On a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the final inning, Nolan Fontana lived every baseball player’s dream.
He was already seeing the ball well that night, so the hanging off-speed pitch he saw almost seemed too easy. Hitters who are locked in sometimes see pitches as big as beach balls.
For Fontana, that pitch must have looked like a full moon.
With one swing, the Class of 2009 Florida baseball signee brought the 6A-District 4 title to West Orange High School with a walk-off home run over the left-center field fence.
“I’m going to the plate thinking they were going to walk me because I was seeing the ball well, but he threw to me,” Fontana said. “He hung one and that’s all it took.”
Pitchers who make mistakes to Fontana this spring have paid for it. Sometimes even pitchers who make good pitches pay for it as well. Fontana currently boasts a batting average of .521, and his .702 on-base percentage fits his team perfectly from the leadoff spot.
The shortstop hit third in the lineup for most of the season until he was moved to the leadoff spot. He estimated a batting average of .420 before the move, and the move to the top of the lineup has allowed him to get more hittable pitches, causing his average to skyrocket even more.
“I love the role (of leading off),” Fontana said. “I love to hit leadoff. I just hope I have the chance to (at the next level).”
His approach at the plate makes him a perfect fit to lead off games. Fontana isn’t afraid to foul off pitch after pitch to show his teammates all of the pitcher’s pitches during the first at-bat of the game. But when he gets a pitch he can drive, he usually does.
“I’m a gap guy,” Fontana said. “I can show pop, but I’m definitely not a slap hitter. I hit with authority to all fields, but I like to hit in the gaps.”
The shortstop’s reputation is as an all-business, rigid baseball player. He’s the guy who shows up early for extra batting practice and leaves practice late because he’s taking extra ground balls. Fontana’s smooth glove committed only one error in 25 regular-season games for West Orange, but that wouldn’t have happened without the hard work he puts in every day.
“I see myself as a hard-nosed guy,” Fontana said. “Off the field I’m respectful and that’s how they brought me up, but I kind of take my grandpa’s side on the field. It’s a ‘Get out of my way’ type thing if you’re in the other dugout, no matter who you are. I’m a gritty guy and I love to fire my teammates up. It’s hard-nosed baseball.”
His commitment to the Gators came over the summer of 2008 because he saw similarities between himself and Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. The second-year head coach was aggressive in recruiting Fontana. Honesty was at the front of his presentation of the baseball program, along with the opportunity to compete.
“It was Sully,” Fontana said of the reason he committed. “He came at me hard. Other schools were flirting with me and Sully came straight up with me. He said he wants me to come there and start right away. He told me he didn’t want to beat around the bush with me. He offered me and I called him back the next day to say that I wanted to be a Gator.”
Fontana took multiple trips to Gainesville this spring to watch games, including Florida Atlantic and Mississippi.
Next spring will be the first season in about seven years that he didn’t get to play with West Orange teammate Blake Dietrich, who has signed with the Georgia Bulldogs. The two have been good friends since Dietrich moved to Winter Garden when he was 11, but once they are in separate dugouts next season, it’s all about the game on the field.
“The funny thing is we used to hate each other, but we’re pretty much best friends,” Fontana said. “We’re pretty much brothers now. I told him that I’ll be his buddy when he comes to Gainesville, but when we step between the lines, I don’t think so.”
Fontana is already making sure Dietrich knows how he feels. After the Gators went to Athens and swept last weekend’s series against the Bulldogs, Fontana didn’t waste time getting into his ear.
“Yeah I already let him know,” Fontana said. “I let him know that it’s going to be like that next year, too.”
Two friends Fontana has made within the past few years are fellow Florida signees Bobby Borchering and Austin Maddox. The two are considered to be long shots to suit up for the Gators next season because they may be selected early in the Major League Baseball Draft in June. Fontana has certainly done his part in recruiting them to play with him in Gainesville.
“I hope they come to campus,” Fontana said. “I talk to them all the time and let them know I’m going to give them crap if they don’t make it (to campus). I’m going to room with Austin. We’re all going in the summer too, so I’ve been talking to them about it. I talk to them a lot. I was talking to them about lifting weights right when we get there.”
Fontana and Maddox played together on Team USA last summer during the IBAF 18-U World Championship. Fontana batted leadoff and hit .357 with 12 runs scored, leading the USA to a second-place finish (out of 12 countries).
“It was wild,” Fontana said. “It’s kind of why I’m looking forward to college ball so much because we were traveling with the same guys everywhere and we were always around each other. Plus everybody is awesome. In high school you have a handful of great players, but being able to play competitively every game is what I’m looking forward to.”
The tournament exposed Fontana to scouts from many Major League teams. The MLB Draft, which takes place on June 9, is something that has the chance to steal some recruits from the Gators, but Fontana expects to see himself in Gainesville.
“Early in the season (scouts) were coming at me hard and talking to me,” Fontana said. “They said they’d get back to me in May. I’m not going to sign for chump change. I’m looking forward to going to Florida so much. I just want to go to Omaha (Neb., the annual site of the College World Series). That’s my dream right now.”
Right now, Nolan Fontana’s dreams keep coming true.