Unbeatable so far
Brian Zima has always been a very good pitcher. It's just that he's putting it all together for Mars I this season.
Zima, 29, has gone 8-0 during the Eagle County League season entering the semifinals, which begin Friday.
Mars finished the regular season with a 26-2 mark and is the No. 1 seed. It will host Cranberry Township at 6 p.m. Friday at Marburger Field in the semifinal round. Saxonburg, the No. 2 seed, will host Zelienople at 6 p.m. Friday at Highfield.
"You always expect to pitch well," said Zima, of Butler. "With my pitching in the past, my fastball would be working, but my changeup wouldn't. My curveball might be working, but my fastball wouldn't.
"This year, everything is working,"Zima added.
The same seems to hold true for the team, which rebounded after last season, when the squad had an early exit from the playoffs.
"If our pitching wasn't there, then our hitting has come through," said Zima. "There are some games I would have lost. If the hitting was not there, then we got good pitching."
After graduating from Butler High School in 1995, Zima spent the next two years at Butler County Community College before moving on to Westminster College the following two years.
Zima then spent the 2000 season playing for the Canton (Ohio) Crocodiles of the Frontier League. The team later became the Washington Wild Things.
That season was the only one since 1997 that Zima did not play in the Eagle County League.
He played three years for Butler, then spent the next season at Canton. After returning to the area, he played for Saxonburg from 2001-03 before joining the Mars team.
This season, Zima and Rob Fester, who suffered a torn ACL two years ago but returned to help the team to the playoffs last year, have anchored a strong pitching staff, which also includes Steve Cunningham and Matt Colella.
The group has made Mars a serious contender once again.
"We help each other," said Zima, who went to Westminster for accounting but just received a teaching certificate in elementary education from LaRoche College in May.
"If someone notices something or knows a hitter better, then we pass the info on to each other. Rob does a good job telling the catcher (Dan DeMarco) what other players do in the lineup. We work well together,"Zima added.
Fester has been an integral part of Mars' success and, to some extent, Zima's.
"Most people probably would not come back (from the knee injury)," said Zima of Fester. "He's played well and pitched well. His enthusiasm and love of the game carries over.
"We came into the season expecting to be one of the top three teams. We knew we would be one of the best teams and knew we'd have a good record," Zima added.
Many of the players for Mars, such as Fester, Ron Talik (1B, 3B), Paul Westwood (3B, SS), Ryan Salazar (RF) and Greg Reinhart (DH) as well as DeMarco, outfielders Cunningham, Matt Serakowski and Matt Nowakowski and second baseman Chip Galaska, have been there for quite a while and are familiar with its successful past.
"We have a good mix of young and old players, which is good," said Zima. "When you think of the Mars of old, you don't think of a fast team, but a team that would just pound the ball.
"The way we're playing now is different," Zima added.
