GROVE CITY - Jim Jaskowak didn't want to turn in his javelin for a baseball.

So he didn't. He kept both.

Jaskowak, a junior on the Grove City High School baseball and track and field teams, has found living a dual athletic life this spring enjoyable - and successful.

This is the first season for the right-hander on the Grove City baseball team as he realized he didn't have to give up track cleats for baseball ones.

"That was pretty important," Jaskowak said of being able to participate in both sports. "I made a goal for myself to make it to states in track this year. I believe in baseball, next year is our year to go all the way."

It may be this season if Grove City's pitching continues to dominate as it has.

The Eagles are 15-3 and have a team earned run average of 1.78.That's the stuff of the dead ball era, definitely not the domain of high school baseball.And Jaskowak has led the way, taking a decidedly different route to get there.Jaskowak is 3-1 with a team-leading 1.14 ERA, but he hasn't made one start.He has appeared in 13 games-all in relief - tossing 30innings and earning two saves.In those innings, Jaskowak has walked only five batters, has struck out 37 and opponents are hitting a paltry .197 against him.In his first outing of the season, though, he was knocked around. Doubts crept into his head."Oil City roughed me up a little bit," Jaskowak said. "It definitely wasn't the start I was looking for."But in his next outing, Jaskowak pitched 4shutout innings, striking out 11. After that, he knew he belonged on the mound. As his confidence grew with each stellar outing, so did his impressive numbers."I knew he could pitch," said Grove City coach Pat Forese. "He's filling that role that Brian Sansom filled for us last year and he's filled it well. It's a very important role for us."It's important because Forese keeps his starting pitchers on a strict pitch count, particularly early in the season. That means more work for guys like Jaskowak in the pen.And Jaskowak has seen a lot of work, pitching in all but five of the Eagles' games this season."We talked a little but about how we could use him," Forese said. "We wanted him in that closer role, to close out some games. But we didn't want to over-do it."That appealed to Jaskowak, whose arm is a valuable commodity.As well as throwing the javelin for the track and field team, he also throws the discus. In the fall, he's the starting quarterback for Grove City.Jaskowak didn't want to burn his arm by stockpiling innings and pitches."I kind of like it this way," Jaskowak said. "I pitch two, three innings here or there, and I feel like I can pitch tomorrow. It's better than throwing seven innings and having your arm sore the next day."Jaskowak contemplated playing baseball earlier in his high school days, but was discouraged by the number of seniors ahead of him on the team.That swayed his decision to stay away from the diamond, at least until the senior-laden team graduated its seniors.That happened after last season, and Jaskowak saw his opportunity."I missed playing with all my buddies," Jaskowak said.And they are glad to have him.But before Jaskowak could turn into the bullpen ace, he had to learn how to pitch effectively again.He had played Little League during the summers, but it wasn't the same.The first thing he learned was how to throw a curveball.After a couple of sessions with Forese, the pitch became natural to him. He mixes it in with a mid-80s fastball, forkball and changeup."He has a real nice curveball," Forese said. "He's done a very good job with his control. He doesn't have too many walks and that's what we need out of that role."Jaskowak has an eye toward Saturday and the District 10 track and field championships. He believes he could punch his ticket to Shippensburg and the PIAA championships with a good effort in the javelin.But if that doesn't work out, there's always that curveball to fall back on."I knew it would be different than Little League," Jaskowak said. "After that first outing I was thinking maybe this wasn't a good idea. But now, I'm glad I did this. I definitely made the right choice."