By Brendan Kurie, South Coast Today

Zack Kirby is done quitting baseball.

He’s tried twice, failed twice. He’s not about to strike out.

That’s because he’s too busy striking out opponents for Framingham State.

If you made a list of SouthCoast baseball players over the past few seasons who would grow up to be a collegiate ace, Kirby’s name wouldn’t even make the scrap paper.

“Hard work pays off is the moral of the story,” the redshirt junior said Thursday, less than 24 hours after striking out nine Mass Maritime batters in a no-decision. “I know that’s cliche, but I’m working harder now than I ever have.”

That’s evident in his numbers. The 6-foot-2 righthander from Rochester is 4-2 on the season with a sparkling 1.80 ERA across 60 innings. He’s struck out 79 and walked just 15. Batters are hitting just .206 against him, and he’s tossed four complete games, including two shutouts.

For a kid who was playing JV at Old Rochester as a junior just six years ago and had a 7.26 ERA his freshman year with the Rams, it’s been quite the transformation.

“In fall ball and before we went down to Florida (to open the season), I felt really good,” Kirby said. “I was working on a lot of things and going into this season I was pretty confident.”

But Kirby wasn’t even supposed to be playing collegiate baseball. He quit the sport after Little League, and it wasn’t until his junior year at ORR that he picked it up again, at the urging of his father, George Kirby IV.

“I have to credit my dad for getting me back in the game,” he said. “It felt good to be around baseball again. You forget how much you love the sport.”

Kirby was a member of the Bulldogs’ varsity rotation as a senior, but wasn’t scouted by any colleges. After being accepted to Framingham State, he arrived thinking his athletic career was over. That’s when a fortuitous trip to the gym paid off. One average afternoon he was working out in the weight room when he spotted a couple of players wearing Rams hats across the room. They all started chatting, and soon Kirby was invited to a baseball meeting later that week.

Before long, he’d made the team and was pitching 31 innings as a freshman, but they weren’t pretty innings. He finished 2-3 with a 7.26 ERA, striking out 16 and walking 10 while allowing batters to hit a robust .343.

After redshirting the next season, Kirby returned with an improved sophomore year. While his record was 1-6, his ERA dropped to 4.15 and batters cooled down to just a .235 average off him. He struck out 42 in 56 ⅓ innings.

But it wasn’t until that summer when improvement arrived swiftly. Not with his numbers, but with his mechanics. His college coach, Michael Gedman, found Kirby a spot in the Futures League with the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide in Maine.

That’s where Kirby met pitching coach Mike Tarry, who noticed Kirby was opening up too soon and putting strain on his throwing elbow. By keeping his front shoulder closed until his front foot landed, Kirby was able to both alleviate his pain and find a more replicable motion.

Still, his stats lagged behind his effort. He went 0-4 that summer, pitching against mostly Division I talent, with a 6.80 ERA and just 16 strikeouts against 23 walks in 42 ⅓ innings.

But the work had been done, the adjustments made and when Kirby returned to the Rams, he was a new pitcher. Two weeks running, he’s been named to the MASCAC Honor Roll, and he’s struck out at least eight batters and gone six innings in all eight of his starts.

“I definitely encourage anyone to stay with the game,” he said. “You never know what could happen. I wouldn’t have imagined I’d do as well as I am now.”

Kirby is majoring in business administration with a concentration in management, but isn’t sure about his plans when he graduates next spring, although he’s leaning toward the Air Force.

“It’s weird how fast it goes by,” he said. “I remember being a freshman and having the seniors tell me to just throw strikes. Now I’m the guy saying that.”