Jon Koenigsfeld, immersed in baseball since he was a toddler, leads Ridgewood against No. 2 Winter Haven.
By JAMAL THALJI
Published May 14, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - His time has come.
Ridgewood hurler Jon Koenigsfeld will take the mound for the fifth-ranked team in Class 4A in tonight's region semifinal against No. 2 Winter Haven. It is a moment 15 years in the making for a life intertwined with Ridgewood baseball.
It sure didn't start this year, when Koenigsfeld emerged as a clutch hitter and dangerous curveball pitcher in midseason. It wasn't his freshman year, when he made two big grabs in the outfield for Ridgewood in the Class 4A state semifinal upset of the top-ranked team in the nation, Dunedin, at Tampa's Legends Field. It wasn't even when Koenigsfeld was a child, helping lay down the concrete blocks of the Rams' outfield wall.
No, it was way back when Koenigsfeld was just 2 years old. His current coach, Larry Beets, could hold the future prospect in his arms back then.
"Coach taught me how to spit," Koenigsfeld said.
"I had to teach him right," coach said. "He was sort of dribbling down his shirt."
Koenigsfeld was raised on the game, and that is what has made him a special player for the Rams.
"He's smart, he's got a 4.3 GPA, and it's the way he approaches the game," Beets said. "He listens to everything you say and he's able to adapt. But then he comes from a baseball family. He has grown up around it, he knew what to do, what to expect, before he even stepped on this field.
"When you get kids like that all you have to do is work them and make sure you don't screw them up."
Koenigsfeld's father, Randy, was Beets' assistant and a Ridgewood administrator back then. His grandfather, Lou, coached Randy and uncle Ron at Charles City High School in Iowa. Randy Koenigsfeld went on to play catcher at Florida International, and Ron was in the Brewers' farm system.
"I've grown up playing baseball ever since I was little," the junior said. "Especially here."
Koenigsfeld enters tonight's playoff game with a 4-1 record and a 1.29 ERA. he is coming off a one-hit shutout in the district final against Tarpon Springs. After a shaky start on the mound earlier this season, he has settled down. It was a relief job in a 2-1 win over Mitchell that earned him a spot in the rotation again.
When Beets talks about Koenigsfeld's deceptive fastball and "sure out" curve ball, he compares the junior to one of the most storied names in Rams' history: Dave Doorneweerd, the school's all-time wins leader who was drafted by the Pirates in 1991.
"You could tell from day one the motion in his curve ball," Beets said. "His is nasty. Now you see it, now you don't.
"He's gotten to the point in the last couple of games where he has been in that zone pitching, and he's going to have to be (tonight.)"
To start on the mound, for the varsity, in the playoffs, has been a long time coming.
"I slowly worked my way through the bullpen my freshman and sophomore years," Koenigsfeld said. "Then this year I started pretty much in relief. I didn't start until midway through the season.
"Now it's exciting to be able to start in a regional game. I've got a lot of confidence going into it."
Koenigsfeld's defensive skills are solid, too. But the centerfielder has also brought a timely bat to the lineup this season. He was batting .323 before Tuesday's region quarterfinal blowout of Crystal River, when Koenigsfeld went 4-for-5 with two doubles.
"You've got a runner at second and a runner at third and you look at (Koenigsfeld at the plate) and he looks like an out," the coach said. "But knowing him like we do, he'll get a hit. He'll put the ball into play."
Koenigsfeld said the defining moment of his career is still playing in the 2002 state tournament at Legends. It's one he wants to relive again.
"The experience gained in that game is indescribable," he said. "All those people watching you, the ability to play in that, helps you confidence-wise a lot.
"To go back, that would just be great. That's what we're shooting for."
