Pitt pitchers primed for standout seasons
12/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Generally, December isn’t thought of as the best month to spend on the baseball diamond, tossing fastballs from 60.5 feet away. But that doesn’t mean Pitt assistant coach Tom Lipari isn’t thinking about it.
“This is the time when you generally kind of rest the guys a little bit,” said Lipari, “but we’ve had a lot going on and we know we’re getting close to the season. I think the season is on all of our minds.”
Just a few months from the start of the 2011 campaign and the highly anticipated opening of the Petersen Sports Complex, Pitt baseball is preparing for a season in which it returns key starters all over the field.
That includes senior right-handed pitcher Corey Baker, junior lefty Matt Iannazzo and sophomore lefty Alex Caravella. Baker was Pitt’s Friday starter last season and earned first team All-Big East honors, while Iannazzo earned a spot on the Big East second team. The duo combined for a 22-5 record on the year, while Caravella appeared in 16 games as a true freshman and posted the third-best ERA on the team.
In addition to those three, the overall potential and depth of the pitching staff has had Lipari excited. Along with adding a strong group of six freshmen, Pitt returns the likes of Kevin Dooley, J.R. Leonardi, Ray Black and Cole Taylor. Pitt also gets back a healthy David Kaye, who had a standout sophomore season before undergoing surgery last season and redshirting. It helps that Pitt will be aided by its bats, too, as the 2010 Panthers finished the season ranked second nationally in batting average and fifth in runs scored per game.
“It is definitely safe to say we’ll have some depth (at pitcher) this year,” Lipari said. “We’ve got a great group returning and a very talented group of freshmen who were brought in, and they’ll have an impact, as well. Having Baker, Iannazzoo and Caravella back will be big for us. Those three are tough guys, and with the success they had last year, we’re looking for them to be the captains of the staff and lead the way.”
Experience gained over the summer is another thing that could help some step up. Black was named the Northwood’s League sixth-best prospect after a tremendous summer showing, while Iannazzo played in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. The Cape Cod League has produced a number of current and former MLB standouts, including Buster Posey and Evan Longoria. Nine players from the most recent MLB World Series played in the Cape Cod Baseball League at one point.
“That’s always a great experience to able to compete at that level,” Lipari said. “And Ray Black actually had my younger brother as his pitching coach this summer. He did a phenomenal job with building confidence and handling Ray’s arm, and Ray came in here this fall with a good head of steam. He was hitting 97 (miles per hour) on the gun in the fall, and he’s going to be fun to watch.”
Lipari said that the past month was a great time to work on the overall skills of each pitcher, and he’s seen plenty of improvement from each individual. Much of that has come down to individual time spent with each pitcher. Lipari also credited the training regimen put together by strength coach Tim Beltz.
“A lot of times you’ll see coaches will put guys into three per group to try to kill two birds with one stone,” Lipari said. “But the way we decided to do it was have me work one-on-one with each kid. We got a lot of work done during the month of November, just working on mechanics, control, arm-strength and consistency. Now, in December, it’s a month to regroup and rest a little more. When they get back from Christmas break, we’ll start picking it up again and working in some live at bats.”
“Coach Jordano, coach Lopaze and coach Cheesebrough have all been essential to the overall development of the pitchers this fall and winter,” Lipari added. “Coach Jordano’s experience in college baseball, along with his background in coaching pitchers has been a major help. Coach Lopaze brings knowledge from a hitter’s perspective and coach Cheesebrough, being a catcher at Louisville, brings tremendous insight, as well. The pitchers, along with myself, are very fortunate to have a staff that brings knowledge from all angles to help their overall development.”