by Matt Dzenawager
The transition from high school to college baseball has had its ups and downs for 2017 Commack High School graduate Peter Theodorellis.
Theodorellis has been a winner his entire baseball career. From winning the 10-year-old Mid-Atlantic championship in 2010 to winning the high school Suffolk County championship in 2017. Individually, he won the Silver Slugger and was named All Tri-State in his senior campaign.
Theodorellis now plays for the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and he’s honing his craft this summer in the Hamptons League.
As a pitcher and position player, Theodorellis pitched 22 innings and received 76 at-bats his freshman year with the Knights.
“My role definitely changed,” Theodorellis said. “I wasn’t the top notch guy anymore,” between being a freshman and Div-I it was a whole new, more advanced challenge.
Theodorellis noted how the speed of the game changed tremendously from high school, but on the field was not the only place he faced new challenges.
School has been challenging because of the time commitment of baseball. “If you forget a piece of work that’s due, you don’t have that extra day or extra few hours to complete it,” Theodorellis said.
This summer his goals are to be more consistent on the mound. The righty pitcher described how at the beginning of his freshman season he didn’t have the same dominance and control that he did as a senior at Commack High School. Continuing to improve against college talent is what he is focusing on.
His best outing came in his second to last appearance of the year. Theodorellis threw five and a third innings, striking out nine, while giving up two earned runs against Sacred Heart.
Playing a lot as a freshman, becoming close with his team, and hitting a home run at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, were Theodorellis’s personal highlights during his inaugural collegiate season.
His advice for ballplayers making the transition from high school to college baseball “just keep practicing,” Theodorellis said “Everyone playing D-1 ball is a top-notch player. It doesn’t matter what school, the level is always higher.”
