Riverside pitcher wins mental game
Riverside pitcher Cristian Cicchinelli has a routine he goes through before he takes the mound for a start.
“I just try to mentally prepare myself,” Cicchinelli said. “I just try to talk to myself in my head about what I’m going to do on the mound, how I’m going to approach each batter. I try to take it one batter at a time and try to picture myself having good mechanics every pitch.”
He has obviously been listening to himself very closely.
Cicchinelli capped off an impressive run through the regular season and the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs with a 7-1 victory against Mount Pleasant in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Tuesday at Wild Things Park. So far this season, he is 7-0 in 10 appearances with a 0.67 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 52 innings.
Not bad for a guy who didn’t start last year and was having problems consistently hitting his spots.
“He knew he was going to have to pitch this year,” Riverside coach Dan Oliastro said. “It wasn’t, “OK, you’re going to pitch in the bullpen.’ No, he was going to pitch and he got real serious about it this year and bought in 100 percent.”
To that end, Ciccinelli worked on his mechanics throughout the summer and winter months to develop his control. He also improved his curveball, which has become a solid out pitch for him.
“I did a lot of strength and conditioning and I worked with my dad and definitely helped me a lot over the summer and winter,” Cicchinelli said. “We’d go to a local cage and work on my pitching and hitting, so I definitely owe a lot of this to him and my coaches because they held winter practices for basic mechanics and getting the feel back.”
Even with all the work he did in the offseason, Cicchinelli didn’t have his best stuff against the Vikings. He was erratic early with two walks and a wild pitch in the first inning, but still took a no-hitter into the fourth.
Though he was putting runners on — he finished with six walks and hit a batter — his defense had his back as Riverside turned double plays in the first and fourth innings to stop Mount Pleasant rallies before they really got started.
Even with his struggles, he still kept the Vikings at bay. In addition to the two double plays, Mount Pleasant hit into six groundball outs and popped out twice.
“Usually I like to take a look at the runners, but I focused a lot on the batter,” Cicchinelli said. “They honestly didn’t steal as much as I thought they were going to, so I noticed that and focused on trying to pitch to contact, get ground balls for my defense to make plays and get me out of the inning.”
Still, even though his physical approach to the game has helped him on the mound and at the plate where he had two hits and drove in a pair of runs against Mount Pleasant, it is the mental aspect of his pitching that has set him apart this year. With his ability to visualize the game, he has become a dangerous weapon on the mound that can make a big difference as the Panthers go for their elusive fifth state championship.
“I think once he knew he was going to have to be the guy, it helped and now he’s 70 with an ERA under 1.00,” Oliastro said. “And, the thing is, there’s room for improvement.”