Flying out to left field in your final collegiate at bat is not the Hollywood ending most imagine. Especially not when you were already 3-for-4 with a home run over 400 feet in that game. And it’s in an elimination game at Clemson in the NCAA Regional.
But St. John’s grad student Luke Stampfl still smiled as he rounded first base. Partially because he said it was his hardest hit ball of the day – even factoring in the home run – and partially knowing that he gave absolutely everything that he had – and that included months of grueling pain that he endured from a cyst on his tailbone, which overlapped with his recovering from a deep bone bruise on his knee after fouling a ball off.
Stampfl had a career that most players dream of – playing five years of Division-I at two of New York’s finest baseball programs (Fordham during 2014-2017 and St. John’s in 2018), while also winning the Suffolk County Silver Slugger Award in 2012 at Hills West.
From the outside, it looked like a linear path to success, but only those that know him best know about his ongoing medical hardships and also just how close he came to getting selected in the 2013 MLB Draft.
Let’s turn the clock back first….
Early Days
Stampfl comes from an extremely athletic family. His father, Eric, pitched for St. John’s from 1981-1983 – arriving just after their miraculous run to the College World Series in 1980. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 7th round of the 1983 Draft and played three seasons in their system before injuries ended it. His mother, Heather, played tennis in college. His older brother, Eric, pitched at CW Post and won Pitcher of the Year at St. John the Baptist.
Despite his father playing professionally for the Mets, that did not factor into his rooting interest. Luke stated that his favorite players were Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez and he was a die-hard Yankees fan.
Baseball was far from his only love, though.
Luke was also a high-level soccer player. He played for the Dix Hills Thunder, and they won the state championship four consecutive years from the time he was 10 through 13. He also enjoyed playing golf, and played golf from 9th through 11th grade.
But it was clear his future was on the diamond. Luke played for the Long Island Titans. He cited playing for his dad, Dave Walker and Jim Farrell as reasons that he developed into the player that he became.
“It definitely helped propel me into being a better player and person,” he said in regards to his time with Long Island Titans.
Half Hollow Hills West
Imagine a scenario where the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers for Half Hollow Hills HS was Stephen Woods and Luke Stampfl.
If not for some strange zoning rules, that would’ve been the case as Stampfl noted he is best friends with Woods and they’ve been close since they were 3-years-old. Woods, of course, became the ace of Half Hollow Hills East and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and is currently a minor league free agent. They were both considered top 5 players on Long Island during their senior seasons, along with players like Anthony Kay, Matt Vogel and Matt Crohan – all flame-throwing pitchers.
Back to reality. Stampfl’s Hills West team was very talented. In fact, before he got to high school, I squared off against them in the playoffs. As the No. 5 seed we were the home team but had the misfortune of facing Vanderbilt-commit TJ Pecoraro and Hills West Colts who were the No. 12 seed and they defeated us in extra innings. Much of that team returned for 2010 which was Stampfl’s freshman season. He was called up to varsity for the playoffs, and he got some time at third base.
He recalls losing to Longwood in the playoffs on a walk-off 3-R home run on a missed sign as the pitcher confused a spin move to second base as being the sign for a two-seam fastball and he joked that the “ball still hasn’t landed.”
After the season, during their exit meetings, Stampfl was told by longtime coach Tom Migliozzi that they were planning for him to be the starting third baseman and one of their starting pitchers for the 2011 season.
During that offseason, Luke stated that he worked with his father on improving his game.
“There is nobody better from a technical standpoint than my dad. Yeah, we may have bumped heads every now and then but it was all in love,” he added.
Just before the 2011 season started, Luke went to the Dominican Republic on Sal Agostinelli’s annual Spring Training trip.
“It could not have been a better prep for the season. We saw fantastic talent. Every pitcher threw at least 90. It really locked me in and I was ready to make a real jump as a player.”
The results were staggering as he batted .513, which set the program record at Hills West and he became the first player to bat over .500 in their history.
“It was the last year of the BESR bats and I definitely took advantage of it,” he said laughingly. It was a great season for Hills West who also had the Paul Gibson Award winner in Remy Janco (Duke) and another Division-I commit in Mike Kaufman (Binghamton).
Following the season is when Stampfl began to really get college exposure.
He noted that the Headfirst Academic Showcase was a huge turning point as he spoke to head coaches from all of the Ivy League schools, Union, Stanford, Dartmouth and Fordham. He called it an “eye opening experience for a 15-year-old and it gave me an extra boost of confidence.”
He also went to the Select Fest at Diamond Nation in which he performed well and coaches reached out to him once July 11 hit and they were able to contact him. He recalls St. John’s coach Ed Blankmeyer having great things to say about him as well during that event.
In 2012, Stampfl had another outstanding season and won the Silver Slugger Award given to the top hitter in Suffolk County. His team lost to Connetquot in the playoffs – they ultimately captured the Class AA Championship.
During his senior season, Stampfl announced his commitment to play at Fordham University. For him, the decision was narrowed down to the schools that promised his the opportunity to be a two-way guy. The only other school was St. John’s University.
His senior year was another successful one and they made a postseason run before losing to Anthony Kay and Ward Melville – who won the Class AA Championship. They were eliminated by Connetquot for a second straight year, but Stampfl went out with a bang – hitting two home runs in his final high school game.
“I would’ve traded that for a win,” he added.
Towards the end of the season, a Detroit Tigers scout named Vache Bahadurian called coach Migliozzi and stated his interest in Stampfl. Him and Murray Cook came down to watch him practice. He recalls he performed very well and that “it put me in the mindset that I could play pro ball. People always says ‘I would’ve made the big leagues if I didn’t get hurt – and no that’s not the case you can’t say that with finality because you just don’t know.” With that said, they sent down a crosschecker to watch his next game which was against the eventual Carl Yastrzemski Award winner, Matt Crohan. All he did was go 2-for-4 with a triple and three-run HR.
“I got the call the next day that the crosschecker put in the good word,” he said. After the season, he was invited to the Tigers’ pre-draft workout at Comerica Park. He made the trip with his family and they were all excited.
Stampfl stated that the assistant general manager came down and separated the players into groups and his group was Michael O’Neill (nephew of Paul O’Neill) and Ben Verlander (brother of Justin Verlander). He recalls them hitting missiles all over the field, while he put on a decent but not spectacular showing during BP. He admitted that at that point “I was about 6’0 180 lbs and a little scrawny compared to them and the wood bat was a little bit heavy.” In the field, it was a different story, he showed his outstanding arm strength and accuracy and he was graded as an A+ defender at shortstop.
Afterwards, Vache called Luke to tell him that “they’re sold on you” and they planned on taking him between the 7th and the 9th rounds of the upcoming MLB Draft.
“It was a real shock,” said Stampfl when he heard that. He also reflected on the fact that his whole life he was pegged to be a pitcher due to his arm strength and both his dad and brother being pitchers, so it was “great to have that affirmation knowing that I could play minor league baseball.”
Stampfl noted he never shared this story with him for a couple reasons. First and foremost, “you never want to speak about yourself – you want others to speak on your behalf,” but also because once his baseball career was ultimately over he didn’t want to be known as the guy that always drudges up his past and how he should’ve gotten drafted.
The reality is that the Tigers were intending on drafting him in the 2013 MLB Draft. After talking with him family, and recognizing the importance of going to college, they came to the collective decision to attend college regardless of the opportunity.
“Vache acted like almost a family member. This guy had gone out of his way to put me on the map. How can I do that to someone – now I’m going to screw him? That’s the last thing I wanted to do. I really cared about him. So I made it tremendously clear that I wanted to go to college, we’ll see you in three years and I thanked him for what he’s done.”
Fordham University
“Some people knew that I had the shot to get drafted – which I don’t know how because I didn’t share that with anyone,” he said.
Luke went into the season with the expectation of being an everyday player and that’s exactly what he was. The issue is that, like many young players, he got off to a slow start and was replaced as the starter after a 6-for-60 start. Overall, it was a forgettable season for the Rams who qualified for a postseason berth in the A-10 but were eliminated in the first round by Saint Louis. Luke was able to improve his play during the season and batted .208 with 14 RBIs, he also went 2-0 over 7.2 innings pitched on the mound.
After the season, he was sent to the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League where he played for Head Coach Bill Iannicielli of North Fork – someone he has known for almost his whole life as a fellow Dix Hills resident. To make matters even better, he was roommates with his childhood friend, Stephen Woods. He recalls having a great season, a great time in the Hamptons and enjoyed the host family.
Once he went back to school, he had the confidence that he could be an impact player at the collegiate level. When the 2015 season began, it couldn’t have been any better. He was immediately named the Atlantic-10 Player of the Week after he hit 2 doubles, a homer and drove in 8 runs during the first weekend against Georgia State and a double header against Georgia Tech.
Unfortunately, the first bout of injuries started that weekend when he was tagging up to third base on a sac fly and sliding into third. When he gathered himself, he noticed an uncomfortable feeling in his wrist. During the week, he went to take some swings at the Lombardi Center – the gym named after Vince Lombardi – he described the pain as stabbing. Despite this, he played the next two weekends against Florida Gulf Coast and USC but he said it was a “9 1/2 out of 10 pain”. He went to the doctor and they diagnosed a TFCC tear which would require time off. On top of that, Luke began experiencing pretty significant pain in his tailbone which he said started as more as discomfort but soon progressed. The doctor diagnosed a cyst in his tailbone would would require surgery.
He met with his coaches and told them that since he needed to take time away for the wrist to heal he would get the cyst taken care of as well in hopes that he could return 100 percent healthy and ready to contribute at his full capabilities.
Little did he know, that moment was elusive.
The junior year was a mixed bag for Stampfl as he was able to play in 50 games but was shifted to third base for the Rams, as he continued to experience pain in the same location in his tailbone. His .253 AVG and 27 RBIs was below his expectations. Stampfl noted that despite it being his junior year, he had no summer team to play on. He had to advocate for himself to find a spot and fortunately, through his father’s connections he was able to find a spot in the West Coast League where he played for the Kitsap Blue Jackets in Seattle. He lived out there for the summer and noted that he was enjoying himself. That’s until he was hit with food poisoning and lost 12 lbs, and started to feel the pain again. He left a week early before the season ended to come home and went back to the doctor. They told him that the cyst was back and he needed his second surgery to get it removed – which took place in August 2016.
Due to that setback, he was unable to get in much work during the fall of his senior year. Additionally, he needed to have checkups every two weeks on his back. Luke noted that he went into the season with an attitude that he had nothing to lose and he was rewarded.
He got off to an incredible start. He compiled nine hits in the opening series against Houston Baptist in which he had a pair of four hit games. The next weekend against Long Beach State, he went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle to put himself in the school’s record books. Two weeks later, he hit a walk-off grand slam against Manhattan in Game 1 of a double header and hit an inside-the-park homer in Game 2. It was a very successful season already for Stampfl, however, he couldn’t avoid the injury bug completely.
He fouled a ball off the inside of his knee that wasn’t your average pain. He noted that he had difficulty walking for the next two weeks and was still allowed to play shortstop. After a couple weeks of struggling, coach called him into his office to say he noticed he wasn’t moving well, and he told him that he could barely move and he needed time off.
He rested for 3 weeks to heal the knee, but that’s when the cyst started acting up yet again.
Stampfl spoke about how this took a toll on him mentally, constantly dealing with the injuries and said “I felt like I had a downhill spiral of injuries that constantly plagued me.”
Despite it all, he still batted .313 and tied for the team lead in home runs (5) and an .888 OPS. He had pre-draft workouts with the Mets and the Yankees but was not selected in the 2017 MLB Draft.
This was a time of great confusion for Luke who had one year of eligibility left thanks to his red-shirt season in 2015 but hadn’t heard from the Fordham coaching staff about whether they wanted him to return.
Coach Bill Ianniciello came to the rescue again and asked Luke if he would like to play on his team in the HCBL again. Luke did not hesitate and jumped at the opportunity. As luck would have it, his first game was against Shelter Island, who was coached by none other than Matt Wessinger – who holds several offensive records at St. John’s University and was a volunteer coach there.
Stampfl had offered from Fairfield, Hofstra and St. John’s but chose to attend St. John’s.
“What a program. This is a true program. Coach Blankmeyer ran it like a corporation and he was the CEO,” said Stampfl.
St. John’s University
The Johnnies were coming off a 42-win season and were defeated in the NCAA Regional in 2017. They had a powerhouse team, but they had just lost star SS Jesse Berardi to the Cleveland Indians in the draft and could use a replacement.
During the fall, St. John’s was undergoing some renovations on the field and they needed to practice at other fields such as Preller Park and Queens College. During one meeting with Coach Blankmeyer, he was told “I’m going to give you every opportunity – we need a replacement for Berardi.”
Stampfl said, “it felt good to be wanted.”
The highlight of the fall for Stampfl was hitting a grand slam during an intrasquad against Joe LaSorsa, who was later drafted. Stampfl noted that their team really benefitted from facing their star studded pitching staff which featured several future draft picks such as Sean Mooney, LaSorda, Kevin McGee, Jeff Belge and a future big leaguer in Gavin Hallowell.
The only issue was that damn cyst.
It reared its head yet again at the end of the fall and it required a third surgery.
Stampfl told Blankmeyer about the situation – which was now the third consecutive year he was dealing with this – and Blankmeyer told him, “I’ve seen everything I need to see from you,” and told him shortstop was his position when the season starts.
He had the surgery and the expectation is that he would be back to full strength in a few weeks. That was not the case as it required a vacuum to drain the fluid, and then he was allergic to the tape that they used. During that time he was unable to do any baseball activity.
It took 12 weeks, but Stampfl was finally ready to go for the 2018 season. It was a great sign that he started the season of with back-to-back-to-back multi-hit games.
The Johnnies were an absolute wagon and they rolled through the season, winning the Big East against Seton Hall in the championship and their entire infield was first-team All-Big East.
“It was the best baseball memories I have, I told myself I was going to suck this all up like a sponge,” said Stampfl. The grad student batted .313 with 7 HRs, 34 RBIs a solid .891 OPS
Ultimately, they were placed in the Clemson Regional and given the No. 3 seed behind Vanderbilt and Clemson. They lost the first game, 2-0, against Vanderbilt before unleashing in Game 2 against Morehead State, crushing three home runs on the way to a 12-5 win.
In the elimination game against host Clemson, they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, thanks in large part to a massive HR by Stampfl and future draft pick Jeff Belge went 3 hitless innings to start the game. It appeared like they were cruising to a victory, but Clemson jumped on the Johnnies bullpen and ultimately came away with a 9-8 victory. Stampfl ripped a line drive to left field in the 9th inning right at the left fielder in what proved to be his final collegiate at bat.
Through the trials and tribulations, Stampfl played five years of college baseball. He never did get a second chance to get drafted in the MLB Draft but he’s at peace with that. He said he is proud of his final season and cherishes his time at St. John’s. They outhit Clemson and “proved that we could play with the ACC.”
“We were a true family. To this day, we have a Snapchat group and a GroupMe. People talk about lifelong friends, that was this group of guys. Some of them got a chance to play pro ball – and some of them still are. I truly wish the best for all of them.”
The Next Chapter
Stampfl took a month to decompress from baseball but stated that he had no regrets because “I gave it everything I had.”
His first job out of college was in cyber security at a company called Aon, where he worked for one year. His next move was working at Zimmer Biomet in medical sales. They specialize in orthopedic reconstruction. Stampfl enjoyed the job, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. He started in January 2020 just before COVID and he was expected to sit in the operating room during procedures. He did not feel safe doing so during the pandemic and had to call his boss to step down from the role during the midst of the pandemic.
After that, he took some time off to drive to Indiana with his sister to spend some time with his grandfather, who he had not seen recently. He added that it was nice to spend time with him.
Luke’s father owns an executive search firm and he went to work for him part-time while he figured out his career path. He came to the realization that he wanted to go back to school to get his MBA in business education. Luke went to Hofstra University, where he serves as a volunteer assistant while finishing up his program.
“I’ve been searching for what I wanted to do and I realize that I had the answer all along,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to coach and teach and that’s really what coaches do, they teach.” Luke stated that his ideal career is being an athletic director or principal in a high school while coaching baseball.
It’s been a remarkable story for Stampfl who has experienced some rollercoasters of emotion, but through it all he relies on his family and his Catholic faith to stay grounded and move forward in life.
