Published: February 22, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y.
The third installment of a weekly series on RedStormSports.com,
the Captain's Corner will feature insights from each of the St.
John's baseball team's three senior co-captains - second baseman
Sam DeLuca, outfielder
Chris Joachim and catcher
Brendan Monaghan. DeLuca talks about getting dirty, the art of
the double play and the rigors and benefits of the team's early
season schedule.
You hit the ball hard seemingly in every
one of your at-bats last weekend. Baseball people say that the
stats even themselves out and you'll get some bloopers to fall for
all the line drives that were caught. How easy is it for you to buy
into that right now?
Sam DeLuca: I really try not to think
about things like that during the game or even off the field. I
just try to focus on the next play or my next at bat and do what it
takes to help the team win. At the plate I am just looking to
hit the ball hard, which is all I can do, but I do believe they
will even out in the end.
What is it about your swing or your
approach that makes you one of the nation's most difficult hitters
to strike out?
SD: My approach has always been to
look for a good pitch to hit early in an at-bat and to hit it hard.
I love to go up to the plate swinging.
With a runner on first base and a
groundball hit to you, what is your thought process as you're
trying to spin a double play?
SD: Turning a double play is all about
quickness. How quick you can get to the ball hit to you, how fast
you can get rid of it and how fast your shortstop can roll it over.
It also is important to set your shortstop up with a good
feed.
When is the last time you left the
ballpark with no dirt on your uniform?
SD: I can't remember. I love playing
this game and I feel that if I don’t dive for a ball in the hole or
slide into a base I'm not giving my all. So, I have no problem
throwing my body around.
You seem to have really come along as a
base runner in the last two seasons, how have you worked to get to
this point?
SD: I have really tried to improve my
speed and quickness with a lot of work off the field, but I also
feel I have learned a lot about reading pitchers and getting good
jumps on the base paths.
With the team's early season travel, how
fun is it for you to get to see all these new places and play in
the different ballparks?
SD: It's exciting to travel all over
the country and to see different towns and cities. The
atmosphere in some stadiums we play in down south is amazing, but
the best part of the early season travel is playing in the warm
weather.
Three good teams we're playing this
weekend, and we're looking to rebound from a tough start last
weekend. What did last weekend's game experience do to prepare the
team for another competitive tournament?
SD: Last weekend was tough for
everyone. No one likes to lose three games in a row
especially the opening weekend. We played against some teams
that were a little deeper into their schedule, but I think we
learned a lot. It was especially helpful for some of our young guys
to get a chance to play and get used to the speed of the college
game.