National JUCO Pitcher of the Year Robert Fortenberry hoping to translate big season to SEC
Over the last seven months, junior college LHP Robert Fortenberry has seen his entire life change.
The Frisco, Texas, pitcher finished up a solid freshman season at Weatherford College (Texas) uncommitted. Before his sophomore season Fortenberry would commit to Mississippi State. After that, he would put together a season that would land him the Division I NJCAA Pitcher of the Year honor nationally.
“We had a good year. We won the conference championship and ended up losing in the Regional, but overall, it was a really good season,” Fortenberry said. “I thought I had a good season individually. I was 13-0 in 15 starts. I didn’t have as many strikeouts as I would like, but I pitched a lot.”
As a freshman, Fortenberry had a 10-1 record with a 2.74 ERA and 79 strikeouts with a 2.74 ERA. It had him on the Diamond Dawg radar, but nothing came from that.
Fast forward to the fall and the Bulldogs were back interested as Chris Lemonis and his staff were looking for players that could help them right away in 2025. A visit to Starkville and a conversation with new pitching coach Justin Parker sealed the deal.
“Going into the visit, my roommate at JUCO said that coach Parker was one of the best pitching coaches in baseball,” Fortenberry said. “I was very impressed when I met him. I didn’t know what to expect this year, but it was really impressive.”
Fortenberry isn’t a pitcher that’s going to blow away many batters, but he prides himself and his pitchability.
He throws both a 2-seam and a 4-seam fastball in the high 80s and low 90s with a circle changeup, a slider and a curveball. It led to an amazing 13-0 record in 15 starts this year with just 18 earned runs surrendered in 74.0 innings. He had a 2.19 ERA
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“I don’t walk too many people and that’s probably my biggest attribute,” Fortenberry said. “I do the job when I go pitch. I would enjoy being a weekend starter for State, but whatever they want me to do I’ll do it to the best of my abilities.”
College comes for Fortenberry in just a few weeks and the talented hurler is excited about this new journey.
He believes in the coaching staff in Starkville and that the Diamond Dawgs are back on track after two tough seasons. He might not have known much about the program up until last year, but Fortenberry has been sold.
“I knew that they won the national championship in 2021 and then they had a couple of tough seasons,” Fortenberry said. “I’m really excited to get in there and be a part of the program now. I was blown away by everything that I saw on the visit so I couldn’t be more excited.”
