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Pascarella’s View Of Field A Little Different This Spring

Southwestern senior Mitchell Pascarella will play baseball at the University of Connecticut in the fall. P-J file photo

The sound of the rain was pounding the windshield.

That’s all I heard that Sunday morning years ago. That and, of course, the monotonous click of the car wiper blades, which were giving my dad just enough assistance so that he could see through the windshield to Interstate 90, the route that connected — at least in part — our home in Jamestown to our destination in Cleveland.

And what did I see?

Nothing, and that’s the way I wanted it. The bill of my New York Yankees cap was pulled down over my eyes, because I couldn’t bear to watch the waterworks that had enveloped Dad’s station wagon. From my place riding shotgun, the rain almost assuredly meant that my dream of seeing my beloved Bronx Bombers take on the Indians in a doubleheader at Municipal Stadium wouldn’t happen.

But Mother Nature, thankfully, had other ideas. By the time we reached Cleveland’s city limits, the rain had stopped, the skies had brightened and my cap had returned to its proper place atop my head.

Mitchell Pascarella will also play in the infield at UConn. P-J file photo

There would be baseball.

Decades later, and with the world in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wish I could predict “Play Ball” will be uttered at area high schools this spring. But, sadly, as the calendar is about ready to turn to May, the notion that prep sports will appear at all is in serious jeopardy.

For Southwestern senior Mitchell Pascarella the absence of America’s pastime is “definitely tough.”

“I’m kind of just taking it day by day, knowing everything happens for a reason,” he said Monday afternoon, which would have been about the precise time he would have likely taken the mound as the Trojans’ starting pitcher against rival Falconer. “There are bigger things that need to be taken care of before we can get on the field safely.”

That’s a pretty mature outlook for the 18-year-old, who parlayed a strong junior season and an even better 2019 summer-league performance to earn a roster spot at the University of Connecticut. He announced his commitment last August.

“As of now, they’ve canceled summer classes on campus,” Pascarella said. “They’re still discussing moving it to online courses and I’m waiting to hear from the university about that.”

The pitcher-infielder was also planning to play for the Jamestown Tarp Skunks, but he’s awaiting word from a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League meeting — scheduled for today — to determine whether that season will commence or not.

In the meantime, Pascarella continues to work out on his own. That includes hill sprints to keep up his cardiovascular fitness and lifting weights. He plays catch with his brother, takes ground balls, and throws and hits into a net. And, of course, he makes an occasional trip to Packard Field in Lakewood.

Alone.

Just because.

Last weekend, Pascarella drove to the Trojans’ home diamond, parked his car, walked over to the swing set that sits at one side of the field, sat down on a swing, looked out at the grass and the pitcher’s mound and “soaked it all in.”

“It’s tough not to have your senior year of high school,” he admitted.

But the honors student carries on as his high school career nears an end, preparing for an advanced-placement calculus exam a couple weeks from now. Asked what advice he would give to his fellow student-athletes who may be struggling with the potential loss of their spring sports season, Pascarella offered this:

“Stay positive and be in the best mind set they can be,” he said. “There will be an opportunity. We just have to get through this.”

Until then, Pascarella continues to remind himself why he embraced baseball in the first place years ago.

“I’d have to say practice, and hanging out with my friends before and after practice, building those relationships with guys that will last a long time,” Pascarella said.

He’d love to be having fun in the dugout with his teammates this spring.

The view from there would be much better than from a swing set.

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