From the day he played his first high school baseball game as a member of the Riverside Vikings, B.J. Bochicchio has had the answer to anything Lackawanna League pitchers could throw at him.
That success, however, left Bochicchio with a question.
“Last summer when I was playing American Legion, I was wondering how all the kids get seen by scouts,” Bochicchio said. “I asked around about how kids get seen who want to play on a top-20 type team.”
This summer, Bochicchio is finding out firsthand.
Jake Gronsky, a Danville shortstop on his way to Division I Monmouth University in New Jersey, provided the response Bochicchio was looking for .
Gronsky told Bochicchio about Baseball U.
According to its website, Baseball U has had 62 of its players land more than $5 million worth of scholarship money at 38 Division I schools in the past four years. It also had 16 players selected in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Major League Drafts combined.
Bochicchio sought out and received a tryout with the Wall Township, N.J.-based program and made the Prospect Team, the highest that Baseball U fields, along with four other teams.
That was just the start of what is now a summer-long family commitment as Bochicchio tries to improve his college options before heading into his senior year at Riverside.
Taylor American Legion coach Phil Godlewski, who coached Bochicchio on the Riverside junior varsity team in the spring of his freshman year as well as in summer and fall programs, said it is best that the prospect has found higher levels of competition.
“He’s gotten so much better that he’s above the Legion and fall league teams I coach,” Godlewski said.
Riverside High School coach Dan Digwood said he has seen improvements from Bochicchio in the past because of seeking out strong competition.
“He played last fall with the Moosic Mets,” Digwood said. “He had a great sophom*ore year for us but just seeing that level made him come back better.”
Bochicchio answered questions this week in a phone interview from a Maryland hotel room. He was in Aberdeen for four days for the Ripken College Invitational before moving south to the University of Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville this weekend. On Tuesday, the team begins the week-long WWBA 17-Under Nationals in East Cobb, Ga.
The schedule remains hectic throughout the month of July, but is giving Bochicchio the chance to prove he can continue his success against top competition. The 17-year-old has already shown he can dominate in the Lackawanna League. He has hits in all 37 high school games he has played and batted well over .500 during his junior season.
Even at his new level, Bochicchio got off to a hot start, going 8-for-15 in the season-opening Father’s Day Tournament in New York.
“He needs to see those Division I guys,” Digwood said. “There are a couple of guys every year in our league who can play at that level, but it’s the consistency. He just doesn’t see it often.”
Bochicchio, who alternated days at shortstop and third base on the first weekend, opened the Ripken Tournament as the starting shortstop and leadoff hitter for Baseball U. As the two-games-a-day tournament schedule continued, his playing time was cut down to rest a sore back before the more-prestigious events in Virginia and Georgia.
Many of the players who get attention from colleges play the high-profile positions like shortstop for their high school teams. Bochicchio may be able to stay there.
“I have talked to several people from the Big East and Big Ten,” Digwood said. “They think he can be a shortstop in college.”
Godlewski thinks he has what it takes.
“With his range and arm being what they are and his speed, shortstop is his best position,” Godlewski said.
While Bochicchio continues to prove himself on the field, he has support from his parents.
Bochicchio’s mother Lisa accompanied him to Maryland while his father Bill made plans to join them later in the week.
“They were behind me 100 percent,” Bochicchio said. “They knew there would be a lot with all the tournaments in the summer.”
Physically, Bochicchio has felt like he belongs with the top prospects he is competing against.
“I think it’s really the mental game,” Bochicchio said when asked what he has to learn about this summer. “All the kids on this level are so good that it’s about learning little things and staying consistent.”
Getting used to the travel is also preparation for what he hopes is ahead.
“I think this is good for me because it’s what college baseball is like,” said Bochicchio, who also took part in the Area Code Team tryouts at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown during June. “It’s giving me a good start.”
Bochicchio, who hit what is believed to be a District 2-high of eight homers this spring as a junior, would like to continue his baseball career at a Big East school or another college with a strong academic background.
“A couple seem to be getting hot,” Bochicchio said. “Villanova is probably the top right now.”
Seton Hall and Bucknell are also in the mix while Bochicchio has started receiving some preliminary interest from Connecticut, St. John’s and Rutgers.
If Bochicchio’s summer goes as planned, that list will continue to grow.
