Work ethic paid off for Patitucci
Mike Patitucci’s work ethic set him apart from other athletes at an early age.
“My dad, Tony, instilled in me a work ethic,” Patitucci stated. “I remember being five or six years old and watching him in the weight room, and couldn’t wait to get to the point where I could workout, too. It’s kind of an addiction once you start to see the results.”
A three-sport star at Brownsville High school, Patitucci excelled at football, baseball and track.
The Falcons were a gridiron power with Patitucci at quarterback. They posted records of 4-6 in 1996, 11-2 in 1997, they lost in the regular season to Belle Vernon, 14-6. In the WPIAL playoffs, the Falcons knocked off Chartiers Valley, 28-8, Ellwood City, 14-7, and North Catholic, 14-13, before falling to West Allegheny in the WPIAL Class AAA title game, 51-24.
In Patitucci’s senior season in 1998 the Falcons went 10-2, losing to Charleroi, 21-18, during the regular season. In the WPIAL playoffs, Brownsville defeated Freeport, 34-0, Waynesburg Central, 26-0, but were downed by Shadyside Academy, 39-0, one game shy of the WPIAL Class AA championship game.
“We had a good run,” Patitucci said. “We had a lot of dedicated guys who took the athletics as well as the academic part of it super serious. It was something that we had instilled in us as kids, from midget league through junior high to high school. We were all pretty motivated and pretty dedicated, and thank goodness we had the talent there too, and some good coaches to go along with it.”
The 6-foot,185-pound Patitucci tossed five touchdowns passes as a sophomore. In his junior year, he scored 10 touchdowns and six point after touchdowns for a total of 66 points. He also threw 15 touchdown passes. In his senior campaign, Patitucci scored three touchdowns and 14 points after touchdown. He also tossed 14 touchdown passes.
“Mitch Mitchell was probably one of my best targets back in the day,” Patitucci stated. “Who couldn’t love a 6-6 receiver in high school. My junior year my target was probably Quinton Biddings, he was probably my main target in 1997. Mitchell took the reins after Biddings left in our senior year.”
One of the big highlights of Patitucci’s football career was throwing four touchdown passes in a 44-20 win over Mount Pleasant in 1997.
“You know Mount Pleasant is always tough,” Patitucci said. “Anytime you see Mount Pleasant on the schedule you know you are going to be in for a dog fight. To come out and perform like that everything seemed like it was in slow motion and it was the third game and that’s kind of how we measured our season. When we beat Mount Pleasant, we felt we had something good going.”
Patitucci still feels the pain of the losses during the WPIAL playoffs.
“That was heartbreaking, there’s no doubt about it,” Patitucci lamented. “We knew that we were undersized and we weren’t a monster powerhouse school, we knew once we got to a certain level that it was just going to be the size that was ultimately going to be our downfall, because we had talent, we had guys that their hearts were bigger than their stature.
“I think my center was smaller than I was. It’s not often that you see a center that’s smaller than the quarterback. We had great heart and great coaching to make it as far as we did.”
Patitucci had great things to say about his old coach Don Bartolomucci.
“Bartolomucci, we were so eager to take in anything that he said.” Patitucci opined. “He had so many years of experience at Beth-Center before he came to Brownsville, he was a winner and he was so motivating as far as the way he coached. He demanded a lot out of you and that was one of the main things that created the success.”
He was a force on defense as well playing cornerback.
“Actually it was pretty fun that I made the All-State team as a cornerback my senior year and not quarterback, which is kind of interesting,” Patitucci said. “I was first team All-State corner and didn’t get the recognition as a quarterback, which was pretty funny to me back then.”
Patitucci was a three-year letter winner in football, and received all-state, all-conference and all-county honors as a quarterback/defensive back in football.
In baseball, Patitucci was an all-conference and all-county choice as an outfielder/pitcher.
“I was hurt my junior year,” Patitucci recalled. “I tore a pectoral muscle, so I didn’t play baseball my junior year. Instead I ran track. I did pretty well with track.”
He earned all-conference and all-county plaudits as a sprinter on the track team.
Patitucci had an outstanding year in baseball his senior year. He went 10-0 as a pitcher and hit .395 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs. Brownsville lost to Waynesburg Central in the WPIAL Class AA championship game and the PIAA semifinals.
He accepted a football scholarship to Ohio University, even though a lot of top baseball schools were clamoring for his services.
“In the back of my mind I’m thinking I should be playing baseball,” Patitucci said. “I was at Ohio U. one semester. I decided to go to Gulf Coast Community College with Coach Darren Mazeroski.”
Patitucci played two seasons at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. He was an all-conference selection after his sophomore season, he batted .395 in 2001 with 10 homers. He then played for Tom Holliday at Oklahoma State. He was used mostly as a lefty relief pitcher with the Cowboys. In 2002 he was 0-2 with a 2.45 ERA and one save. He also had eight plate appearances hitting .375 with one home run and six RBIs. He was drafted by Baltimore in the 19th round of the baseball draft.
“In hindsight I probably should have gone back for my senior year,” Patitucci said. “A whole year at that level pitching would have been really good for me.”
Patitucci played three season in the Orioles minor league system. He posted a record of 7-2 with a 4.15 ERA. He notched 11 saves. He decided to quit baseball after the 2004 season.
“I saw guys who were 28 and 29 years old in spring training, I didn’t think it was going well for me” Patitucci stated. “I didn’t want to be a minor league lifer, so I gave it up.”
Patitucci, 33, resides in Bradenton, Fla. with his fiance Jennifer, the have a son and a daughter. He is the new car manager at Cox Chevrolet in Bradenton.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in Monday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.