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| Photo Credit: Farmingdale Athletics |
This is a follow up of the last post. Here is a Q & A with Ram’s ace Mike Dolce, who is coming off a season in which he compiled a 0.57 ERA in 47.2 innings.
It’s clear you made the right choice coming to Farmingdale, but where there other schools you were deciding on?
1. I actually was not being recruited by any schools coming out of high school. Farmingdale was the only division III school I applied to and I knew the assistant coach at the time. I figured my best bet to play college baseball was at Farmingdale and I could not be luckier that I made that decision.
Did you prefer pitching or hitting coming out of High School?
2. I loved both, but when I was hot there was nothing better than hitting. I was a first basemen and when I came to Farmingdale there was a great senior first basemen. So I made the decision to pitch full time and fortunately it worked out for me.
What have you improved on since entering college?
3. My sophomore season I saw a greater increase of velocity and better bite on my curveball. However I struggled greatly with control. I made it a focus in the offseason to be able to hit my spots and my junior year showed a drastic improvement. Now I am focused on maintaining my performance level while improving velocity, movement, and command on all my pitches. To get the most out of my body I can possibly get.
Does Baseball run in your family?
4. Baseball does not run in my family. My father played football at Clemson University as well as in the USFL. Although he wanted me to follow in his shoes, he is proud of what I have accomplished and is excited to see what the future holds for me.
Any goals for this season?
5. My main goal for this season is to make it to the College World Series. Farmingdale has only been there once and I will do whatever it takes to get there. I don’t really set too many numerical goals for myself. I just go out there and do whatever it takes to give my team the best opportunity to win the game.
What are your plans after college?
6. I aspire to continue playing baseball at the professional level. However if that does not work out I hope to find a job in law enforcement either at the local or federal level. Eventually I would enjoy coaching as well.
Last year you led the nation in ERA, is that something you noticed?
7. It is definitely something I noticed. My teammates would constantly talk about it and that made it hard to ignore. I enjoyed that feeling of knowing because it gave me that much more of a competitive edge on the mound. I took pride in my ERA and I did not want to allow anyone to take that title from me.
