Castelluccio Clicked With St. John's From The Start

RIDGEFIELD, Ct. - Andrew Castelluccio attended a baseball camp at St. John’s when he was a 5-10 140-pound freshman.

“I went to one of their winter camps when I was very small and they liked me,” Castelluccio reflected. “We just kind of clicked.”

That made an impression on Castelluccio.

“It meant a lot,” he noted. “I was really skinny but they liked me because I projected well. It wasn’t just because I was big. I’m thinking if they like me then, they could possibly like me even more in the future.”

That proved to be the case and now the Ridgefield High School junior is a St. John’s commit.

“I went back to a camp my sophomore year and this past year sent them video,” the 21st-rated 2022 right-handed pitcher in New England said. “I kept them up to loop on my progression. They like how I progressed and gave me an offer. They were my number one choice.”

Castelluccio had interest from more than a dozen Division I schools with Fordham, U of M Baltimore County, Fairleigh Dickinson, Maryland, Wagner, Bucknell and Bryant the most serious.

“My freshman and sophomore years I went to a lot of camps and got my name out there,” Castelluccio related. “My coach at Baseball U did a lot of work to help with the process and I got some interest from PBR.”

That was when playing ball in college became more realistic.

“Since I was in middle school my dream was to play at the highest level, MLB,” Castelluccio said. “It’s one step at a time starting with college baseball.

“Over the last year I really had a big jump in velocity within two months. That’s when everything started to click. I feel what got me going was a PBR event before covid when I hit 83. That made me work harder and think that I could do this.”

Growth to 6-0 165 a year ago helped the cause and now the 6-2 190-pounder has reached 87 on the radar.

“I really hit the gym hard,” pointed out the 77th-ranked junior in New England. “I’ve been working on my secondary pitches developing a change, slider and two-seamer, working on my velocity and location. I want to be the guy who has pitchability that can locate, someone who has a little of everything. I want to make an impact my freshman year. My goal is to get in the 90s and over.”

The eighth-ranked uncommitted junior RHP in New England at the time of his college decision credits his family and parents, Pat Vigilio with BB U and Advance Therapy Performance in Stanford, Ct., with being influential in helping him get where he is in the game of baseball today.

“It was a good process, you’ve just got to be patient with it,” the just-turned 17-year-old said about his recruitment. “I kept coaches in the loop and sent them video. That kept me motivated.”

Business/finance is the college major plan for Castelluccio, a 3.9 student delighted about a future at the Big East Conference school which is located an hour from his Ridgefield home.

“My dream is to play at the highest level,” Castelluccio concluded. “I’m extremely excited to play Division I baseball and motivated to keep working for something even higher now.”