Player Name: Vito Friscia
School: Hofstra
Position: C
Vito is a 2015 graduate of Valley Stream Central HS. He was regarded as top prospect in the class and was a two-time All-Long Island member. At 6’3″ 225 lbs, he has the build of a prototypical power hitter.
Offensively: He is a power hitter in every sense of the word. He has an exit velocity that approaches 100 MPH. He bats with a crouched stance–which gets more pronounced as the pitcher delivers, slightly open, with a slight bat wag. He has very quick hands and finishes with both hands on the bat. While his best power is to straight-away left field, he does have the ability to put it over the right fielder’s head.
He went 2-for-6 in the series with three walks. He displayed advanced patience for a freshman, especially in the environment they were in, against top-notch SEC pitching.
Both of his hits came on fastballs that he turned on through the 5.5 hole. He was right on the 90 MPH heat by Kyle Simonds. One of the concerns coming out of HS was that he hadn’t shown the ability to turn on a good fastball, but at least through six at bats, he has displayed that he can.
As can be seen from the stat line, he can work counts. Power and on-base ability are two extremely valuable commodities, they usually do not go hand-in-hand. With his light-tower power (he hit one off the middle of the scoreboard in BP) and his ability to work a count, and go the other way, it makes him a very prized prospect.
Defensively: His pop time was clocked at 1.81–sterling for a player at any age. That curtails the running game once the word gets out. He sits in a very low stance, but has a wide base. He also made a very good play on a pop up near the dugout. Catchers always struggled with this play because it is difficult to even simulate it in practice, when there is no on-deck hitter, fans screaming and players on the top row of the dugout. It was an impressive play. If there was one problem, he had a fastball clank off his glove and went to the backstop. Things happen every now and again, but giving away bases in Division-I doesn’t help.
Base Running: He is a 7.6 runner in the 60 yard dash. Not a base stealer by any means but a competent base runner.
