One hit is all John Rybarczyk had in his first week.
He made it count for Costa Mesa High's baseball team.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and the game tied against Century, Rybarczyk went after the first pitch.
The fastball, a little up, wound up over the center-field fence, a great way to start the season for Rybarczyk.
Hitting home runs is still somewhat of a novelty for the 6-foot-3 senior, as he's hammered only four in his high school career.
But when the right fielder belted the homer to beat Century, 8-5, in the season opener, it came as no surprise to Coach Jim Kiefer.
"It's not something I'm going, 'Oh, wow! He hit a home run!'" Kiefer said. "He's a guy we're expecting big things from this year. He got a pitch to hit and he did what he's capable of doing, and the timing couldn't have been better."
Kiefer's seen his Mustangs take off after Rybarczyk's blast.
Heading into Saturday's Newport Elks Tournament Costa Mesa championship game against Calvary Chapel, the Mustangs were 4-0 on the season.
The start is the best in Kiefer's two years at Costa Mesa.
One reason for the early success is the senior leadership provided by Rybarczyk. Last year, Kiefer said only one senior played and it left him in a quandary.
"I didn't have captains last year," he said. "I felt like I had to be the captain."
Kiefer can manage now and leave it to Rybarczyk to set the tone. He is a pianist after all.
When Rybarczyk is not trying to stroke the baseball to all fields, he strokes the keys on a piano at church.
He got hooked on the piano when his grandma, Charlotte, introduced him and his two younger sisters to it more than six years ago.
"My grandma really wanted me and my sisters to play, so she started paying for our lessons," said Rybarczyk, adding that when he plays he thinks of his late grandma. "It's really fun. When you get a little rhythm, you can be creative.
"It's really sweet to be able to do something a lot of people can't do."
Rybarczyk is far from mastering the piano, because as he put it, "I never really learned chords. I just learned the notes."
That's all right because Rybarczyk is still learning how to read pitches.
Sometimes he said playing the piano makes for interesting times in church. At least there's a band and he's not the lone performer on stage.
It's the same on the baseball field.
