Saris has always been the kind of competitor coaches remember decades down the road.
“He absolutely hated to lose, and he would do anything on the mound to get someone out,” Jeff Farrell, who coached Saris at Langley High in McLean, Va., said. “He competed every single day. He would argue calls, whatever it took – it was all in good nature, but deep down, you could just tell he was just a competitor – sometimes that’s a good thing, other times its not so good.”
Saris’ competitive drive propelled him to Duke after earning a Washington Post all-Met selection in his senior year for the Saxons. Saris decided early in his final year at Langley that he was going to take the best Division I offer he could get, and jumped at the chance when Duke Head Coach Bill Hillier gave him the opportunity to pitch in Durham. Even when Sean McNally took over coaching the Blue Devils in July of 2005 following Hillier’s resignation that May, Saris saw nothing but the azure skies of optimism awaiting his time in royal blue.
“I was excited for a fresh slate and the chance to prove to everyone that I was a good pitcher,” he said.
But the heavens turned a foreboding hue as soon as fall practice began.
“With [Coach McNally], it just seemed from the beginning that we just didn’t hit it off,” Saris said. “For whatever reason, he didn’t like me. It was a real tough fall, and I felt he had singled me out in some circumstances.”
After Saris missed a study hall late in the semester, McNally, who declined to comment for this article, suspended his freshman stud for a week and placed him on an “extended tryout basis” heading into preseason practice.
“I actually didn’t `make the team’ until the day before the first game,” Saris says, pausing for effect before revealing the next tidbit in his twisted tale. “Then I pitched in the first game.”
Saris continued on as the team’s number two hurler, starting in the Blue Devils’ Saturday matinees against conference rivals and holding his own in the first part of his first season of collegiate baseball. Then came a trip to Tallahassee to face the top-ranked Florida State Seminoles. The date was March 25, 2006. Saris remembered it as the worst of his life.
He stumbled early in the opening inning, but regained his footing by striking out Seminoles top slugger Jack Rye. In the second frame, Saris found himself in trouble again, and with two men already aboard, Rye, FSU’s home run leader, strode to the plate again. Saris worked Rye into a full count, and was instructed by Duke Pitching Coach Dave Turgeon, who now coaches at Virginia Tech, to throw a fastball. Rye fouled off the heater, a narrow miss that Saris believed should have served as an omen.
“[Turgeon] called the same pitch again, and I have to do what the coach says, so I threw another fastball,” Saris said. Rye didn’t miss this time, and sent Saris’ offering over the right field fence for a three-run bomb.
“I knew I could have gotten him out with a curveball, so I made a gesture, with my hand, to my catcher, saying `Hey, curveball there?'” Saris remembered, demonstrating the pitching signal by flapping his wrist. Incensed, Saris gathered himself and closed out the inning and retreated to the dugout, still steamed over the decision.
“I got to the dugout, and my coach said, `That’s it. You’re done.'” You showed me up in front of all these people, you’re out of the game and off the team.'” Saris recounted. “Just like that, by making that one gesture with my hand, I was finished.”
Saris compares the afternoon to a nightmare.
“It was absolutely embarrassing and demoralizing,” he said. “He put me in the bullpen all by myself, and the whole crowd chastised me. I was 18 – still wet behind the ears – it was surreal, really. I couldn’t believe it was happening.”
McNally suspended Saris indefinitely, citing Saris’ snappy wrist movement as an “act detrimental to the team,” according to Saris.
“My dream of playing ACC baseball was over – I thought my whole career was over,” Saris said. “The worst part was my teammates, `cause of the fear they had for the coach, didn’t want to associate with me.”
Without organized baseball for the first time in as long as he could remember, Saris spent the remainder of the spring languishing in Durham, wondering whether he would ever compete again. eanwhile, some 200 miles to the north, Georgetown assistant coach ark VanAmeyde was ecstatic. VanAmeyde, who had taken an interest in Saris while watching him pitch at Langley, eagerly relayed the news to Head Coach Pete Wilk..
“When we got word that he was out at Duke, we were just all over him,” Wilk said. “We were very impressed with his competitiveness, his approach and his ability.”
Soon thereafter, Saris made his decision to pitch on the Potomac again. While he was torn over leaving his girlfriend, Leigh Stuckey, behind in Durham, Saris’ decision to transfer allowed him to pursue his first love.
Upon arriving at Georgetown, Saris found a haven in his new teammates. In sophomore outfielder Sean Baumann, whose brother had been booted from the Blue Devil squad along with Saris, he had an ally with whom to share his frustrations. In junior catcher Matt Ianetta, who had transferred from the University of North Carolina, Saris found a fellow traveler of Tobacco Road.
“I love my teammates here at Georgetown,” Saris said. “No matter what happens to me, they always back me. It’s really awesome to be here.”
He also credits senior right hander and University of Virginia transfer Erick Chandler with helping him ease into his new home.
Wilk has made sure Saris fits not only in the rotation, but in the locker room as well, going as far as giving Chandler’s phone number to Saris the day he decided to transfer
“This is definitely one of the closest teams I have had, and I am glad Jimmy is comfortable here,” he said. “I think transferring can be a tough experience, and I think he was welcomed with open arms from day one.”
It didn’t take long for Saris to acclimate to his new campus, or leave his mark on it. In just his fourth start for the Hoyas, Saris shattered the school single-game strikeout record with 13 Ks against Eastern Kentucky on March 11. Saris has fanned 62 batters on the year to lead the Big East
“I want to stress how fortunate I have been to find a place here at Georgetown with Coach Wilk,” Saris said. “He took a chance on me, and I really appreciate that. I have a new outlook on the way I pitch, even on the way I go through life. Things can being going great, and just like that, things can turn.”
Saris was served another painful reminder of life’s up-and-down nature when his mother Liz was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall.
“This whole season, it has been something I have been battling with, that she has been battling with, and her strength just gives me strength,” Saris said, removing his cap to reveal “MOM” written in black marker beneath the bill, a reminder he rubs for good luck between pitches. “I figure if my mom can take adversity in stride, I can pretty much take on anything.”
Saris’ experience with adversity has served him well on the diamond. After Notre Dame roughed him up for eight hits and 10 runs in an 11-2 loss on April 15, Saris gathered himself in his next start to pitch eight strong innings against St. John’s on Sunday. When Georgetown’s freshman pitchers have been throttled this season, Saris has been the first to greet them as they descend the dugout steps in dejection.
“I think [the situation at Duke] was a good learning experience for him,” said Ferrell, who frequently speaks to his former player on the phone. “He loves to play, and when that was taken away from him, I think it hurt. It has taught him some lessons. He has always had a strong will, and I think this has added to it.
Saris is back on the mound, letting his wrist guide him again, but now, armed with a painful memory and a fresh outlook, he feels a new power that was never present in seasons past.
“I have been having some success this spring, but just like at Duke, I know things can change,” he said. “What builds character is how you deal with things, how you handle adversity.”
