Pinoni's bat strikes fear in opponents

In the world of baseball there is no player as feared or revered as the power hitter.

A power hitter can change the course of a game with just one swing of a bat. He can amaze the crowd with tape measure shots to neighboring construction sites.

Most of all he can help win games.

This year the Duke Blue Devils have their own version of the Bambino, a powerful first baseman who goes by the name of Scott Pinoni.

"[Pinoni's] the prototype clean-up hitter," according to his coach, Steve Traylor. "When you think of a clean up hitter, you think of a guy like Scott. A guy who can drive the ball, that handles the bat well, that can drive people in, that does not strikeout much."

Scott Pinoni is a 6-1, 295 pound sophomore from Columbus, Ohio. He leads the team with a .386 batting average, 49 hits and 37 RBI's, and is second on the squad with seven homers and 12 doubles. All of this while opposing pitchers are pitching around him, giving him 28 free-passes on the season, by far the most of the team. But more importantly hehas been one the major factors in the recent resurgence of Duke baseball.

"[Pinoni is] a large part of the turn around," picher Josh Shipman noted. "Obviously we needed some offensive fire power, there are a lot of teams he can beat with a swing of the bat. But in baseball a lot of things are contagious, and he brought a winning attitude. And we have been winning since he got here."

But Pinoni is not the man a causal observer might take him to be, I mean at almost 300 pounds, one might expect him to be the clown of the clubhouse, the life of the party, so to speak. However, this is not necessarily the case as Scott Pinoni, is quiet, unassuming, and ready to lead more by example then by boisterous acts.

"Here comes a 300-pound freshman baseball player," Shipman added. "Now there is not a person on campus that does not know him, or that he does not know. If someone takes the time to say hi to him, he should take the time to figure out who they are and say hi to them."

So his teammates like him, his fellow students like him, and his coach is obviously pleased to have him, Yet from the begining Pinoni was unsure as to if he even belonged at this level.

"I my doubts coming in, whether or not I deserved to be a this level with these teams. So last year and the beginning of this year I really worked hard trying to get to where I thought I belonged here."

In reality Scott Pinoni did belong, and did belong from the miunte he first set foot on historic Jack Coombs field.

"Here came this big, huge kid, and I thought what in the world could he possibly do," Shipman remembered from the first time he saw Pinoni. "Then the first day in practice you see him warming up and hitting ball after ball over the fence."

Early last season, Pinoni hit the ball over the fence to help the Blue Devils steal what may have at the time been the biggest win in the history of the program.

It was the first game of the first series against national power, and the newest member of the ACC Florida State. It was a game the Blue Devils needed to gain some respect on the national level.

"I hit a home run at Florida State last year to put us ahead," Pinoni recalled the highlight of his career so far. "We ended up winning the game, 5-3 I think, and I hit the three-run home run. It felt pretty good, being the fifth game of the year and being a freshman, and [FSU] was one of the schools who recruited me, so...."

It is this year, though, that Scott Pinoni has really come into his own. "He is having the kind of year we thought he could have," Traylor siad. "He is hitting for average, for consistancy, he is driving the ball, driving people in. He is doing all you can ask of a four hole hitter. On top of that, he is playing an outstanding first base. I think the one thing that people do not realize is what a good defensive player he is, and beyond that what a good athlete he is."

But Scott Pinoni is more that just a big stick in the lineup, he is quietly becoming a solid all-around player.

"He is not just a big old power hitter which a lot of people are going to look at him and think," Traylor explained. "He is a good all-around baseball player.

"He is better than we expected. He is the kind of hitter that we expected him to be, we knew what a great hitter he was, and what kind of power he had, but he is a better athlete than we thought. He runs better, he plays first base better, he runs the bases better, he understands the game well."

"Obviously the way everybody looks at him is just a mountain," McNally said. "A big guy who is going to hit home runs. From high school to college is such a big difference, a big step up. Last year he did not hit off-speed pitches, and he still had a good year, this year, he is hitting for such a high average, he is not satisfied with just hitting a homer every once in a while. He is making the pitcher throw his pitch. He is hitting the off-speed pitch, he is playing good defense."

This year the team has gotten off to an excellent start, compiling a 27-8-1 record, 7-5 in the ACC, and a current ranking of 19th. Pinoni feels part of the reason for this is the attitude, and team unity present.

"Last year was good, but this year [the team] is like one big family. We hang out after the games and during our free time. Everybody here knows that they are welcome around everybody else. It makes us all go out there and work harder."

And working harder is something that Scott Pinoni truely understands. Last summer, Pinoni played in the Great Lakes league, a league which does not allow the use of aluminum bats.

The use of a wooden bat helped Pinoni learn to use the entire ballpark as a hitter. "I broke maybe ten or fifteen bats in the first week," Pinoni said. "I was trying to pull everything, but after a while you just have to go with the pitch, because if you break your bat it is not going to help you at all. Learning how to hit with a wooden bat makes an aluminum bat so much nicer."

Pinoni also used the off-season to show coach Traylor that he could steal a base or two.

"Last year I did not get any stolen bases, so when he came up to see me in the summer league I had two steals. I went up to him after a game and said `Coach, I keep telling you I can run.' This year he has given me a couple of opporitunities, hopefully he will give me some more."

And so far he has as Traylor has given Pinoni the green light at first seven times, and Scott has been successful on six of those attempts. Good enough to be the fourth most prolific runner on the team.

This is not as big of a shock as at first glance it might appear to be, as Pinoni also leads the team in triples with three.

As for what the future will hold for Scott Pinoni, only time will tell, but coach Traylor seems to think there may be life in baseball after Duke for the powerful first baseman.

"If I was a major league scout I would be taking a long hard look at him. You do not see people with that kind of body, that kind of power and that kind of athletic ability. He is rare.

"The one thing that there is not a lot of anywhere is big league power, so when you do see a guy who has it I think he is going to create some interest.

"He is going to be here at least another year, but if he keeps putting up the numbers, keeps improving his game, and gets his weight down a little bit where people are not quite so intimidated by him. He is a great prospect.

So for now Pinoni continues to bide his time, work hard, and hopefully lead the Blue Devils into post-season play beyond the ACC tournament.