Biography
By Jim Hague
After his first two seasons as a member of the Rutgers-Newark baseball team, Billy Cerruti was at the end of his rope.
The left-handed pitcher felt his career was wavering in the balance.
“My sophomore year, I was supposed to step up and I didn’t,” Cerruti said. “My confidence was shot. I came in freshman year not knowing much about college baseball and I thought I did alright, but after my sophomore year, I really wondered about where I was headed.”
“He started basically out of necessity as a freshman,” Rutgers-Newark head coach Mark Rizzi said. “There aren’t many pitchers who can get thrown in as a freshman and handle it right away. I told him that he was going to take a beating once in a while.”
But Cerruti slumped as a sophomore, posting a 2-4 record with a gaudy 7.71 earned run average. He was basically at the crossroads.
However, Cerruti was able to gain some valuable experience in the summer before his junior season. He pitched in the New York Collegiate League for the Brockport Riverbats. It was a highly competitive summer league and Cerruti earned his keep for the team, facing top-flight competition.
“I had a 2.00 ERA and I came back to school all jacked up, ready to go,” Cerruti said. “It really helped my confidence a lot.”
“Billy improved greatly over that summer and became a legitimate college pitcher,” Rizzi said. “I think any time you can pitch at a high level against quality competition is a big help. We just hoped that it could carry over to us. When he came home from that league, we could see that there was something there. He was changing speeds and locating pitches better. He was very effective.”
Cerruti knew that there was a major change in his approach to the game.
“I think I matured more mentally than physically,” Cerruti said. “I wasn’t sure where my head was after my sophomore year, but after going to New York and getting quality kids out, it got me thinking that I could compete and be one of the best pitchers in the conference.”
Last spring, Cerruti, a native of Oceanport and a product of Shore Regional High School, had a breakthrough season. He posted a 3.88 earned run average and led the team in innings pitched (69.2) and starts (11). He set a new school record for strikeouts in a season with 72. It was like a total transformation. He was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week twice, earned All-NJAC honorable mention and made third team All-New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association.
Cerruti worked on improving his change-up with pitching coach Adam DeLorenzo.
“I thought I had a good change-up, but I never had a chance to throw it,” Cerruti said. “I was strictly fastball and curveball. But Coach DeLorenzo worked with me a lot on the change and it helped a lot, especially in shutouts against The College of New Jersey and William Paterson.”
There’s another outstanding aspect to Cerruti’s pitching – namely his impeccable pickoff move. He’s picked off 15 runners in his career, including eight last year.
“It’s never been called a balk yet and I hate when people call it a ‘balk move,’” Cerruti said. “I picked it up my senior year in high school and been working on it ever since. I know that if he’s on first base, in my mind, he’s out.”
Rizzi doesn’t mind if Cerruti shows that sensational move right away in a game.
“I tell him it’s OK to show it at any time in a game,” Rizzi said. “Some teams are definitely taught to be running teams, but if they get picked off early, they might reconsider.”
“If a guy thinks he has a jump, then has to dive back, I know he’s not running on me,” Cerruti said. “It makes it easier for me to throw off-speed pitches with people on base.”
Cerruti spent last summer gaining more confidence playing in the Coastal Plains League in Martinsville, Virginia, playing for the Martinsville Mustangs. Again, the competition was fierce, with teams filled with players from Division I power conferences like the Big East, the ACC and the SEC.
“We had two different guys from our team get drafted,” said Cerruti, who pitched to a 4.00 ERA in that league.
“It’s invaluable experience, getting to pitch at that level,” Rizzi said. “He’s come back each year after facing Division I hitters with a lot of confidence. I think it’s just come from facing good competition and gaining confidence. He knows what to throw now and what not to throw. He’s developed into one of the best pitchers in our league.”
As the Scarlet Raiders prepare to begin the 2011 season in a few weeks, Rizzi knows that he has a confident lefty he can rely on.
“He has to realize that he’s going to face the best teams and the best pitchers,” Rizzi said. “Now, he has to win those games. Nothing is going to hold him back. I think he understands that now and knows what he has to do. He’s extremely confident now and he’s confident both mentally and physically.”
Cerruti feels like he is going to have a brilliant final season.
“I think we have a very good staff and we have the best team in the conference,” Cerruti said. “I can’t wait to get the season started. I’m so excited. The five seniors on the team are all close friends and that’s all we talk about. Ryan (Williams) and I feel like we can be the best pitching combination in the conference. That’s what we’re shooting for. We know we have the ability to do it.”
It’s nice to see the total transformation in Billy Cerruti, who is majoring in political science at R-N and hopes to gain acceptance into law school if the baseball career doesn’t pan out. For now, the upcoming senior season looks promising for him and the Scarlet Raiders. After all, he needs just 25 strikeouts to become R-N’s all-time strikeout king. Not bad for someone who was down on himself just two years ago.
