Spring Break
Top Cat: Baseball pitcher matures on, off field
Neil Schneider/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Sports
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Recchia struck out a career-high 10 batters, and allowed only one run on four hits in eight innings, as the Panthers defeated Southeastern Louisiana 5-1.
While Recchia has had an impressive start to the season, Eastern baseball head coach Jim Schmitz believes there is still room for improvement.
"I'd like to see him develop his change-up a little more," Schmitz said. "There are going to be days when his fastball or curveball isn't going to be working as well, so when this happens he needs to be ready to go to his change-up."
Along with improving his change-up, Schmitz said he has noticed constant improvement from Recchia since he began pitching for Eastern during his freshman season.
"When Mike came to Eastern from high school, we noticed that he had really good velocity on his pitches," Schmitz said. "With Mike, we really tried to focus on controlling his pitches, because if you can't locate and control your pitches, then you're not going to be pitching for us very much. Mike has matured a lot since coming here. He still jokes around a lot with the team, but I think when he takes the mound he realizes that he must focus on his control."
Fellow pitcher sophomore Josh Mueller believes that Recchia brings not only a fun attitude with him to the team, but also a strong sense of team unity.
"Mike's that guy that is constantly joking around trying to get everyone in a good mood," Mueller said. "Mike's always trying to make sure that nobody gets down on themselves and remains positive throughout practices and games."
Schmitz mentioned that Recchia had all three of his pitches (fastball, curveball, and slider) working for him Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana and that it was good for Recchia to have a strong start to the season.
Schmitz also said Recchia's curveball is one of his biggest strengths on the mound and that it was obviously working Sunday.
Recchia credits his development and quick start to the season to the help he received from graduate assistant coach Skylar Meade.
Recchia said having someone closer to his age has allowed him to feel more comfortable with discussing his pitching abilities.
Recchia also credits his development and quick start to the experience he gained during his summer league play.
"My freshman year wasn't what I expected it to be. I came in thinking that I was ready to go, when I really wasn't," Recchia said. "Over the summer, I refocused myself and brought that back with me to the EIU team."
Recchia considers his fastball his best pitch and motivated by his love for the game.
Recchia's father has been his biggest influence, as well as being the person who got Recchia interested in playing baseball.
Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at jnschneider@eiu.edu.
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