Aquilante
trades infielder's glove for catcher's gear
By Mike Hendee
Old Gold and Black Reporter
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February 16, 2001
When senior
Jason Aquilante’s coaches approached him about moving from second
base to catcher, he didn’t know what to say. He had started 59
of 60 games at second the previous year, and had been very successful
there, earning honors for being the ACC’s best defensive second
baseman.
“It was a big shock,” Aquilante said. “It was the last
thing I expected to hear come out of their mouths. If you had told me
I would be a catcher for my senior year I probably would have laughed
at you.”
But there he was behind the plate for the Deacons’ season-opening
win over James Madison.
One may
not see the sense in such a move at first. There is an old saying that
advises, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Why
then would Coach George Greer and his staff want to tamper with a good
thing?
Part of it had to do with the injury to sophomore Steve Ghutzman, a
junior college transfer from Texas who had been catching in practice.
The emergence of sophomore Nick Blue at second base was surely a key
factor as well.
Most importantly though, Aquilante was and is a superb defensive baseball
player, and the catcher, along with the pitcher, is the most important
player on the field from a defensive standpoint.
Also, Aquilante’s experience and leadership as a senior made him
an excellent candidate to catch because he knew the system and he knew
the pitches well.
There were concerns about Aquilante’s ability to be successful
at catcher, however.
“My biggest concern was my knee, because I’d had it scoped
the summer after my sophomore season,” he said. “That was
their (the coaching staff’s) biggest concern, too. I had to work
hard in the weight room on my legs and conditioning.”
It’s not easy to be a successful catcher. It requires a lot of
adjustment, and it’s a lot different from playing other positions.
“In college the ball just moves all over the place,” Aquilante
said.
“You’re supposed to be in the game every pitch, but you really
have to focus back there catching. The game goes so much faster when
you’re back there because you’re involved in every pitch and
every play.”
But besides his knee, Aquilante had very few doubts in his ability to
succeed. “It’s just reps and pitches,” he explained.
If the first three games of this new season are any indication, the
evidence certainly supports the coaches and their decision. Aquilante’s
fielding has been flawless so far, and he’s also hitting .385 with
three RBI and one home run, although it is still very early for statistics
to be meaningful.
Aquilante
himself seems cautiously optimistic. “I felt I did a fairly decent
job,” he said.
“I need more work, but it was very exciting to take on a new role
for the team and see the game from a different perspective.”
“This was probably the easiest opening weekend I’ve had. I’m
somebody who has butterflies a lot but I told the coaches before the
games that I wasn’t nervous at all. I don’t know if it’s
being a senior or the new position but it was just exciting to be out
there. It was the most comfortable I’ve felt in my four years here.”
Aquilante also says he’s glad he made the move.
“I’m very glad I did it because it gives me another option
down the road with the draft and everything,” he said. “I’m
also glad I did it because I think our team is stronger now. Nick Blue
is a great second baseman. He’s very quick and smart and he knows
what he’s doing out there.”
Aquilante has already shown why he will be successful at catcher. He’s
an excellent baseball player, but more importantly he has the attitude
of a winner.
His first concern is for his team, and that’s something that can’t
be taught. He’s a great infielder, and all indications say he will
pick up right where he left off last year at second base. But as confident
and optimistic as Aquilante is, he reserves the same confidence and
optimism for his teammates.
“With baseball anything can happen,” he says. “I could
be back at second base tomorrow or I could be catching the rest of the
season. I could get hurt.
“We have a lot of catchers so I’m not worried that we won’t
do well if it doesn’t work out. We have a lot of competent guys
back there and I’m confident in all of them.”
“I also think we have a lot of quality arms – guys who can
start or come out of the bullpen. I think it was important for them
to come in and pitch well, especially against the quality teams we played
this weekend.”
He is also very confident that his team is a team to be reckoned with,
and rightly so. The Deacs return six starters to a team which has won
more than 40 games in each of the last three years and has made three
straight NCAA appearances.
“Everybody is talking about Georgia Tech,” Aquilante says.
“They have all nine starters returning, but one through nine I
think we’re the team to beat in the ACC.”
