Frasso Jumps To D1 Competition At LMU
• A “King of the Hill” athlete in soccer, basketball and baseball will be a college-level pitcher.
Peninsula High School’s male Athlete of the Year, Nick Frasso, will not stop his baseball career even though he has graduated. With so many athletes every year committing to various colleges and universities, it is difficult to get a student-athlete’s abilities noticed. However, Frasso caught the attention of the Loyola Marymount University’s baseball team.
“My plans are (to attend) Loyola, receive my degree and play baseball to the best of my ability,” Frasso said. “I am not really sure about my plans afterward, but we will see.”
Frasso has been playing baseball since he was a child, and his hard work has paid off with his commitment to the school.
In order to be recruited by Loyola’s baseball team, a student has to register with the NCAA eligibility center. Once registered, the student is eligible to compete at the Division 1 level.
However, at a school like Loyola Marymount, the qualifications to get admitted go beyond the NCAA’s eligibility requirements. Students must also meet the academic standards of the highly academic university.
Assuming Loyola gets the right types of students into its school, it also has to find the right types of athletes that will continue LMU’s nationally recognized baseball program.
Once the university has identified potential players that it would like to recruit, the school tries to get the students on campus for a visit. When the prospective players are visiting, the recruiters attempt to get a feel for the type of person, student and competitor they may be. If everything seems to qualify, they work with the family to make LMU a great fit for the students’ academic and baseball future.
Last year, the LMU’s baseball team was co-champions of the West Coast Conference (WCC), tied with BYU and Gonzaga. The team was ranked in the top 25 twice during the season and also had three players taken in the Major League Baseball amateur player draft in June.
The baseball team is a top-notch team filled with players who have a passion for the sport, which makes it a well-knit group that works well together and accomplish great feats.
LMU assistant coach Ronnie Prettyman was with Frasso when he visited the campus.
“When Frasso walks on the field he is noticeable initially because of his height,” Prettyman said.
“The first warmup pitch I saw him throw was impressive. He was constantly hitting 90 mph on our radar gun, and we feel like he has barely scratched the surface of his potential, Prettyman said.
“We found out he is a basketball player and we like two-sport athletes. Watching his basketball tapes it was easy to see how athletic and explosive he is,” said the Loyola coach.
After visiting the university, Frasso said that he thought it was a great school and the location was convenient as well. He personally thought that it was the best university for him and hopes for the best.
“[The coaches] feel like he has the tools to be a very good pitcher, and we plan to help develop him in the next step of his baseball career,” Prettyman said.
“Our freshmen will have to make an impact next spring for us to accomplish what we plan to accomplish,” said the coach.
“The guys who come in and are in good shape and ready to work will have the best chance to pitch their first year. There will be a lot of competition and that is what will help the cream rise to the top. Even though we have several new guys we will have enough older guys who will provide the leadership that is necessary to cultivate a team/family atmosphere. Once we come together as a group, the talent will shine and we will be tough to beat,” said Prettyman,
