STATE COLLEGE, PA – Several days have gone by, and Neumann-Goretti’s baseball team is still in La La Land.
The Saints can stay there as long as they wish, because they have earned it.
Freshman Eric Nardini in the middle of his two older brothers, both former NG players - courtesy of Tina Nardini
Neumann-Goretti’s 3-0, PIAA Class AA state championship victory June 16 over District 6 champ Bishop McCort at Penn State University was its first ever in baseball and, combined with girls’ and boys’ basketball, the school’s third of the academic year.
Among the many storylines was the contribution of Eric Nardini.
Currently not a household name, time might change that.
Only a freshman, Nardini caught every pitch this season. Literally every pitch.
While such a feat certainly has been done before, rarely, if ever, has it been accomplished by a catcher.
The Final Out - 2016 PIAA AA State Final - Fan Video courtesy of Eric Nardini
From L-R: Jeff Ciocco, RJ McGettigan, Ethan Pritchett and Lou Testa - courtesy of the Testa family
“I knew in the beginning of the year that this catching job was open and I put a lot of work in to earn it,” said Nardini. “I was awarded for it because of the trust from my coaches.”
Nardini has the distinction of catching arguably the most prolific pitching staff in Class AA history. The collective hurlers threw three consecutive shutouts to close out the season – which included Catholic League and District 12 championships – and only one run in four games for a microscopic 0.63 earned-run average.
His approach was rather simple – just let the pitchers pitch.
“Catching the veteran pitchers makes my job easy,” said Nardini. “You know that they are locked in every game and have great experience on the mound. It makes it especially easy when they hit their spots, which they have mostly every game.”
Heading into the bottom of the seventh and just three outs away from a state title, Nardini was convinced there was nothing to worry about.
“Without a doubt in my mind, Ethan was gonna finish it out,” said Nardini, who began catching at eight years old. “Me and this whole team have total faith in him. I remember when there were two outs, I just smiled. I was like, ‘This is over. We are gonna do it. We will make history.’ We did, and the feeling was surreal on that dogpile.”
Nardini is the third sibling – and catcher – to play at Neumann-Goretti; he joins Nick, a 2012 graduate, and Tom, who graduated last year. Nick is currently the Saints’ first-base coach.
Both older brothers are obviously delighted that Nardini has found his niche.
“I am very proud of him and all that he has done this season,” said Tom, who won a Catholic League championship in 2014. “He’s part of a very good team. It’s packed with underclassmen, unlike my teams, which had a lot of upperclassmen.”
Nick Nardini, one of only three players in history to be part of three Catholic League baseball champions (2009, 2011, 2012), admired Eric’s diligence and fortitude during the off-season.
“To be honest, this winter I thought it would be an extremely tough task for him,” said Nick. “But he worked extremely hard and got so much better. He wanted it more than anything.”
Aidan Baur and Jared Healey pose with state championship trophy - courtesy of Aidan Baur
Senior pitcher Ethan Pritchett, who blanked Bishop McCort and finished the season with an incredible streak of 26 straight innings without allowing a run, raved about his younger teammate.
“Eric did an amazing job all year, especially as a freshman,” said Pritchett. “He's going to be scary good in a couple of years. He has had a ton of confidence from the beginning.”
N-G coach Kevin Schneider “can’t say enough good things” about Nardini’s year-round performance.
“Eric caught every inning this entire season, the majority of which were two really good big-time arms, and we were the most successful team in Neumann-Goretti history,” said Schneider, referring to Pritchett and senior Jeff Ciocco. “To say that I'm proud of him and how he stepped up is an understatement.”
Sophomore outfielder RJ McGettigan, the team leader in batting average and runs batted in during the postseason, said he “couldn't be any more proud of him.”
Senior first baseman Lou Testa, who caught the championship’s last out, an underhand flip from Pritchett following a one-hopper back to the mound, predicts that Nardini “is going to be scary good. He has the right work ethic and just loves to compete.”
The Saints finished the season with a 20-6 record, winners of 13 straight and 15 of the last 16. Nardini caught every single pitch along the way. Yes, that is repeating what was said earlier.
Some things just deserve to be repeated.
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)