Jack Kartsonas was optimistic about his chances.
After all, the Fox Chapel native had just completed a successful three-season stint at Mid-American Conference Kent State upon entering the NCAA Division I transfer portal last summer.
“The portal is crazy,” said Kartsonas, a 2019 University Prep graduate, who also played for two seasons at Vincentian Academy. “I was coming from a mid-major school, and I was a graduate student, so that’s a big plus going into the portal because the teams recruiting you, they only have you on the books for one year. I had a lot of interest. I had a lot of different options.”
When he began to share the reality of his situation with pursuing teams, though, Kartsonas said those options began to slip away.
A 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander, Kartsonas was set to have surgery to address the injured ulnar nerve in the elbow of his throwing arm last July.
“A lot of the bigger schools, there were a handful of Big 12 schools that called me, I talked to them and then as soon as they heard I was getting surgery they were out,” he said. “So, there was a chip on my shoulder.”
Despite the injury to his elbow and metaphorical chip on his shoulder, Kartsonas said one program never wavered in its commitment to him.
Kartsonas said West Virginia was one of the first schools to contact him upon entering the portal. He committed to join the Mountaineers program, and the partnership has worked out quite well.
The 24-year-old veteran spent the offseason rehabbing and worked to become one of the top pitchers in the Big 12.
Kartsonas is 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA — the second lowest in the Big 12 — and is set to get the ball to start one of West Virginia’s games when the Mountaineers face perennial power LSU this weekend in the NCAA Division I Super Regional in Baton Rouge, La.
The best-of-three game Super Regional series is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Tigers’ Alex Box Stadium with Game 2 to follow at 6 p.m. Sunday. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Monday.
“It’s been incredible,” said West Virginia pitching coach Justin Oney of Kartsonas. “Obviously, for me, my favorite part of coaching and all of this is just getting to see guys put in hard work and get rewarded for it.
“He’ll get the ball without a doubt,” he added. “We don’t know if it’s Saturday or Sunday yet.”
West Virginia is playing in the NCAA Super Regional round for the second straight season. The Mountaineers were swept by North Carolina a year ago.
Kartsonas said he is thrilled to get the chance to help West Virginia get over the hump this year and on to the College World Series in Omaha.
“It means the world to me,” he said. “This whole season has really been a dream come true. I’ve had a tough road health-wise. I’ve had some really bad luck with injuries, and I’ve been able to stay healthy this year and pitch really well for this great team.”
The road to the biggest start of his career has been somewhat uncommon.
After graduating from University Prep, Kartsonas began his collegiate pitching career at John Carroll, an NCAA Division III school located in a suburb of Cleveland.
Kartsonas made only two appearances at John Carroll, racking up a 1-1 record with a 3.86 ERA, before transferring to Kent State. In three seasons with the Golden Flashes, he made 35 appearances, 15 starts, finishing with a 7-7 record, a 4.39 ERA and 103 strikeouts.
Oney said Kartsonas is the only player he has coached who has made the jump from Division III to high-level Division I baseball.
“It’s pretty uncommon,” Oney said. “You can talk to him now, and he’s like, ‘I didn’t know how good I was. I just wanted to go to school and play baseball.’ He kind of quickly figured out, ‘Oh, I’m kind of good at this.’”
The first serious injury Kartsonas dealt with, though, was to his shoulder, which caused him to miss the 2022 season at Kent State. He said his ulnar nerve was then injured when he received a dry-needling procedure in 2024 as a senior with the Golden Flashes.
Kartsonas said he competed much of that season in pain but managed to pitch a then career-high 42⅓ innings and made eight starts, but was just 3-2 with a 5.95 ERA.
“I tried to pitch, but after about halfway through the year I couldn’t really compete anymore because I was in so much pain,” he said. “I was kind of torn whether or not I was going to play again. I just sort of thought I would probably be really upset at myself if I didn’t give it one last try.”
Kartsonas said he underwent surgery on his elbow July 2 and did not pitch at all through the fall, but was able to begin pitching off the mound again around Thanksgiving.
After starting the season in the West Virginia bullpen, Kartsonas made his first start April 13 at Houston. He went seven innings and allowed just two hits with five strikeouts to defeat the Cougars.
Kartsonas has thrown 64⅓ innings for the Mountaineers this season with 76 strikeouts with just 16 walks. He last pitched 5⅓ innings, conceding three runs, two earned, with seven strikeouts to earn a no-decision in West Virginia’s 9-6 Super Regional victory against Clemson May 31.
“He is incredible,” Oney said. “He fits the goals of the team, right. He is very much about the team winning as many games as possible. Hard worker, leader of the pitching staff — him and [Griffin] Kirn, both — so, yeah, just an incredible, awesome dude.”
Oney said Karstonas drastically improved by developing a sinker to complement the four-seam fastball, slider and off-speed pitches already in his arsenal.
There is one caveat, though, that ultimately separates Kartsonas.
“First of all, it’s the competitiveness,” Oney said. “He never wants to leave the game, which is always a good trait to have. It’s also a really good trait to have when you’re good enough not to leave a game.”
Kartsonas said he is now appropriately looking to keep his college career going as long as possible with a strong showing in the Super Regional and then Omaha.
“I’m from Pittsburgh, but it means so much to the people in West Virginia, our fans, it really is like 1.8 million people behind our team,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it and hoping we can get it done for everyone involved.”
Kartsonas isn’t the only former WPIAL player contributing for first-year Mountaineers head coach Steve Sabins this season.
Freshman outfielder Gavin Kelly, a Central Catholic product, has appeared in 49 games, making 43 starts for West Virginia in 2025. He is hitting .294 with 37 runs scored and 35 RBIs.
Sophomore Spencer Barnett, a North Allgheny graduate, is hitting .278 with four home runs and 26 RBIs. The infielder has appeared in 44 games with 28 starts.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.