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Baseball: Maine South grad Aloisio hooks up with exclusive East Coast team
Maine South graduate Patrick Alosio is pitching in Baltimore this summer. | Photo courtesy of Bob Alosio
Updated: July 15, 2012 2:48PM
One day after he saw his high school baseball career officially end in the CSL Senior All-Star game, 2012 Maine South graduate Patrick Aloisio boarded a plane to Baltimore.
Aloisio will spend the next two months living in a townhouse with some of the other players on the Youse’s Orioles. He’ll play baseball against, and alongside, some of the top players on the East Coast.
“I’m nervous and really excited,” Aloisio said. “I’m excited because I’m going to be away from home, and that’s going to be the first time I’ve been gone for so long. It’s going to be really good competition. I know a bunch of guys who have been drafted — Gavin Floyd on the White Sox played on this team, Reggie Jackson played on this team. I think it’ll be a really good experience, being able to compete against older college kids, and it will help me get better.”
The Youse’s Orioles, who play their games in Baltimore, are comprised of players who are entering their freshman, sophomore and junior collegiate seasons. The team’s pitching staff includes seven Division I players, and first baseman Ryan Ripken is the son of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
The team is a member of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League, as well as the All-American Amateur Baseball Association.
Aloisio is the team’s lone player from the Midwest, but was able to land a spot on the prestigious team through a connection with former University of North Carolina coach Mike Roberts, the father of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts.
“The coach of the Orioles lost a couple pitchers, and he called Coach Roberts and asked him if he knew any pitchers and he recommended me,” Aloisio said. “So it was a pretty good setup.”
The Orioles’ season began on June 6 and will not include many days off. Aloisio will have ample opportunity to improve before returning to Illinois and starting classes at Oakton College.
Among other things, Aloisio hopes to increase his velocity this summer.
“The harder you throw, it helps you get seen by good programs,” Aloisio said. “That’s the part of my game that needs the most work.”
Aloisio finished 10-2 on a Maine South team which went 32-6 this season. However the disappointment of the Hawks’ season-ending sectional final loss to Oak Park-River Forest still lingers.
Aloisio, one start after pitching 10 innings against Maine West to lead Maine South to a regional title, surrendered six runs to OPRF. The Huskies were able to hold on for a 10-8 win, and, three games later, won the Class 4A state title.
“It’s going to be there for the rest of my life, I would say,” Aloisio said of the defeat. “It’s cool knowing that they won state. We lost to the best team, I guess.”
Aloisio started Monday’s CSL All-Star game, which the South won 7-1.
“Even though I know it’s not that competitive, to get a win in your last game I guess takes away the loss that we had — the bitterness from it,” Aloisio said. “It’s a fun team, and it’s nice playing with all of the guys that you’re playing against. It’s a fun game.”
