Chris YemmaFor Alex Pisarski, being back on...

Chris Yemma

For Alex Pisarski, being back on top of the mound is almost the

equivalent of being back on top of the world.

Pisarski, the Costa Mesa High baseball team’s senior pitching ace,

considers himself lucky to be alive, let alone back to his original

baseball form.

An All-Golden West League shortstop his sophomore year, Pisarski

was involved in a life-changing auto accident in December of 2003,

just before his junior season was set to begin.

Two days after his 17th birthday, on Dec. 13, Pisarski and teammate Zack Morton, now a senior, were driving up to Big Bear for a

one-day snowboarding excursion. Almost near the top of U.S. Highway

330, a winding mountain road, Pisarski’s 1991 Toyota 4-runner hit a

patch of black ice and slid off the road.

The SUV went off the side of a 50-foot cliff and flipped about six

times before coming to a rest. Morton was knocked unconscious, but

regained consciousness after Pisarski pulled him out into the snow.

Both climbed the hill and flagged down an off-duty firefighter, who

called paramedics.

Pisarski suffered broken ribs, lacerations on his face, glass cuts

all over his head and severed tendons on his right hand, his throwing

hand. Morton received minor seat-belt bruises. But it was the seat

belts that Pisarski credits their lives to, he said.

The doctors at Bear Valley Community Hospital in Big Bear said he

probably wouldn’t be playing baseball for a long time.

They were wrong.

Pisarski started the first game of the season, albeit not at 100%,

which was the story of his junior season.

But this year, his last year on a high school baseball diamond,

Pisarski has already proven himself as the Mustangs’ best pitcher.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Costa Mesa Coach Dave Austin said.

“He’s our No. 1 guy this year. The search is for the No. 2 guy. Every

time we roll him out there [as pitcher], he puts us in a position to

win.”

Through seven games this season, Pisarski has a 1.23 ERA with 15 strikeouts. The next best ERA on the team is 7.0.

Pisarski is also the hottest hitter on the team, Austin said. He

is hitting .435 in the leadoff position and has five RBIs, “which is

pretty good for being in the leadoff spot,” Austin said.

The Mustangs are off to a 5-2 start with Pisarski leading the

charge. They made a championship-game appearance in the Newport Elks

tournament last Saturday and will be a contender for a league title

this season.

Of course, it all could have been a different story if a certain

snowboarding excursion had gone from bad to worse.

“Sometimes I think we shouldn’t be alive today,” Pisarski said.

“If you saw the truck afterward, you’d probably think we were dead.”

Pisarski opened this season with a combined 5-0 win over Buena

Park. He threw a five-hitter through five innings with 10 strikeouts

to receive the win. It was also the first time he had pitched more

than two innings since severing the tendons in the accident.

Currently, he said he has about 80-85% of the motion back in his

hand, though it’s still hard to pick some things up, he said.

After all, Pisarski was destined to play baseball.

“My dad says I had a glove since before I was born,” he said. “It

was one of the first gifts I got when I was born.”