Baseball: Panthers seek growth as newcomers in challenging ACC

Pitt baseball sported a glaring hole in its 2013 resumé, falling short of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament that year. Despite the disappointing exclusion, the Panthers enjoyed one of their finest seasons on the diamond in school history. 

The team won a school-record 42 games, completed six conference series sweeps en route to winning 18 Big East games and earned individual accolade after individual accolade. 

Eight Panthers earned a spot on the All-Big East teams, highlighted by outfielder Casey Roche, who was named a first-teamer in the conference and also a third-team All-American. Head coach Joe Jordano took home honors as the best skipper in the Big East.

Even after the season ended, a couple of Panthers were still thriving. 

Catcher Elvin Soto (16th round, Arizona Diamondbacks) and right-handed pitcher Ethan Mildren (12th round, Minnesota Twins) were selected in the 2013 MLB first-year player draft. However, Soto was drafted as a junior, meaning he won’t return to Pitt.

While the Panthers ultimately failed to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the team did finish 18-6 in conference play and second overall in the final Big East standings. They led the Big East in runs (444), team batting average (.302), home runs (49), slugging percentage (.448), total bases (926) and walks (292).

Yet Jordano downplayed the magnitude of Pitt’s success last season, focusing instead on the year ahead.

“The fall season was solid,” he told the team site. “We have a lot of new players on this year’s team, and it took some time to determine where everyone needed to be. I believe there are still some unanswered questions, but I say that in a positive way because there is solid competition.”

Now a core of half-dozen catalysts from the previously successful campaign return for another shot at a tournament berth.

Roche is one of those six returning starters and enters having earned a nod as a preseason first-team All-American. The Panthers also return senior right-handed pitchers Matt Wotherspoon and Rhys Aldenhoven. Wotherspoon was drafted last season by the Detroit Tigers in the 20th round, but he chose not to sign. 

Instead, he returns to the team with Aldenhoven having been two of three fixtures in last season’s starting rotation.

Conversely, the Panthers have lost the entire left side of the infield to graduation and have to replace both Soto, their starting catcher, and Mildren, the top starting pitcher. Seeing a need, head coach Joe Jordano went out and signed Miami product Manny Pazos and brought in three junior college products.

Despite the holes left by a few departures, the Panthers still have depth, especially in the outfield, where all three starters — as well as five players who saw time there last season — will return.

Jordano said some of that depth is padded by the influx of recruits, each of whom has a role on the roster.

“We have a very nice mix of freshmen and junior college players coming in next fall,” he said. “It was our goal to continue our effort to raise the standard and the quality of player without sacrificing integrity and character. Each of our recruits will fill a specific position and will certainly elevate the quality of our program.”

The Panthers also signed three players who can play the outfield in Nick Yarnall, Frank Maldonado and Nick Montefusco. Yarnall and Maldonado are projected to be outfielders, whereas, Montefusco might make more of an impact on the mound.

The Panthers also added infielder P.J. DeMeo, a Pittsburgh Central Catholic product, and right-hander Dan Furman.

In total, the Panthers recruited 11 graduating high school seniors and three junior college transfers, in addition to Perfect Game’s Top Newcomer in the ACC Adam Dian.

Jordano added that “the combination of a world-class education as well as our move into the ACC” has helped Pitt’s recruiting efforts, leading to what he called “one of the best, if not the best” classes during his tenure.

Despite the great success that the team enjoyed last season in the Big East, Pitt will face a steep challenge in its first season in the ACC — a conference that placed eight teams in the NCAA Tournament and had six teams ranked in the preseason poll.

Fellow ACC members Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech all received votes, too. Yet Jordano sees the schedule as a challenge.

“I really like this schedule,” he said in a press release. “I think what you try to do is position your team to play against competition that is capable of playing, and has been successful, in the NCAA Tournament because that’s our goal.”

If you doubt Jordano’s calm approach to an arduous league, consider his initial response when asked about the transition to the ACC.

“I wish I had a buck for every time I have been asked that question. My response is simple. We will be ready,” he said in an interview on the team site. “Listen, I cannot predict wins and losses at this point, I don’t think any program can, but what I can say is that we can control what we are doing, and I can assure you we are working harder than ever, and our team is well-aware that we are taking a huge step up competing in the ACC.”

 The Panthers will play a 54-game slate in 2014 (30 road games, 20 home games, 4 neutral site games) that includes 30 ACC contests. They’ll also additionally play a home-and-home with West Virginia for the 23rd-consecutive season, the 136th and 137th times since 1939 that the longtime rivals have squared off as part of the Backyard Brawl. 

In 2014, the Panthers will face seven teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season and will host five ACC series at home (Virginia, Clemson, Duke, Maryland and Georgia Tech).

The Panthers open up conference play at North Carolina on March 7, a three-game series that runs through the ninth. Pitt will host its first ACC series against Duke from March 21 to March 23.

Jordano said that early season trudge through difficult waters will be telling of his team.

“Our first three weekends are against very, very good teams,” he said. “We will know where we are at after the first three weeks heading into our opening ACC series against North Carolina.”

The team opens its season on the road this Friday, before it travels back to South Carolina next weekend to face Butler, Fordham and USC-Upstate as part of the USC-Upstate Tournament.

But as newcomers to the conference, the Panthers have to come to expect it. Jordano certainly has. 

“[In] the ACC there are no teams that are weak, so each weekend is going to be a great challenge,” he said in a press release. “So again for us, it’s going to be a great challenge, but we’re really looking forward to this level of competition, and our guys will be ready for it.”