Since 2018, Brad Camarda has been a staple of Hofstra University’s pitching staff. His career has spanned six years, two head coaches, 57 games, 37 starts, four complete games, one recent no-hitter and a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship win last season. After a notable career, Camarda is finally preparing to close the book of his Hofstra career.
Due to rare circumstances, Camarda’s unprecedented six years as a member of the team have placed him in the records, sitting at sixth on the Hofstra all-time strikeouts list with 178 as well as second in wins in Hofstra history with 18.
In 2021, Camarda began to start sporadically, but it wasn’t until 2022 that he finally found his place in the starting rotation full-time. Given the opportunity, he shined right from the jump and was a huge part of the Hofstra team that won the CAA championship, earning the Most Outstanding Player achievement at the conclusion of last year’s tournament victory.
This season, Camarda set the bar high for himself once again; he has already thrown three complete games. Camarda often finds himself pitching deep into games, throwing well over 100 pitches. However, he finds himself having very little trouble staying effective.
“Everyone has my back. I don’t strike out a lot of guys, so they’re making plays behind me,” Camarda said. “It’s just the will to win, and being a sixth-year, I want to enjoy those last three or four games I have ahead of me.”
This season he’s enjoying the games he plays to the max, as Camarda is first place in the CAA in complete games, tied for seventh place in wins with five and ranks 13th in total strikeouts. However, his 2022 and 2023 seasons almost didn’t happen at all, as injuries, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, almost derailed Camarda’s career on numerous occasions.
“After my first four years, I had Tommy John surgery and I had the COVID year, so I was pretty upset about how my college career had gone,” Camarda said. “I heard about these new coaches coming in for my fifth year and a lot of new energy, so that was a big deciding factor for my fifth.”
Among those new coaches was the addition of a new head coach. Former major leaguer and Long Island native Frank Catalanotto joined the team in 2022 and led them to the program’s first-ever CAA championship that very same year. One of the reasons Catalanotto was able to succeed so quickly was the ability to pencil Camarda’s name into the rotation once a weekend.
“It’s great for me because he always gives us a chance to win the baseball game,” Catalanotto said. “He never wants to come out of a game; he’s tough; I know he’s going to give me 100 pitches and he’s going to throw strikes. This year we haven’t had a lot of guys that are filling up the strike zone and pounding the zone, but he’s one of the guys that’s doing that, so it makes my job a lot easier.”
This past weekend, Camarda put on the best performance of his collegiate career as he tossed a no-hitter at Monmouth University in which he went the full nine innings and struck out eight while walking only two. This is in large part due to the confidence Camarda’s coaches have in him, allowing him to go deep into games and giving him advice along the way.
“They have confidence in me, and they always speak to me between innings and make sure I’m feeling okay,” Camarda said. “They always have confidence in me pitching a lot and being out there because they know I’m giving it my all.”
For many coaches and pitchers, once a starter begins to come close to that 100-pitch mark, it is usually a sign for the manager to start warming up the pen or at least to begin considering other options for the later innings of the game. That isn’t true for Camarda. Since Catalanotto joined Hofstra, Camarda has thrown over 100 pitches in a start 13 times. Just as Camarda has trust in his coaches, his head coach has full trust in his pitcher.
“He’s done it before; he’s very honest with me when I ask him how he’s feeling, and I feel like he’s a tough kid.” Catalanotto said. “He’s not afraid of tough situations that he may get himself into. There’s no one I’d rather have the ball in their hands when it gets into a pressure situation.”
Coincidentally, Catalanotto’s first year as head coach was also Camarda’s first year as one of the team captains. Catalanotto explained that Camarda displayed the most growth not just on the field, but also off it.
“I think he’s matured into more of a leader,” Catalanotto said. “When I first met him last year, I didn’t view him as a leader, but last year, I noticed that he commands respect; he leads not only by example, but he’s vocal. This year, he’s continued to do that.”
“It’s awesome; it’s cool to have the respect of the coaches and for them to name me captain,” Camarda said.
Even after an outstanding fifth year, in which Camarda earned All-CAA first-team honors, Camarda still considered not returning to Hofstra for his final year of eligibility.
“This year, I wasn’t planning on coming back, and after the fall, I stayed in touch with [Chris] Rojas, and we talked, and he was kind of like, ‘You’re never going to get this year back,’ and ‘If you don’t come back, there’s no more baseball,’” Camarda said. “So, I decided to come back, and I’m happy I did. I’m having a lot of fun this year, and hopefully, we start winning more.”
It wasn’t injuries or a transfer portal that made Camarda consider walking away from baseball, but the chance to assist his father in their family’s roofing business.
“There’s a family business I’m part of with my father. I work with him, and I like doing that,” Camarda said. “I was doing that all fall and over the summer, so I spoke to him and he was cool with me coming back [to school].”
As Camarda prepares to take the final bow for his Hofstra career, he looks ahead to the future and continuing to help his father with the family business. But first, he’s looking ahead to his final few games for the Pride.
Photo courtesy of Connor Graf
