Testa's repertoire keeps getting better with age
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

With the momentum of a strong ending of the season for Wagner College in the spring, pitcher Joe Testa kept it going over the summer for the Concord (N.H.) Quarrydogs of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

"I just started messing around with a cut fastball and it wound up being one of my better pitches," said Testa, who had a 4-3 pitching record and a 1.8 ERA for virtually the entire season until a tough finale hiked it to 2.4.

"The cut fastball is harder than a slider but slower than a fastball, with a sharp break to it. I was throwing it the last five starts and now I'm throwing it a lot, consistently. I cut down on the walks - 14 in 55 innings pitched - which is something I've always tried to work on through college, and I'm starting to get better at it."

And he led the league in strikeouts this summer.

The Quarrydogs suffered a tough eight-game losing streak that jeopardized their playoff chances, and although they ended their season winning seven of 12 games, they lost a playoff game to advance to the league tournament, 2-1, to Lowell, Mass.

Testa, who pitched last summer in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, heard about the New England League from former Wagner pitching coach Jim Carone, who now coaches at Rider, and felt the wooden-bat league would help his game.

In fact, Testa pitched at least five innings for every start and earned NECBL Pitcher of the Week honors toward the end of the season when he hurled a three-hit shutout over nine innings, striking out 14 and walking only one. The Quarrydogs won that game, 1-0, scoring a run in the last inning.

"It's always hard pitching in tight games," said Testa, who has had his share of them this summer and for Wagner. "It's much easier when it's 5-0 and you don't have to be so perfect. In games like this, you're hoping as the game goes into late innings that your team can get a run or two for you."

Although he threw the slider a lot in the spring and summer and also used a change-up and curve on occasion, the fastball remained Testa's favorite pitch, especially in the summer, when hitters were swinging wooden bats.

"The fastball still is my strikeout pitch," said Testa. "I did not throw the curve as much with wooden bats. I just worked on my accuracy for my fastball. I threw the curve maybe 10 times a game. The velocity for my fastball was the same as in school, but I'm working on getting a few more miles, and I lifted a lot and put on weight [from 158 pounds during the spring to 175 over the summer on his 5-foot-10-inch frame]."

Getting about 300 fans on average for home games, Testa said, made Concord "a fun place to play, and the field was nice too," and said he enjoyed his stay with a host family there.

Testa said that with his summer season ended early, he had thought about accepting an invitation to join the Point Pleasant Merchants of the Jersey Shore League for the closing days of the season but felt it might be better to rest up for the fall workouts at Wagner that begin next month and run through October, with umpired scrimmages against other college teams. Along with working on his pitching, Testa also is thinking about his approach to the game, because he is looking to provide leadership to the college's pitching staff next spring as one of two seniors.

"Hopefully I'll get picked up or drafted, but I'm just looking to lead the team," said Testa. "Throughout my years in college and high school, l always had other pitchers taking control, and now I want to make our pitching staff better, to lead them and help them. Now guys will be looking up to me, and we have a lot of young kids coming in."

And Testa's had the credentials to earn his teammates' respect.

Despite a 4-6 record in the spring, Testa had a creditable 3.01 ERA. His losses included a blown save in his only relief appearance and a 3-1 loss to Winthrop, which scored two unearned runs.

"We lost a lot of low-scoring games," said Testa of his outings.

He twice earned Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week in the spring, the latter one a 2-0 victory over Monmouth University in which he struck out a dozen over the seven-inning distance to help drop his conference ERA to 1.8. He also earned Northeast Region Pitcher of the Week honors for that outing.

Two years ago, Testa set school records for strikeouts and innings pitched as Wagner had a school record 15 victories and made the NEC tournament. The Seahawks missed the tournament this past spring, but Testa is confident the team can return to the postseason despite losing five players, including four starters, to graduation.

Graduated shortstop Joe DiGeronimo was drafted, and the left fielder, second baseman and designated hitter also departed, but Testa pointed to some young, talented players, including freshmen starting center fielder Damian Csaki, a .300 hitter from Freehold, and right fielder Kevin McDonald.

"I think we have a good shot [at making the playoffs]," said Testa. "No one expected the freshmen to do that great, but they had stats you would expect to see from juniors."

And Testa has proven that he'll do his share to help the team again next spring.