Malak makes good use of senior season
JACKSON TWP — Nate Malak was just another average hurler.
During his junior season — his first as part of Seneca Valley’s varsity team — he was unremarkable. He couldn’t pour baseballs into the strike zone like he wanted. The confidence wasn’t there.
“It wasn’t my best year,” Malak said. “I felt like I was falling behind. It just felt like I hadn’t reached my full potential and I was a lot farther behind, growth-wise, to other players.”
Something changed, though, and because of that, he’s headed to the next level to pitch for Slippery Rock University.
“Nate made a jump from his junior year to his senior year that was probably one of the biggest jumps I’ve ever seen,” SRU coach Jeff Messer said.
“He couldn’t throw strikes … which led to his lack of confidence,” said SV coach Eric Semega about Nate’s 2021 season. “He just didn’t get as many opportunities, because there were two guys in front of him. To be honest, his curveball wasn’t even remotely as good as it was his senior year.
“I give him 100% credit for getting stronger and getting mentally tougher. His desire, once he saw success, just kept growing.”
When Messer watched Malak throw during his junior campaign, his velocity numbers topped out in the upper-70s. This past spring, as the Raiders’ ace, he was pitching more in the mid-80s. Toying with different grips in between campaigns, he found movement on his fastball, along with developing an extremely effective curveball.
“Throughout the offseason, my big thing was arm care,” Malak said. “Not necessarily throwing a lot, but making sure I’ll be healthy when spring comes around.”
The difference in performance was night and day.
“Every kid on the team and as a coaching staff, we knew every time he took the mound, we were going to have a chance to win,” Semega said. “It wasn’t a matter of, ‘I hope he throws strikes or I hope he keeps us in it.’ His mindset was, ‘Give me the ball, I want this game.’
“If he’s not on the team last year, we’re not where we were.”
Messer took note. Malak was no longer the player he was before his junior year, when he attended a summer showcase and failed to impress.
“He was putting win after win or good performances every time we went out there,” Messer said. “When we went back to see him … he was throwing all his pitches for strikes. Very cool, calm, collected. For a guy that didn’t pitch that much until this year, you would have never known it.
“It looked like he had been a starter for Seneca Valley for four years.”
In an important WPIAL matchup with Section 1-6A foe Butler in early May, Malak conceded only one hit in the first six frames — and three overall — in a complete-game shutout. A few weeks later, he two-hit Hempfield in the initial round of the district tournament.
Prior to the former clash, Los Angeles Dodgers scout Paul Murphy reached out and let Semega know he’d be in attendance.
“His name started getting out there and he was under the radar,” Semega said. “No one showed interest in him as a junior. There was nothing to be interested in … He took huge strides.”
The coach let Malak know beforehand that the major league scout would be in the Pullman Park bleachers.
“I say the same thing in tryouts,” Semega said. “If you can’t handle pressure — which is the biggest part of baseball — then you can’t perform. How you deal with pressure, whether you succumb to it or you embrace it, that will tell you how far you’ll go.”
While some prep players would sweat, Malak was as composed as could be.
“I’m not one for attention,” Malak said. “I don’t even think I told my teammates that these guys were coming. A lot of it for me was just focusing on myself and what would be best for the team.
“To be honest, it was cool and all that the scouts came, but I couldn’t care less about them.”
He’ll now join the Rock’s staff, which also includes fellow SV grad and 2022 PSAC West Freshman of the Year Ethan Edkins.
“He’ll come in and compete,” Messer said. “We do have a veteran staff returning. But, you know, if you’re doing it on the field, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a senior or a freshman. You can get time right away.”
Malak will major in mechanical engineering and minor in business.
