Baseball: St. Charles East's Adduci savors chance to play at the next level

There are many reasons why Anthony Adduci has wanted to be a catcher since the days of playing coach-pitch youth baseball.

"They're involved in every play," said Adduci. "You don't have to worry about getting the ball hit to you like you do when you're playing at another position."

There were secondary reasons, too.

"I thought that the (catching) gear was really cool," said Adduci.

Once dubbed as "the tools of ignorance" by Herold "Muddy" Ruel, a lawyer turned backstop who was a catcher with the Washington Senators in the 1920s (he caught Hall of Famer Walter Johnson), the gear includes a glove, mask, chest protector and shin guards.

Adduci, who owns a 5-plus GPA as a senior at St. Charles East, might take exception to the "tools of ignorance" terminology.

Earlier this month, Adduci accepted an academic/athletic scholarship offer to attend the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he will play baseball for the Skyhawks.

"I'm very excited," said Adduci, who began receiving recruiting interest from UT-Martin coaches after competing for his travel team, the Downers Grove Longshots, in the 2015 Perfect Game 17U National Championship Tournament this past July in Emerson, Ga.

"Our team played really well in the tournament," said Adduci, who has been playing for the Longshots since his freshman year. "We went 5-1 in a tough bracket."

With a number of collegiate coaches in attendance, Adduci helped his cause by hitting .400 with a home run, double and 5 RBI in 15 at-bats for the Longshots.

"His timing was good," said Anthony's father, Joe. "He hit a 360-foot home run that carried over a workout shed in the outfield. After that, UT-Martin started following him the next 3 or 4 days."

Adduci, who made an official visit to UT-Martin on Sept. 2, committed to attend the Division 1 school located in northeast Tennessee two days later.

"I loved it there," said Adduci, who is leaning on majoring in engineering. "I'm also excited about playing in warmer weather."

"To me, the number one plus was the coaching staff at UT-Martin," said Joe Adduci. "The head coach (Rick Robinson) is very experienced with a lot of energy and the hitting instructor (Rick Guarno) was a former catcher who played Triple-A ball."

Adduci, who earned All-Upstate Eight Conference River Division and all-academic honors last season, is not the first member of his family known for his athletic prowess.

His older brother, Dom, was a standout 3-year varsity basketball player at St. Charles East before attending Drake.

"While watching my brother, I saw the work ethic it takes to get to the Division 1 level," said Adduci.

Joe and Jill Adduci have piled up some heavy-duty mileage on their vehicles the last several years while watching their sons play their respective sports at the high school and travel levels.

"That was our family vacation for many years," Joe said of attending their sons' games. "It has been extremely enjoyable for us to watch them compete."

The recruiting process has been quite a learning process the past few years.

"There have been a lot of similarities in the recruiting process," said Joe. "After Dom's sophomore year, there were three or four college recruiters following him tight. Bucknell was one school that showed a lot of interest. Then, Dom suffered a torn labrum and didn't play summer ball after his junior year.

"Anthony had Division 1 coaches calling him all the time before his junior year," added Joe.

Adduci, who enjoys watching all major league catchers, particularly Yadier Molina (St. Louis) and Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee), has worked hard at improving all areas of his game.

"I've spent time hitting every day for the past three years," said Adduci. "I try to hone in on my mechanics so it feels natural in games."

In addition to receiving helpful tips from local hitting instructor Bobby Roan, Adduci has worked diligently on improving his defensive skills behind the plate.

"I've worked on blocking and stopping every ball and throwing," said Adduci, who batted third for the Saints last season. "Footwork is very important."

"Anthony has been very committed to being a catcher," said Saints coach Len Asquini. "He's a student of the game."

Adduci's hitting prowess is without question.

"He gets after it," said Asquini. "He doesn't get cheated at the plate. He hurts the ball. His strikeout numbers are very low. He struck out three times (120 ABs) last spring and once (40 ABs) this summer.

"We're very excited whenever a kid moves on to play baseball at the collegiate level," added Asquini.