FRYEBURG – When he’s old and gray and reflecting on his days at Fryeburg Academy, Andrew Stacy will remember his junior year as the year where he learned the most about economics.

Stacy hasn’t been taking lessons in the classroom but on the diamond, where he’s gone from a wild thrower to an efficient pitcher.

The Raiders’ ace has always been a power pitcher, capable of dominating any opponent. This year, though, he’s raised his game to another level, and his catcher knows precisely why.

“He’s throwing less pitches,” said Nate Broyer, who has been catching Stacy for half of their lives but was sidelined after breaking his finger on the first pitch of the season. “When he gets high in his pitch count this year, it’s mostly because of errors behind him.”

Stacy is 2-0 already this season, due in large part to his newfound efficiency on the mound. He’s given up just six hits and one earned run in 14 innings while striking out 26 in starts against Poland and Gray-New Gloucester.

But the stat Stacy will point to and say has made the biggest difference from a sub-.500 campaign last season is his walks. He’s yielded just three so far.

“The thing that killed me was my walks,” he said. “Sometimes I just get into a funk when I walk a lot of people. So far this year, I’ve only had three walks and that’s been big with me. If I can keep my walks down, I’m going to have a good day.”

He had a very good day in the Raiders’ season-opener against Poland, striking out 17 in eight innings for the win.

“His best inning was the second inning. He only threw eight pitches,” said coach David Jones. “The most he threw in an inning was 16 pitches. But I wasn’t going to put him out for the eighth inning until he said. Coach, let me win the game.'”

Jones okayed the extra inning for his ace, but set a 12-pitch limit.

“The first two guys he struck out on four pitches each, and the last guy he got to ground out to short on the 12th pitch,” Jones said.

As impressive as that effort was, Jones said he was just as pleased with Stacy’s next start against Gray-New Gloucester. He wasn’t quite as dominant as he had been against Poland, but what impressed the coach was Stacy’s maturity through some adversity that would throw off a lot of young pitchers.

“He had to wait an extra 20 minutes (between warm-ups and taking the mound) because the umpires were late, so his first two innings were basically warm-ups. But he battled. He kept his focus. In one inning we had two errors that led to two unearned runs,” Jones said. “Last year, I think he would have tried to strike everyone out after that. But he didn’t do that. He kept pitching and he actually got better after that inning.”

Stacy cites several reasons for his improvement. Part of it, he said, is the natural maturation anyone goes through from the sophomore to junior. He also worked on his pitching at Frozen Ropes and with Fryeburg pitching coach Rich Ela to get his curve ball so he can now go to it even when he’s down in the count.

Another big factor, he said, was playing Legion ball last summer for Bessey Motors.

“Those guys can play, and I kind of learned how to be a pitcher over there, instead of just trying to be overpowering” he said. “If I strike kids out, I strike kids out, but I’m going to pitch the way I want to pitch and if they ground out or pop it up, that’s my job.”

Stacy hasn’t just improved on the mound, he’s also made big strides hitting. After batting below .300 last year, he’s simplified his approach and is off to a strong start, with six hits in his first 14 times up and a couple of home runs.

“You don’t think about hitting when you’re successful. When you start struggling, though, you think about it too much, and that’s what happened to me,” he said. “Over the summer, I came back and just started swinging the bat again.”

In many ways, Stacy carries himself more like a senior than a junior. He’s a confident team leader who asks for, and gets, the ball anytime the Raiders square off against the Western Maine Conference’s elite teams, such as Gorham or Greely.

But it’s a confidence born out of hard work, his coach pointed out, not ego. Stacy had some humbling experiences as a freshman and sophomore pitcher. Now he’s turning those lessons into an outstanding junior season.

“You see some high school kids, their confidence is born out of the fact that in Little League they were a stud,” Jones said. “He’s just kept working and working all of the way through.”