By Warren Rappleyea
Old Bridge High School’s Luis Cruz pitched well this past spring but had just a 1-4 record to show for it.
Nonetheless, he was impressive enough to earn a scholarship to play next season at Rowan College at Burlington County.
“I think it will be a good fit for Luis,” Old Bridge baseball coach Jimmy Freel said. “He’s going to surprise a lot of folks. People think of him as an infielder who pitches. I look at it the other way. Luis is a pitcher who also plays the infield.”
In just under 35 innings, the righty struck out 33 opposing batters and had an ERA of 2.50. He has plenty of experience pitching in close games, as the Knights struggled to score runs yet still remained competitive, finishing up at 14-13.
“It was frustrating at times, and I was hoping someone would notice me,” Cruz said. “Our team worked very hard, and I thought I pitched pretty well; it just wasn’t showing up in the statistics.”
New Jersey City University expressed interest in Cruz earlier in the season, and he thought he would end up at the NCAA Division III school. In late May, however, the Rowan at Burlington coaching staff reached out to Freel.
“It happened pretty quickly,” Cruz said. “I visited the school and I liked the coach. He told me he saw me being a closer, and I liked that because I’ve done it before. The coach said he may also use me at shortstop. It’s an exciting opportunity for me to work on my education and, hopefully, go on to play for a four-year school.”
Although Cruz has been a pitcher and middle infielder since he began playing Little League ball and through travel ball in Bayonne, he has always considered himself a pitcher first. Cruz’s family moved to Old Bridge prior to his sophomore season, and he quickly earned a varsity spot as an infielder. He saw some time on the mound last season — closing out a pair of games along the way before becoming a starter this spring.
Cruz credits Old Bridge assistant coach Fred Cole with helping him develop mental toughness on the hill. The pitcher’s repertoire includes a fastball, curveball and changeup, as well as a split-finger fastball that he developed himself. The split-finger was working so well, Cruz began using it more than the changeup this past spring.
“I had been working on the split-finger for a while, and several people were suggesting ways to grip the ball and I couldn’t get it to work,” Cruz said. “I wanted to learn the pitch, so I kept throwing it and experimenting with the grip until I finally figured it out.”
Cruz is spending his summer working out and preparing for the short fall campaign with Rowan at Burlington. Following a late-season spurt at the plate, Cruz admits to looking forward to swinging the bat a bit in college.
“Luis was actually our best hitter the second half of the season,” Freel said. “I think his future is as a pitcher. He has great skills and if he continues to develop and gets a little stronger, he can definitely keep going with baseball.”
