(Editor’s Note: Angelo Navetta is currently a junior at Molloy College. He is coming off a spectacular 2016 season in which he was the recipient of Baseball on the Island’s Most Valuable Player Award. He is widely regarded as one of the best defensive first baseman and pure hitters in the East Coast Conference. The following words are his own)
Frank Moscatiello (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Frank is a high velocity, high effort kinda guy. This makes him tough to hit because you know he is not going to take a pitch off. You want to make him work and foul pitches off but when he pounds the zone with his fastball he is very tough to hit. His high velocity fastball is supported by his tight slider, which has great late movement. For me, that’s what makes him difficult because the slider looks like a fastball and then bottoms out at the last second.
Jake DeCarli (LIU Post)
Jake is not an overpowering guy but is probably the craftiest person in the league. He can throw any of his pitches for strikes in any count. What makes him tough to hit is his fastball and changeup combination. His fastball has two-seam run to it which moves away from me. He can throw it starting at my hip and run it back to the inside corner or start it on the outside corner and have it end up in the righty batters box. When he mixes in his changeup which has the same movement it is very tough to hit. The fact that he can hit his spots with any pitch in any count makes it hard to sit on a pitch so you have to be ready for anything at all times.
Nick Morena (Queens)
I faced Nick for the first time this year and he is a very solid pitcher. What makes him so tough to hit is his arm angle. He comes right over the top with good velocity. He is another high intensity guy, so you have to work him during an at bat to try and tire him out. He threw a complete game at Queens against us and it didn’t seem he was fatigued any time during the game. His curveball is 12-6, which is hard to pick up out of his hand because he is so over the top. He also mixes in a changeup but his fastball, curveball combination is very tough to pick up. When he is throwing his curveball for a strike he is very tough to hit.
Chris Cepeda (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Chris is a very complete pitcher. He doesn’t try and overpower you but he does have the velocity to do it. He throws his fastball in, out, up, down–pretty much anytime he wants. His command of his fastball is probably his best quality and makes him tough to hit. Off of his fastball he works in that frisbee-like slider that moves side to side like a wiffle ball. He was a very well-deserved Rookie of the Year last year and seems to be doing just as good this year when we faced him. Not many pitchers throw inside in this league but Chris has such good command of his fastball he tries to bust you in and then throws that lethal slider. He also mixes in a changeup but his go to pitch is his slider. With two strikes you have to look to protect both sides of the plate which makes him very difficult.
