East Valley slugger Kevin Komstadius leads the Red Devils in hitting as the team enters the Class 2A semifinals.   KRIS HOLLAND/ Yakima Herald-Republic

 
One of the guys
 
Eye-popping numbers aside, EV's Kevin Komstadius
enjoys just being a regular Joe

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

When East Valley High School's class of 2008 gathers for its 10-year reunion, there will no doubt be discussion of its best athlete.

There will be tales of Kevin Komstadius' exploits as a football quarterback, of how he would produce touchdowns not only with his strong and accurate left arm but also with his legs. There will be accounts of his basketball play, of connecting for a long 3-pointer or muscling inside for two.

And of course they will talk of his best sport, baseball, and of how the kid they affectionately and respectfully called Komo would mow down the opposition from the pitcher's mound or terrorize it with his bat.

But what about Komstadius himself? What might his fondest memory be?

Squinting into the afternoon sun Tuesday at Loftus Field, where the Class 2A state semifinal-bound Red Devils had just concluded a workout, Komstadius developed a thoughtful smile.

"I think," he said, "I'll always remember just being one of the guys."

Just one of the guys?

This from someone who had paralyzed a highly touted West Valley of Spokane team in Saturday's state opener, pitching a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts.

And from someone whose season offensive numbers would do a slowpitch hitter proud.

"The guys on this team," he said, "we all genuinely love each other. We'll be walking down the halls in school, one of us will see another guy and we'll give each other the peace sign. We all do it. No one's left out."

So Komstadius, a pitcher-first baseman-outfielder and standout natural athlete, apparently does not see himself as many do. In this instance, he does not seem to regard himself as a great high school player on a good high school team.

Or in other words, the franchise.

"Never," he said. "Everyone else on this team helps me do what I do."

Which, from any perspective, has been remarkable.

In 25 games this spring, Komstadius has compiled a .474 batting average (37 hits in 78 at bats). He has hit 10 home runs. He has scored 40 runs -- nine more than team runners-up Trent Sikes and Kevin Elkins -- while driving in 49 -- 20 more than the No. 2 Red Devil in that department, Bobby Pottenger.

Komstadius' total base count of 74 is 25 higher than that of Elkins, East Valley's second-most productive offensive player, and his slugging percentage is a stratospheric .949.

And it's not like the other bats in coach Jesse Benedetti's lineup are weak. Subtract Komstadius' numbers and the Devils still have batted a formidable .325.

No wonder the University of Washington offered him a full baseball ride, which Komstadius accepted last fall. Or that Baseball Northwest has ranked the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder No. 8 on its list of Washington's high school seniors.

On the mound, Komstadius' numbers have been more mortal -- a 6-3 record with a 4.04 earned run average.

But tell that to West Valley.

"The bigger the game," Benedetti said, "the better he usually is."

Beyond the tape-measure homers and crackling curveballs, plus a well-known knack for rising to the occasion, Komstadius has provided another enduring image.

Beneath the cap bill and eye black, one will frequently spot a broad and infectious smile. And his body language largely bespeaks an athlete who is not necessarily having fun because he is performing otherwordly feats. With Komstadius, it's probably the other way around.

"We like to describe him as being a 14-year-old in a man's body," Benedetti said, adding that Komstadius will still be 17 when his class graduates June 7. "He's just a kid -- a big, strong kid -- who's out there having fun."

Which Komstadius has been doing for as long as he can remember while following the footsteps of his father, Kirk, who preceded him in Yakima Beetles stardom.

"You wouldn't have wanted to play third when he was hitting," the younger Komstadius said proudly, having apparently gotten explicit scouting reports on his Dad. "He was a dead-pull hitter who hit the ball probably through a few walls and over some others."

Enough so to have ranked 12th on the Beetles' single-season homer list with 11 until last summer, when Kevin hit 12.

"I hope I can end up being half of what he was," Komstadius said, smiling.

By any measure, he's not half bad now.

But how does Komstadius see himself? And how would he prefer to be thought of when the class of 2008 convenes in 10 years, or 20?

"I'm not better than anybody else," he said. "I have a different mindset, maybe, but I'm not better. And I just hope people in general think I'm a good guy who's out there having fun. And who can smash the ball around the yard a little bit."

Or in Komstadius' case, a lot.