With Ryan Wackerman and Chuck Boring earning trips to the league all-star game and Dominique Rodgers signing with the Minnesota Twins, Copperheads starting pitcher Tony Bertucci has often been overshadowed by his summer teammates.
That is all beginning to change.
Bertucci, a sophomore at Cornell University, has quietly amassed a 3-1 record with a 2.23 ERA for the Copperheads this season. The lanky right-hander has also allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last six starts. His individual stats, however, are not what impress his coaching staff the most.
Most importantly
he's got great makeup coach Mike Deegan said. He's a kid that wants to get better and he's someone we've been very pleased with as far as work ethic and commitment.
Bertucci's hard work is paying off.
As a freshman at Cornell, Bertucci struggled to a 1-5 mark with a 6.27 ERA. But with his training this off-season, coupled with the relatively carefree atmosphere of summer baseball, Bertucci has thrived with the Copperheads.
Being able to come out to a place like this and have fun this summer is a big key for me
Bertucci said. There's not a lot of pressure
so I can just have fun and do what I need to do to get back on my game.
With this mindset, Bertucci has asserted himself as one of the aces of the Copperheads pitching staff. But as a native of Illinois and a resident of New York during the school year, Bertucci still wonders how he ended up with the team.
I'm not sure about that
Bertucci said about his move to Southern Ohio. My pitching coach up at (Cornell) asked me if I wanted to play and I said yeah
but I didn't really know anything about it or what it was.
Regardless, the move has worked well for both parties. The Copperheads recently clinched a playoff berth and broke the franchise's single-season win total. Meanwhile, Bertucci said that he has loved his time with the Copperheads and has improved dramatically during his stay in Southern Ohio.
It's been all I could hope for
Bertucci said. Just being able to come out and play ball every day with people in the stands. It really doesn't get much better than this.
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