After originally being cut from the Sacramento State baseball team, senior pitcher Karl Maas is back this season as a walk-on.

After redshirting a season with the Hornets, and eventually being cut, Maas tried out this season for the team as a walk-on to fill the need for pitchers because some were sidelined with injuries.

“When Karl came back, we laid out a plan and said, “This is what you’re going to have to do if you’re going to compete for this team,'” said pitching coach Thad Johnson. “He looked at me and said, “I’m all in.'”

Maas has not only filled the team’s need for pitchers, but he has also been a model for some of the other players on the team.

“Since day one, the guy has been nothing short of probably one of the best teammates out here,” Johnson said. “He has completely bought into our program and what we want to do, and there has never been a debate or questioning about what’s going on.”

In order to get back with the team, Maas was asked to make some changes to his pitching, Johnson said.

“When you watch him on video, he looks like a big mess, but the one thing he does is he repeats it every single time,” Johnson said.

Though Maas may not be the most physically talented pitcher on the team, Johnson said his ability to duplicate his pitches on every throw is something that has allowed him to become successful this season.

“If you were to say why he is pitching so well, it has zero to do with the fact that he throws the hardest on the team, locates the best on the team, or has the best off-speed pitching on our staff because none of that stuff is the case,” Johnson said.

Johnson described Maas’ mental toughness to be the attribute that sets him apart from most of the pitchers on the team.

“The guy is an absolute mental warrior and nothing is going to stop him,” Johnson said. “He just refuses to lose.”

Maas’ mental talent also allows him to excel in forcing batters to play his game instead of the other way around.

“A lot of guys will beat themselves,” Johnson said. “They’ll find ways to lose games and find reasons to come out on the short end, but Karl limits his mistakes during the course of the game and gives the opponent very little opportunity to put runners in scoring position.”

Johnson also pointed out that Maas’ experience in being cut from the team has helped him in striving to become better as a player.

“I think his success is due to the fact that he has had the game taken away from him, and he doesn’t want to feel like that again,” Johnson said.

Maas said he tries not to let the game get in his head too much.

“I just try to go out there and do my best,” Maas said. “I try to control what I can control and not worry about anything else.”

Maas admitted that the mental aspect of the game is what prevented him from pitching as well has he could when he first started playing.

“I think when you’re younger, you try to control way too much and then when you get older, you realize that you can only do so much,” Maas said. “When I was younger, I was horrible at it. I would just let it get to me and it ruins the game.”

Maas uses some of the things he has learned to help some of the younger pitchers on the team.

“When I came back I had a new approach of “just control what you can control,’ and I try to tell them that,” Maas said. “They’re not going to learn it overnight and it’s something they have to learn from experience.”

From his prior experiences, Maas has learned not to complicate the game and he tries to use his experience whenever he steps on the mound.

“I try not to let things get to me, and I just try to focus on each batter,” Maas said. “I know that when I make a bad pitch, there’s nothing you can do about it and that’s something I’ve worked on.”

You can reach Anthony Honrade at [email protected]