PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Peabody’s Bobby Tramondozzi used to come to Navigators games as a fan, but now he’s the one in the spotlight.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
LYNN — It has been quite a year for Bobby Tramondozzi.
Going into his freshman season at UMass Boston, college baseball was pretty much an unknown.
“Coming to UMass was like a big game-changer because I didn’t really know what I was going into,” said the Peabody native. “The workout plan and all the running we had to do was very different from high school.”
Before long, the former Northeastern Conference All-Star was playing a key role in the bullpen for the Beacons, finishing the season tied for the team lead with 22 appearances.
Tramondozzi started the summer with the Intercity League’s Melrose Americans, but got a call to the North Shore Navigators a couple weeks into the Futures Collegiate Baseball League season.
Now, he’s just soaking it all in.
“It means a lot because I used to come to these games when I was younger,” Tramondozzi said. “It’s a big thing for my family and a great honor to be called by this team just a few games (into the season).”
Rosters are always changing in summer collegiate baseball. The Navigators made more than a half-dozen moves before the season was two weeks old.
Thus, there was no real tale behind Tramondozzi’s arrival. He was one of the next men up.
“Attrition, that was it,” Navigators manager John Zizzo said. “Terk (Navs general manager Bill Terlecky) had him on the list and we needed some help. We had some guys drop out, so we added him. Thankfully we did because he’s been great.”
The summer certainly classifies as a dream come true for Tramondozzi, but he knows there is work to be done. UMass Boston head coach Brendan Eygabroat said this summer is critical for the rising sophomore.
“The coaches at school think this is a big opportunity for me,” the 5-foot-10, 185-pound righty said. “The league is full of Division 1 and high-Division 2 prospects, so pitching here will really help me transform into a better pitcher for next year with all the competition we have to face.”
This spring at UMB, Tramondozzi pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen. He immediately made the most of the opportunity to join the Navs rotation, allowing just one earned run over his first 11.2 innings en route to earning victories in each of his first two starts.
Tramondozzi proved to be the right guy at the right time for the Navigators, although even he didn’t really expect to join the rotation right off the bat.
“Coming in, I honestly never thought I would get a start since I only started once in college,” Tramondozzi said. “Being local and having everyone see I’m doing well has been fun. It felt good coming out here.”
Even just a few appearances into the summer, Tramondozzi has noticed a big difference in the level of competition the FCBL offers.
The Little East Conference is one of the best Division 3 circuits in New England year after year, but facing some of the country’s top talent in every lineup is a challenge Tramondozzi embraces.
“With these D1 hitters, you really have to know what you’re doing out there,” he said. “You can’t just leave it middle, or they’ll crush it over the fence.”
Tramondozzi’s top summer goal is to work on his offspeed stuff, which he considers the weakest in his arsenal. It’s the time where college baseball players can toy around with what they have, so Tramondozzi is using his stint as a Navigator to better himself before returning to school with hopes to helping the Beacons to a Little East title.
“I wanted to work more on the location of my offspeed pitches, and the fastball too obviously,” he said. “I’m trying to take in what these hitters give you and focus on what they do.”
For Tramondozzi and college baseball players everywhere, time in the “classroom” is never over.
Joshua Kummins can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.
