The baseball team’s Adam Ottavino has been named The Northeastern News Player of the Week after giving up four hits and one run in a seven-inning complete-game outing. Despite the strong performance, the freshman hurler was stuck with the 1-0 loss when the Huskies went silent in the second half of a double header against Hartford.
Ottavino struck out nine of the 21 Hawk batters he faced, with the only run coming across on a base on balls.
“He pitched very well (against Hartford). He’s been very consistent all year, he’s opened a number of eyes already, from our team, to scouts, to opposing teams,” said coach Neil McPhee. “He’s thrown, for a freshman, phenomenally well.”
Predominantly a curve-ball pitcher, Ottavino adjusted to the falling mercury at Friedman Diamond by featuring an off-speed pitch.
“The pitch that was really working for him was his change,” said McPhee. “He struck out four times their number three and four hitters — two good left-handed hitters — on great changeups. On (cold) days like we’ve been having a pitcher who has the ability to go to a second or third pitch is a huge advantage. And he’s around the plate with everything, that’s the key. The change has been developed since he came into this program with coach DiCenzo. The kid is really becoming a complete pitcher.”
It was the second time Ottavino acquitted himself at a frigid Friedman Diamond. Last week the 6’4” righty struck out five while giving up three runs in six innings against a tough Boston College team.
It is also the second time Ottavino was took the tough-luck loss due to lack of run support. In his collegiate debut, he K’d 11 over 8 innings against St. Anselm’s. The sole run he allowed turned out to be the only run of the game, as the Huskies went down 1-0.
He earned the first win of his career after giving up one run to Indiana-Purdue over seven innings. He also fanned seven in that outing.
Ottavino also showed merit against top competition, giving up two runs in five innings in a pair of relief appearances against No. 20 North Carolina State and threw a scoreless inning in an exhibition game against the Red Sox.
Despite a string of strong performances, McPhee is not ready to insert a freshman into the starting rotation currently occupied by seniors Jordan Thomson and Justin Hedrick and junior Devin Monds.
“We are not making that decision yet, everybody else is pitching well too,” the coach said. “Usually when you are looking at a run for a championship, you want your veterans to carry you. He is certainly pitching as well as anyone in the rotation, and if it’s necessary he’ll make the jump, but right now, we are going to stick with our veterans.”
Coming out of Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ottavino was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 30th round. Pro scouts had good reason to be interested in the 17-year-old hurler. He averaged 17 strikeouts per game through his junior and senior years, at one point rattling off a 54 batters in a three-game stretch. Named to both the All-State and All-City teams, Ottavino was the team’s Most Valuable Player in both his junior and senior years.
— Peter Conroy, News Staff
