Stroudsburg, Pa., pitcher MIke Nikorak has a 0.32 ERA this season. Facebook photo
Mike Nikorak made the American Family Insurance ALL-USA preseason baseball team and has bolstered his case for the postseason team, leading Stroudsburg, Pa., to a 19-1 record. He’s pitched 22.1 innings with a record of 2-0, an ERA of 0.32 and 35 strikeouts against 16 walks. He’s hitting .417 with 20 RBI and a team-leading six homers in 60 at-bats. Until the regular season American Family Insurance ALL-USA baseball team comes out in June, we’re looking at players who deserve consideration.
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Name and school: Mike Nikorak, Stroudsburg, Pa.
Height, weight: 6-5, 225
Bats/throws: Right/right
Baseball future: The senior pitcher has signed with Alabama but is considered a likely first-round draft choice.
Stroudsburg baseball coach Phil Stokes has sympathy for his opponents when Mike Nikorak is pitching.
“He’s got to look like a giant out there,” Stokes said. “It’s coming so fast that you don’t have time to react.”
Nikorak snared the attention of pro scouts when he pitched well in various events last summer.
“Last summer was the first year I really branched off and traveled a lot,” Nikorak said. “It was a huge eye-opener for me, being able to play with some of the greatest athletes around. It put a perspective on how I need to be and what kind of player I could be.”
Jeff Petty, the coach of Nikorak’s summer league team, the Evoshield Canes, said Nikorak’s consistency and ease of throwing brought him attention.
“He was dominant last spring, but not a lot of people saw him,” Petty said. “Then we went down to Fort Myers in the Perfect Game National Showcase and he was seen by all the major league teams and he was up to 97 mph and had demand of his breaking ball. He throws hard without maximum effort. His motion is really easy. That’s when he blew onto the scene. The next week, he pitched for us as the University of North Carolina and had similar stuff. Then, he threw in Atlanta at the Perfect Game world championship and again, just dominant stuff. He had a one-hit shutout. He continued to do that all summer.”
Though he had been Stroudsburg’s starting quarterback his sophomore and junior years, Nikorak said he knew then his future was in baseball and he skipped his senior year of football to work out more and add 25 pounds.
“I think the big thing for me is I really got after it in the offseason,” Nikorak said. “I wanted to try to put on some pounds and when I throw, I’m feeling nice and loose. My mph on my fastball climbed a little bit so it’s consistently 93 to 96. I didn’t throw my curveball much around the (summer) circuit, but during the offseason, I worked on the angle of it a bit. There was a lot going on that I wanted to do.”
Stokes said Nikorak has definitely matured in his approach to the game.
“What’s impressive is his overall composure,” Stokes said. “I would say he’s more in control this season, just in the way he handles himself and his situations and the way he goes in putting in his work. You should see him talking to the younger kids when we run clinics in the winter, the way he can command their attention.”
As this may be the last season he gets to swing the bat, he’s enjoyed taking his whacks, even if that means an occasional strikeout.
“I haven’t seen too many pitches to hit after I went 5-for-5 with two homers and seven RBI in our first game of the season,” Nikorak said. “I have been swinging the bat pretty well the last couple of years and being competitive, I’m trying to swing at anything.”
His older brother Steve played infield for Stroudsburg and Temple. He was drafted in the 32nd round in 2012 by the Chicago White Sox and on Wednesday was traded from one independent team, the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League, to another independent team, the St. Paul Saints of the American Association.
“He’s helped me drastically when it comes to dealing with pro scouts,” Nikorak said. “He’s always been the guy I could go to for an answer. The fact that he’s where I’m headed really helps.”
For much of the season, he’s been held to various pitch counts, so he hasn’t had a chance for a lot of decisions.
“Right now, he doesn’t need to be taxed because scouts have seen what he can do,” Petty said. “I think it’s just a matter of getting to pro ball as fast as he can and learning how to face professional hitters and grow.”
Nikorak said he’s not concerned about his draft status.
“I still think it’s a little early to tell,” Nikorak said. “I think I’ve been performing well on the mound. As of now, I’m not exactly sure where I’ll get picked. I’m not worried about it, whatever team it is, is perfectly fine.”