She considers herself a natural second baseman. She can play the outfield, too.
But it might just mean a little bit more that freshman right-hander PJ Gorajski has established herself this spring as Andrew’s ace in the circle.
It certainly does at home.
“My mom was a pitcher and she wanted me to become a pitcher,” Gorajski said. “But I wanted to play more positions and I chose second base. On the varsity team here, though, I’m a pitcher.”
Mom had to be beaming after Gorajski’s performance Monday for the Thunderbolts in a 15-0 SouthWest Suburban Conference win over host Stagg in Palos Hiills.
Abby Kopera produced three hits, including an inside-the-park home run, for Andrew (12-15, 4-10). Penn commit Ana Cisek, Leighton Gutsch and Delaney Marak added two hits apiece.
The hard-throwing Gorajski retired 15 of 16 batters, 13 via strikeouts. Stagg’s Dorian Urquizo reached base on a chopper in front of the plate with two outs in the fifth. Gorajski also had two hits and scored on the back end of a double steal.
Gorajski’s mom, Danielle Leonard Gorajski, was a 2001 graduate of Eisenhower. She pitched the Cardinals to a conference title as a junior.
Playing second base wasn’t on mom’s original wish list, but when PJ discovered it, she loved it.
“I wouldn’t say my mom was disappointed,” PJ said. “But she pushed it more that I would become a pitcher as well.”
For the season, Gorajski has 119 strikeouts in 126 innings. She’s also batting .388 with 18 stolen bases and 17 runs.
Andrew coach Alyssa Gunther put her in the circle on day one. It was an eye-opener, to be sure. She pitched the Thunderbolts to a 5-2 win over Shepard, recording an astonishing 14 strikeouts.
“I had an idea I would be on the team, but I didn’t expect to be the starting pitcher that day,” Gorajski said of the season opener. “It was exciting.”
For her, maybe. But not so much for Cisek, a Penn commit who was at shortstop.
“Yeah, I was just sort of picking some weeds out there,” Cisek said, laughing. “But I wasn’t surprised. She would come to camps and stuff, so we had an eye on her early.”
Gunther, meanwhile, is looking like a genius.
“As a freshman, I think it’s difficult to do that, regardless of your skill level,” Gunther said. “In a varsity game, you’re competing against 18-year-olds at times.
“I was great, to just know that we could keep building on that. We had some conversations with her about how it might not always be this way. We run into some tough competition, and it will challenge her.”
No one had a better of view of Gorajski’s dazzling debut than sophomore catcher Maddie Murray.
“Oh, it was crazy,” Murray said. “It was just like ‘boom, boom, boom’ with strikeout after strikeout.
“PJ is able to put a lot of movement on her pitches and she’s really good at hitting spots. She picks up the momentum and the energy of the game.”
She also picks up whatever she can from her older teammates.
“She’s just like a sponge,” Cisek said. “She’s ready to soak up any information, whether that’s pitching or fielding or slapping. I know we work a lot together on the offensive side, being both slappers.
“She’s just ready to learn and takes every opportunity to get better.”
Gorajski passed the 100-strikeout mark in a May 9 game against Downers Grove South. There’s no history list regarding Andrew pitchers, so her chances of being the program’s all-time strikeout queen will remain a mystery.
She isn’t worried about it, however.
“For now, I’ll just be known as that freshman pitcher who had 100 strikeouts,” she said, smiling.
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
