In his first season at the helm of the Hofstra dugout, the MLB player of 14 seasons shocked the entire CAA. This Memorial Day weekend, the club walked away with the title-win of the same conference they were predicted to finish dead last in before their most magical run began.
With nine wins in a row during their walk-off-plenty sprint to a 30-21 record finish, Sunday, May 29, was just another day at the office for the Frank Catalanottoled hot-handed Hempstead heroes. Ryan Morash drew a bases-loaded, two-out hit by pitch to score team standout Brian Morrell from third, officially sending the Pride to their first NCAA Tournament with a final score of 7-6.
“It’s been pretty awesome,” Catalanotto said. “The confidence has grown with every single win. We never feel like we’re out of a game. In the four conference games in the tournament, we had a lead early, gave up the lead… a lot of times that would deflate a team. But my guys just kept fighting hard, and were able to come right back and win the game.”
Seeing up to eighteen graduating seniors in their dugout and bullpen, the old school leaning, contactover-launch angle and groundouts-over-strikeouts bunch is leaving it all out there on their fittingly heat wave-aligned hot streak. Yet, don’t be surprised when Catalanotto and his court that remains are expected to fare much better heading into next year than this year’s projections.
As for the winding down 2022 season: the rest of Division I had no fear of the underdog, and now they’re paying the piper.
First as a player, and now as a manager, this is where Catalanotto thrives. The “Heart and Hustle” author’s backstory as a Smithtown East ballplayer who impressed scouts sent to watch higher-touted talent is well-documented. He then spent the bulk of his MLB career continually working tirelessly, and successfully, for playing time someone of his exact skillset wasn’t given automatically during the era of the “slugfest.”
Even still, Catalanotto can’t recall ever feeling a single nerve on the diamond as a player, compared to the heart-pounding effect of dugout spectating as a coach.
“It’s a lot different from the pro side here,” said Catalanotto. “These kids have other things other than baseball that are consuming them on a daily basis. School. Getting to classes. Community service, pulled in different directions…”
Catalanotto cites his former pro player-assembled assistant coach staff as crucial assets helping him shape his mission to teach the “mental side of the game.” He detected players were a tad nervous when he first joined on, many having played with him as a video game character when they were children, or simply intimidated by the prospect of reporting to someone who knows Alex Rodriguez.
However, with time came the building of trust, and with that, came the strong sense of camaraderie and family that allows him to hook Hofstra’s finest in with the occasional, but nevertheless impactful “A-Rod” anecdote here, or Michael Young memory there. It’s his way of paying tribute to the mentors-for-teammates he collected over the years whom formed his early coaching sensibilities. It’s the type of maneuver that will inspire any good ballplayer to leap for greater heights.
Coach / “Skip” Catalanotto’s big-league pedigree brings forth big time communication. Every Sunday, Catalanotto walks around the field during batting practice and makes sure he talks to each player individually; he checks in to see how things are going with school, their girlfriends, other things at home, and even with baseball if playing time, or lack thereof, is a recurring concern.
“I know you haven’t been getting much playing time lately,” Catalanotto will say, “But I’ll get you in there tomorrow.” An honest dialogue, and a commitment to maintaining at least some form of a substantial comfort level? It’s all a player at this level could ever ask for, and more, from their foremost paternal figure away from home.
For their inaugural appearance in “the Tournament,” the Hofstra Pride will take on the 10-seed UNC Tar Heels, this Friday at 2 p.m. in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on ESPN+.
“Right now, these guys are playing with house money,” Catalanotto posits. “These guys are loose, they believe. And the thing is this: anything can happen in baseball.”
