” he said.
Fields played regularly at second base until May 2, when Chris Hayes started at second in two games against Iowa. He started three against Illinois this past weekend.
Stevens said Fields was looking tired and was not playing as sharply as he had been.
“I hit a wall, as Coach Stevens said,” Fields said. “I just need to work on things. There’s not really much I can do but keep working hard. A lot of people go through slumps, and I guess this is mine right now. Chris (Hayes) has filled in perfectly.”
Unlike Kontos, Fields said it’s helpful that his coaches and teammates have had reasonable expectations for him this season. He said freshman year has involved lots of ups and downs, and lots of learning.
“It’s a baptism by fire,” Stevens said. “We’re throwing them from the refrigerator into the frying pan, and they’re finding a way to be effective.”
