NEWS

By Don Leypoldt

With almost an entirely new cast of characters each season, it sometimes takes a bit for NECBL fans to learn their teams.

Yet Dario Pizzano needed no introduction to the North Shore Navigator boosters.

Growing up just 10 minutes from the Navs’ Fraser Field, Pizzano starred on the Saugus Little League team that went to the U.S. finals and finished fourth in the 2003 World Series.

"Ferreira’s ever-so-slow roller down the 3rd base line scored Dario Pizzano for the winning tally as Ferreira narrowly beat the throw to first. Final score: Saugus 14, Richmond 13, in what was perhaps the greatest, most exciting Little League World Series game of all time," wrote Mark Rogoff on Little League’s website, as he described the American semi-final match. Pizzano went 3-for-5 in that game.

Pizzano, a lefty hitting outfielder who just completed his sophomore year at Columbia, subsequently played at Fraser Field multiple times in high school.

For someone who plays in the Gehrig Division in the Ivy League, Pizzano has done a fair Lou Gehrig impersonation while at Columbia. He won the Ivy League’s co-Rookie of the Year in 2010, en route to leading the Ancient Eight with a .741 slugging percentage. Pizzano earned first team All-Ivy honors again this year; he led the league in both homers and total bases while walking more than he struck out.

Now, back home, Pizzano is showing the NECBL that he can mash with wooden bats too. As of press time, Pizzano’s .366 batting average and .464 on base percentage ranked second in the league. He had three times as many extra base hits (11) as strikeouts (four).

NECBL.com recently caught up with Pizzano.

NECBL.com: How has it been like for you being at home? So many players come from different parts of the country. Do you think you’re having the same experience as your teammates?

Pizzano: The kids who come from all across the country tell me that it’s a good experience, and I’m sure it is a good experience to be away from home and live with a host family, but I think it’s awesome to live at home. I get to come home and be with my family. I know my friends from around the area and I’m friends with the team, so I can go out with both groups of friends. I feel comfortable eating meals with my family, being in my own house and like you said, waking up in my own bed.

NECBL.com: What is your pre-bat ritual?

Pizzano: I’ve always done the sign of the cross ever since I’ve been 9 or 10 years old. I’ve always been kind of a religious Catholic.  I’ve gone to private or Catholic schools ever since second grade. And I do jog out to the plate because I have my pre-pitch ritual, which takes a few seconds. I don’t want to get quick pitched when I’m up there so I do what I have to do to get ready to hit the ball.

NECBL.com: What is your approach like? What have you done over the years to be such an effective contact hitter? 

Pizzano: When I got to school at Columbia, my coach actually moved me off the plate a little bit so I would have more plate coverage. In high school, I was stepping a little bit towards the plate or diving towards the plate. By backing up, it allowed me to get more barrel of the bat on inside pitches so I wouldn’t jam myself. 

He noted that sometimes I was too selective at the plate so he told me that “You’re not going to get many pitches to hit. If you see one that you like, no matter if it’s an offspeed pitch, your hands are good enough to sit back and drive an offspeed pitch. If you recognize an offspeed pitch that is going to be a strike or anything you feel you can drive, hit it and don’t wait until you get two strikes.” 

I try to pick out a good pitch. In my first at bat yesterday, I saw first pitch changeup and I hit it to the opposite field for a double. I knew it was a changeup; I used to just take that and wait for a fastball. As I developed as a hitter, I realized I could hit those pitches.

NECBL.com: How did you end up at Columbia?  I’m sure you had options.

Pizzano: I was always a pretty good student. I always worked hard and got good grades. I knew I had some talent in baseball. My high school coach was pushing me towards good schools. I was looking at all of the Ivy League schools and they were calling me in my junior summer. 

I went to Columbia on a visit and I loved it. I felt right at home. It’s right in the middle of Manhattan and I like city life. The coach, (Brett Boretti) is from Beverly, MA and is a nitty-gritty, down to earth guy. I liked his coaching style. 

I clicked with all of the guys on the team on my visit and I felt like I was already part of the team that weekend. And they just won the Ivy League championship in 2008 so I knew they had a good team. Columbia was the best decision of my life.

NECBL.com: What was the hardest class you’ve taken at Columbia?

Pizzano: At first, I thought I was going into Economics. Once I took a couple of those classes, I was not going into Economics! I’m a Political Science major. I tried to take Principles of Economics with a professor who is pretty difficult and I struggled. Definitely that class and Calculus 3, which I had to take to be an Econ major.  Both of those were really tough.

NECBL.com: How do you balance the demands of the books and baseball?  You play good Division I baseball and it’s still an Ivy League school, where there is no slacking in the classroom.

Pizzano: Columbia is pretty hard. You have to do your work. Our team GPA has to be at a 3.2 out of season and a 3.1 in season. That’s what we have as our goals set up by our coach. 

Most of the professors understand that we are all year round. Fall Ball is not an offseason. We’re doing stuff five days a week. It’s tough but you just have to get it done. You pick the right classes, pick the right schedule in and out of season and just do it. It’s a matter of buckling down, doing the work you have to do and keeping that 3.0. It was tough to adjust at first but I’m used to it.

NECBL.com: Did you grow up a Red Sox fan?

Pizzano: Definitely a Red Sox fan, yes.

NECBL.com: How has it been being a Red Sox fan who lives so close to Yankee Stadium?

 

Pizzano: (chuckling) Oh, it’s tough because there are a couple of guys on my Columbia team who are from this area (Massachusetts) and we were always backed up into a corner as a group by Yankee fans. I’m not a diehard Hate the Yankees guy. It was real nice to go to Yankee Stadium.  We went as a team one off day and sat in the bleachers, and it was a good experience being at the new stadium. Our coach is a Red Sox fan so there is always this little head-to-head thing we have going on.

 

NECBL.com: When you were a kid, what athlete’s poster was hanging on your bedroom wall?

Pizzano: Ken Griffey. He was an outfielder. A lefty. The sweetest swing I think I’ve ever seen. He was my favorite player when I was younger.

Dario Pizzano’s other favorites:

Favorite Food:A cheeseburger. With bacon.

Favorite Movie: Super Bad

Favorite Musician: Lil WayneFavorite Website:Facebook