Inside the Clubhouse: Eric Bitonti

When Eric Bitonti out of Aquinas High School (San Bernardino, Cali.) reflects on his high school career so far, he thinks about how much it meant to accomplish a feat that hadn’t been done in 23 years.

This past season, Bitonti helped the Aquinas Falcons capture its second consecutive Ambassador League title. Prior to the 2021 and 2022 league championships, the Falcons had failed to clinch the top spot since 1997—eight years before Bitonti was even born.

“It's been fun grinding with those guys and making a name for ourselves,” Bitonti said.

And while there’s a lot to think about after his upcoming senior season with chatter of the draft, Bitonti is focused on his final campaign at Aquinas. The upcoming season could be a good litmus test for both the Falcons as a team and Bitonti as an individual. 

“We’re in all the big tournaments. We're in the PBR Tournament (Preseason Invitational) here. We're in the NHSI. We're in the Boras Classic,” Bitonti said. “We are hoping to prove that we are a top team and that we can beat the best teams in the country.”

Bitonti, who is ranked No. 3 in California by Prep Baseball Report California, has been a key piece to the Falcons’ recent turnaround.

The big lefty from Hesperia, Calif. has been getting it done at the plate, displaying raw power with the bat. He’s always a threat to leave the yard, and can barrell up a ball to any part of the field.

Defensively, he throws from the right, playing shortstop, third base and pitcher. He’s got a great sense of getting around the ball and taking the best angles. His length helps him cover more ground as well. His arm has lots of life and it shows when he’s fielding or pitching. He’s clocked up to 93 mph on the bump.

The Oregon signee is coming off a junior season where he hit .526 in 123 plate appearances. Over the 31 games he played, Bitonti slugged 1.021, hitting eight home runs, 17 doubles and 41 RBIs. His dominance helped him earn Player of the Year for the Ambassador League.

As a team, Aquinas finished 2022 at 11-1 in league and 28-3 overall, while taking a trip to the semifinals in the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs. 

Another league title is up close to the top of Bitonti’s to-do list, but his competitive spirit has him hungrier for more.

“Our goal for this season is to win a league championship of course,” Bitonti said. “But overall, we want to bring a CIF championship home this next year.”

Over his three years at Aquinas, Bitonti has found himself rising to the occasion, emerging as a prominent voice in the clubhouse.

Aquinas Head Coach Mike Carpentier, who has coached the Falcons for the past three seasons, remembers Bitonti making a mature jump as a 14 year old.

“When I took the job, he came in as a freshman when we didn't have any juniors or seniors at that moment,” Carpentier said. “He had to step up at an early age and be a leader as a freshman. Those kinds of players don't come around very often."

Carpentier, who runs the Easton Prime organization, says that Bitonti’s extra effort outside of practice is also what’s helped him find success early in his career. 

Between his sophomore season and his junior season, Bitonti was able to strike out significantly less. In 2021, he went down on strikes 20 times in 93 plate appearances. 2022 saw him get out on strikes a mere eight times with a bigger sample size. 

Bitonti knocked in runs at a more efficient clip as well. In 2021, he left 30 runners on base, whereas in 2022, this number plummeted to three. 

“Our practices, when they're done, he's still there working. Days off, he's working. Vacation times, he's working. He's always doing something,” Carpentier said. “You either have it or you don't. He's one of the guys that has it and wants it."

Bitonti also learned a lot from the lows he’s experienced the past three years, just as much as he has the highs.

“There's been good times and bad times. It's not always just about the good things,” Carpentier said. “He learns more from failure. Some people do because of their competitiveness.”

But much of Bitonti’s character traits are credited to his parents, who he says are his main role models. His mother Marla is an elementary teacher, and his father Bill is a police officer. Bill also played college baseball himself at Cal State Bernardino.

“My dad and my mom are where I get my work ethic and everything I do from them,” Bitonti said. “The support I get from both of them is crazy and I wouldn't be where I am today without them.”

Bitonti’s upbringing as a child was filled with athletics. His parents allowed him to try out other sports on top of baseball, including basketball, football and wrestling. But he decided in seventh grade that he’d be focusing fully and solely on one sport.

“We're a baseball family but I also just love the game. That's when I figured I wanted to play baseball for as long as I can,” Bitonti said.