By Drew Buono

Logging in playing time as a freshman helped Ricky Caputo become a force to be reckoned with on the baseball field.

Caputo, who plays third base, was originally recruited to be a pitcher and part-time infielder for the Pride baseball team.

“With all the injuries we had during his freshman season, I decided to put Ricky in at second and he’s been our best hitter ever since,” head coach Chris Dotolo said.

Caputo has since moved to third base and has become comfortable at the position, earning All-Conference second team for two seasons.

“It was hard switching to a new position, but I like the challenge of learning something new,” Caputo said.

Caputo almost missed the opportunity to play college baseball completely.

“I really wanted to go to Hofstra,” said Caputo, who was originally recruited by Stony Brook to play football “I had planned on coming here even if I wasn’t recruited and try to get on the team as a walk-on. I was playing in a summer league and my coach introduced me to coach Dotolo.”

Caputo still plays in a summer league every year and attributes that to his success.

“I’ve played in both Cape Cod and Virginia summer leagues with some of the best players in the country,” Caputo said. “You learn so much from the other players and coaches.”

Usually the summer leagues start almost immediately after the college season ends. Caputo said it is very demanding to play over 50 games for the Pride and then go play another 40 games for his summer team, but he grinds it out and enjoys it.

With all of his time devoted to baseball most people would be surprised Caputo is a business management major, carrying 19 credits this semester. Caputo ties in his major with being the captain of the team, stating that both involve “managing and leading.”

The team had many problems so far this season, mostly with consistency.

“We’ve done some things good and bad on one day and then will switch the good with the bad and vice-versa on other days,” Dotolo said. “The team needs to get its toes wet,”

Caputo said. “Some of the games we lost could have easily had a different outcome.”

Caputo, who leads the Pride with two home runs, eight RBI, and a .350 batting average, has big goals in sight for both himself and the team.

“It’s very important to play well against the other teams in our conference and to focus on the future not the past,” Caputo said. “Winning the CAA title is the most important thing for everyone on the team because we all want the chance to be national champions.”