PLAIN CITY — At first glance, it’s hard to see where Fremont High baseball pitcher Bridger Clontz has made improvements between last season and this one.

The proverbial devil, though, is in the details.

Specifically, the mental details have helped Clontz turn from an inconsistent “cross-your-fingers” pitcher to one who’s committed to a top Division II baseball program.

“Mentally, I think that’s probably the biggest leap I’ve ever had because physically I’ve gotten a lot better, but without the mental side you can fall apart midgame, then you screw up the rest of the game instead of following through,” Clontz said.

Clontz worked with Fremont alumnus and Los Angeles Angels minor-leaguer Kyler Bush over the winter as Bush needed someone to long toss with. Bush showed Clontz a couple of things that helped improve his changeup and slider, but Clontz says he learned more mental things from those meetings.

“I just learned a lot more mental side of pitching and how there’s so much more mental preparedness to pitching than just getting up there and throwing strikes,” Clontz said Thursday, sporting bleached blond hair and a green mustache painted on for St. Patrick’s Day.

“Brushing things off — when (Bush) struggles a little bit, he’ll wipe off the rubber or something. Before, I felt like if I was going too fast or something, I just got back on the mound and kept throwing instead of stepping off and resetting and changing.”

His mental improvements started in 2021 when Clontz had a rough start to the season, allowing 10 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings over his first three starts. For the season, he allowed 26 earned runs in 49 1/3 innings, but it was a tale of two halves.

In his first six pitching appearances, he threw 22 1/3 innings and allowed 15 earned runs with a 29-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In the final five appearances, he threw 27 innings with 10 earned runs allowed and 44 strikeouts against 17 walks.

Clontz credits getting better mentally, something Fremont’s pitching coach helped a ton with, for the second-half improvement (it should also be noted the Silverwolves didn’t play a murderer’s row schedule the second half of the year).

“He handles situations better, knows how to control his emotions better,” Fremont head coach Garrett Clark said. “He was an ‘I get too jacked up’ guy, he’d get very excited and then throw 12 balls in a row and walk the bases loaded … he would get so amped up he’d have a hard time controlling and doing what he’s supposed to do.”

The sample size on 2022 is statistically too small to guess where Clontz’s season is headed, but he did strike out 10 batters in 3 2/3 innings in the Silverwolves’ season-opening win against perennial state contender Pleasant Grove.

At the plate, Clontz is 7 for 11 with four RBIs and three doubles.

In the winter, Clontz committed (as a pitcher) to Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colorado, currently ranked No. 7 in the most recent NCAA Division II baseball poll.

“I felt awesome about myself for a little while, but I knew that there’s always somebody out there working too and I need to improve,” Clontz said about how he felt once college baseball teams started showing him interest.

Fremont enters this season with most of its team back from last year’s 18-12 group. The Silverwolves are deep and pretty well-rounded, but Clontz makes a huge difference in the team’s ceiling.

He has a big bat, as attested by last year’s .387 average, 28 RBIs and 15 doubles. Clark also loves Clontz’s work ethic, but says the pitching stands out.

“On the mound, he’s one of those guys that you just know as a coach, you put him out there and you know what you’re gonna get, it’s not ‘cross your fingers today,'” Clark said.

Clontz playing at a high level completes the puzzle for what could be a high-performing Fremont team, one that could (emphasis on could) contend for a Region 1 championship and, if things swing right, possibly make a deep state-tournament run.

Newsletter