Jamestown’s Tucker Fenton chats with members of the pitching staff during Saturday’s Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game at Diethrick Park on Saturday. The Maple Grove High School graduate won his first game of the season Friday night in Auburn. Times Observer Photo by Scott Kindberg

Headed to the clubhouse after Jamestown’s loss to Elmira on Saturday night, Tarp Skunks’ first-year pitcher Tucker Fenton spotted a reporter standing near the door, stopped and politely agreed to answer a few questions.

It had been about 24 hours since the 2022 Maple Grove High School graduate recorded his first victory of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League season, a relief appearance that saw him throw 107 pitches — 74 for strikes — in 6 2/3 innings. During that span, he struck out eight, walked five, gave up four runs — three earned — and scattered six hits.

For those who followed Fenton’s high school career, the collection of crooked numbers in that outing is something new. After all, during his final regular season with the Red Dragons, he allowed just one hit, posted four wins without a loss and sported an earned run average of 0.00, helping him earn Post-Journal Player-of-the-Year honors. Still, even though the distance from Bemus Point to Diethrick Park is only 11 miles, the jump up in competition from what Fenton faced less than two months ago has been considerable.

But Tarp Skunks pitching coach Barry Powell believes the 17-year-old is making the transition just fine.

“I think he’s done really well,” Powell said. “Just to be around his peers who are older. In high school ball, he’s a lot bigger physically. (Here), he’s gotta make that adjustment, be willing to make it and not back down, and he did very well (Friday night). That was his best outing.”

In seven appearances to date, Fenton has struck out 16, walked 15, given up 16 hits while pitching to an 8.16 earned run average.

“I did a lot better keeping the runners on,” Fenton said. “That’s what my previous problem was. Guys would steal on me. I brought the slide step out and that helped. I had all my pitches working. … I could place my fastball, my slider was on, and I could use my changeup and curveball, which sometimes they aren’t on, but they were that day.”

The St. Bonaventure University commit said the biggest difference between pitching for Maple Grove and pitching for the Tarp Skunks is he doesn’t get swings and misses on pitches in the dirt.

“I can’t just let two base runners on and just strike out three kids like I did in high school,” he said.

What Powell liked best about Fenton’s performance last Friday was how he competed.

“The game is played the same (as in high school), it just picks up, it’s just a little quicker,” Powell said. “You have to have the guts to hang in there. … You’ve got to have that grit to be able to do this. … Tucker throws hard. (Friday night) he was in the upper 80s, and he should throw harder. He’ll learn. You have to have confidence in anything you do. The first day or two you could see that there was a lot of looking (around). … He’s never been around this. How could he know what to expect?”

Fenton believes he does now.

“I’m significantly more comfortable. The nerves are way down,” he said. “I feel the same now as I did going into a high school game. The nerves are all gone now.”

As Fenton spoke, teammate Travis Perry, a right-hander from Youngstown State, walked by. Perry turned 23 on Saturday. Fenton won’t turn 18 until October.

“I know they’ve accepted him, plus he’s a big guy, too,” Powell said. “He’s not like a meek 17-year-old. He’s built the chemistry off the field, which is the foundation. … He’s done well. I told him (Friday), ‘Today, the wheels started turning.'”