Jun 16, 2002 By Rob Burchianti 7 min read

Mike Patitucci was at Ohio University with a full football scholarship in the fall of 1999. But something wasn’t quite right.

After carefully analyzing his situation, Patitucci saw a brighter future in baseball than he did on the gridiron. He left his football career and his scholarship behind for the diamond.

Now the Brownsville Area High School graduate is glad he did.

Patitucci was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles as the fourth pick in the 19th round and 556th selection overall of the Major League Baseball draft on Tuesday, June 4.

The 21-year-old left-hander had just recently completed his first season at Oklahoma State after spending two years at Gulf Coast Community College.

He is currently working out in Florida as the Orioles determine whether to send him to either Bluefield, W.Va., a Class A Rookie League team that plays in the Appalachian League, or Aberdeen, Md., a Class A Short Season League team entering its inaugural season that plays in the New York-Penn League. Opening day for both teams is June 18.

“I was brought in to Ohio as a quarterback, but they had another freshman who had more experience than me with the system they run there,” Patitucci said. “Overall, I thought me chances there of seeing a lot of playing time weren’t that good. And I was getting a lot of calls about baseball. Mississippi State and Oklahoma State were a couple that were interested, so I had some bigger schools checking into me.

“It was tough to convince my parents that I should give up a full scholarship for baseball. But I wanted to do it. I felt like it would work out. So I’m glad I did what I did.”

Patitucci was an enormous star in high school. He quarterbacked the Falcons to the WPIAL Class AAA championship game in 1997. Thanks to his talented arm and potent bat, Brownsville’s 1999 baseball team was a section champion, a WPIAL finalist and a PIAA semifinalist. Patitucci excelled at track and field as well.

Patitucci, the son of Anthony and Diedra Patitucci of Brownsville and Mary Patitucci of Uniontown, left Ohio after only half of a year, transferring to Gulf Coast to play baseball. He spent the rest of his freshman year and his entire sophomore year there as a left-handed hitting position player and batted .395 with 10 homers last season.

“I would close once in a while, but I wasn’t really there as a pitcher,” said the 6-foot, 190-pounder.

Patitucci then shifted to Oklahoma State, where he fashioned a 2.42 ERA in 15 games, mainly as a reliever, this past season. He was 0-2 with one save and gave up 24 hits and 11 walks with 19 strikeouts in 22 1-3 innings for the Cowboys.

Patitucci also hit .375 in limited action with the bat. His best game at the plate came on March 6 against Western Illinois when he socked a three-run homer while going 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

Pitching was Patitucci’s forte, however, and he displayed some of his toughness late in the season against powerful Oklahoma on May 18. Entering the game with the bases loaded and none out in the eighth inning, Patitucci came up with two strikeouts sandwiched around a pop out to strand the three runners.

Several major-league teams showed interest in drafting Patitucci, so he was not surprised when his name came up well before the end of the 50-round, two-day event.

“I knew before the draft that I was going to be picked,” Patitucci said. “Guys talk to you. One of the scouts had me going as high as the eighth round.”

The San Diego Padres showed the most interest in Patitucci besides Baltimore. The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago Cubs also made contact.

“Doug Dascenzo is a coach at Class AAA with the Padres, and he said they were looking at me pretty hard,” Patitucci said of the fellow Brownsville graduate and ex-major leaguer who was a good enough player for the Cowboys to be inducted into the Oklahoma State Hall of Fame.

Orioles scout Dominic Viola was heavily recruiting Patitucci and stayed in touch with him throughout the draft.

“He kept in contact with me, telling me what round they were in,” Patitucci said.

Finally, with the 556th overall selection, the Orioles selected Patitucci.

“It was a relief to finally get picked,” said Patitucci, who played in a couple Fayette County Baseball League games to try and stay sharp before the draft.

Patitucci signed with the Orioles this past week.

“I could’ve stayed at Oklahoma State for my senior year and maybe got drafted higher next year,” Patitucci said. “I thought about that for about five minutes. Then I said, no. I made up my mind I wasn’t going back. I was going with the Orioles. There’s always the chance I might get injured. I figured I might as well go for it now that I’ve got the chance.”

One team that showed no interest in Patitucci was the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I remember I had a tryout with them out of high school as an outfielder, then that was it,” Patitucci recalled. “I like the Pittsburgh area and it would’ve been nice to get picked by them.

“Everything worked itself out in the end, though. Baltimore’s minor-league teams aren’t that far away from here, so it’ll be possible for my family to come see me play, maybe come down on some weekends and catch some games.

“I wasn’t that big of an Oriole fan, but everybody is a Cal Ripken Jr. fan at some time in their life. I do like the city of Baltimore, too. I’ve been there a couple times with my family.”

If Patitucci is sent to Aberdeen, he’ll be playing in Ripken’s hometown at the IronBirds’ brand new Ripken Stadium.

Patitucci has gradually sharpened his pitching skills in the past year or two.

“One thing I did that really helped me is when I quit doing workouts for football,” Patitucci said. “I laid off the weights and my fastball went from 86 mph to 92 in two months. I’m on a throwing program now.”

Patitucci still has the sharp-breaking curve ball that made high school batters wave and miss so often, and also throws a slider and a changeup.

“I’m still a little bit inexperienced as far as pitchers go,” Patitucci said. “I have a room for improvement, and hopefully I make some big strides when I get to the minor leagues.

“I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know what to expect going in there. I just want to try to stay in the game mentally. When you start doubting yourself, you run into trouble. I want to stay focused, work out and stay motivated. The Orioles will determine where they want me to go and if they want me to start or relieve.”

Oklahoma State has produced several current major leaguers, including outfielder Jeromy Burnitz of the New York Mets and third baseman Robin Ventura of the New York Yankees.

As for local products, Laurel Highlands graduate Terry Mulholland is a left-handed reliever with the Los Angeles Dodgers, while John Dillinger, Clint Weibl, Jason Bowers and Jory Coughenour are all in the minor leagues.

“It’s time for somebody else from around here to make it to the major leagues,” Patitucci said. “It hasn’t happened for awhile. Hopefully, we can all make it up there one day.”

Patitucci can more than dream about playing in the big leagues now.

“I catch the Orioles on Sportscenter now and then. It’s cool to see the big guys play,” Patitucci said. “When I was in high school, playing there seemed so far away.

“But now, I if all goes well for me in the next few years, I might get that chance.”