As superstars go, Brian Fitzgerald doesn’t stand out at all.

Today, 7 p.m. – WC vs. Vicksburg, at Bazinsky Field

Admission: $4

He’s not 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, smashing 500-foot home runs at will. He’s never even hit a ball over the fence in high school.

On the mound, he doesn’t blow batters away with a 90 mph fastball. He tops out in the low 80s.

His best prospects to play a sport in college aren’t even in baseball, but in soccer.

What Fitzgerald does, is get hits. Lots of them, usually in clutch situations. Lately, he’s also turned into the dominating pitcher Vicksburg High was desperately searching for. The senior left-hander is 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA, while also hitting .471.

“He’s our MVP because he does so many things,” Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel said. “There’s a lot of players we have that are very good. But it’s hard to replace people like that who can do it in both places.”

Fitzgerald has always been among those very good players. He was a part of several successful tournament teams growing up, then hit .364 last season — his first as a high school starter — while helping Vicksburg reach the Class 4A championship series.

Until now, however, he had never made the leap from important cog to indispensable star. He said the loss of Stanton Price — last year’s staff ace and unquestioned leader of the team — left a void he’s simply trying to fill.

“We lost Stanton and I felt like somebody needed to fill his shoes. I always go out to win, and with this team behind me, I felt more comfortable taking that on,” said Fitzgerald, who has signed to play soccer at Hinds Community College but hasn’t yet worked out a deal to play baseball there. “I can’t fill his shoes completely. But I can be a pitcher like he was, and give us a chance to win every time out.”

Teammate Trey Prentiss said Fitzgerald’s leadership style has been of the quiet variety. His production and approach to the game replace a more vocal style.

“Having nine seniors, somebody has to be that leader and he’s proving he can be a leader,” said Prentiss, who has played on teams with Fitzgerald since the two were children. “He’s always been to himself. He doesn’t brag. He doesn’t care about his average, just having productive at-bats.”

Actually, if there’s one stat Fitzgerald does care about it is his batting average. He’s not exactly racking up huge numbers in the power categories.

In 171 career at-bats on the varsity level, Fitzgerald has 68 hits — only 10 of them for extra bases. He’s never hit a home run, but has scored 54 runs and driven in 49 more. He’s also developed a knack for starting or finishing rallies with big hits, usually singles, and settled into the cleanup spot for the Gators.

“My swing is real compact. I concentrate on more ground balls and line drives,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve never had the home run mentality. I rely on base hits and average to do better than home runs. It’s not that big a deal. I’d rather have three hits in one game than a home run. Average is way more important to me.”

Winning is even more important, and Fitzgerald’s biggest contribution this season may be filling the staff ace role that Price left when he graduated.

In 2008, Fitzgerald was the Gators’ No. 2 starter but still had a so-so year. He went 5-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 54 1/3 innings. This year he’s been almost untouchable, surrendering just four earned runs while striking out 34 batters in 33 innings. He’s already matched last year’s win total despite missing his last two starts because of stiffness in his shoulder. He has stayed in the lineup as the right fielder, and is scheduled to start on the mound tonight against Warren Central.

Amazingly, Fitzgerald has dominated with a fastball that tops out around 83 mph and an average curveball. Creel said the movement on Fitzgerald’s fastball compensates for its lack of velocity and makes a devastating breaking pitch unnecessary.

“He’s a lefty, and all lefties have that movement. But he’s got more movement than anybody I’ve ever had,” Creel said. “Against Pearl was the most curveballs he’s ever thrown. He threw 12. He may throw three a game on average.”

Fitzgerald also doesn’t feel like he needs overpowering stuff. Although his career strikeout-to-walk ratio is around 2-to-1, like any good leader he has faith in his teammates to do their jobs and back him up. That’s helped him gain even more confidence.

“The more games you throw, you gain more confidence. I have confidence in the defense behind me. I can pitch to the batter and don’t have to strike everybody out,” Fitzgerald said.

In return, Prentiss said the other Gators get a lift from seeing their ace on the mound.

“When Fitz is on the hill, nothing drops in the outfield, nothing gets by the infielders,” said Prentiss, the Gators’ center fielder. “When Fitz is out there it changes the whole mentality of the team.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com.