Photo courtesy of Kenya Allen
When imagining the concept of hitting a round ball with a small narrow bat, some would agree that the hardest part about baseball is hitting. This is especially the case for Lafayette, a team ranked last in the Patriot League in hits, runs scored, at bats, and RBI’s.
Senior tri-captain Andrew Santomauro apparently hasn’t read the standings; he is currently in the midst of a ten-game hitting streak. Santomauro has the longest hitting streak held by a Lafayette player this season.
For Santomauro, success at the plate doesn’t change much.
“I didn’t even know I had the streak,” Santomauro said. “When you have a hitting streak you don’t really like to think about it.”
His motto is to think of the next at-bat and not dwell on the past.
“I like to have a short term memory and not even think about failure,” he said. “I try to flush out whatever happens after each at bat.”
Baseball is an extremely mental sport, and a player striking out at their first at-bat isn’t exactly ideal. Santomauro’s success can be largely credited to his mental toughness and positive attitude, in addition to his talent and years of experience.
Part of the mental game goes hand-in-hand with athlete superstitions. Baseball players in particular are known to be superstitious, but Santomauro is not known to have my rituals. “I’m not a superstitious person but I have a particular way I step into the batters box. Other than that I just try to stick to a routine.”
When asked about his final season and what it meant to him, Santomauro responded, “Before this season started the four seniors came together and decided we wanted to have as much fun as possible because after this you’ll only have memories. We want to win but we want to have fun no matter what the outcome is.”
Unfortunately, there are some bumps along the road. Santomauro had to sit out Tuesday’s 6-3 win over Villanova due to a knee problem.
“I have irritation in my knee but it’s not something I can’t play through, especially with only four weeks left,” he said.
The centerfielder will attempt to take this injury on a week-by-week basis, hoping to make it to the end of Patriot League play. Santomauro is a crucial part of the Leopards’ offense, which will take on Navy at home this weekend.