Fox Chapel grad DiMatteo turns from bullpen stopper to lights-out starter for W&J baseball team

Recruited as an outfielder out of Fox Chapel, Dante DiMatteo has spent very little time there in his three-plus seasons with the W&J baseball team.

His duties as a Presidents outfielder have been limited to a handful of games in his sophomore season, when injuries left the team short-handed in the field. The four hits he accumulated in 18 at-bats included a home run.

But that was merely a cameo role. Presidents coach Jeff Mountain knew DiMatteo was a hard-throwing pitcher, so Mountain had been using him in high-leverage relief situations.

Over his first two seasons, DiMatteo amassed 14 saves — 10 as a freshman, which earned him second-team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honors — and a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 70 in 54 innings.

Last season, DiMatteo moved into the starting rotation, going 6-1 with a 4.17 ERA, including a complete-game shutout of Colby in an elimination game of the NCAA Regional. That game was a preview of coming attractions.

“It was either win, or our season’s done,” said DiMatteo, now a senior captain. “So, coming into that day, I really just had all the confidence in the world in myself. I didn’t feel the pressure on me. I just went out there, and that’s really when the switch flipped for me.”

Opponents haven’t figured out how to turn it off.

Entering Sunday’s games, DiMatteo was 5-0 — eight appearances, six starts — with a 0.56 ERA (two earned runs in 32 innings). He struck out 33 while yielding only nine walks.

“I think the biggest thing with Dante is he didn’t realize actually how good he could be,” said Mountain, in his 23rd season at W&J. “I think he had to develop a little attitude on the mound, a little more confidence in himself. And he’s done that, to his credit.”

Though his four-seam fastball can creep into the low-90s, DiMatteo is more likely to rely on guile and location. His repertoire features a curveball that, he said, moves more like a slider, and a changeup he has been refining the past couple of seasons.

Moving into the starting rotation required DiMatteo to reset his approach to pitching. Whereas, as a closer, he leaned more on a steady diet of heaters, now he picks his spots to pitch with power, trying to keep his velocity from dropping off in the later innings.

“(Former Pirate) Clay Holmes going from closer to a starter for the Mets this year, it’s completely different,” Mountain said. “You can’t just air it out for 15 or 20 pitches. You’ve got to figure out how to stay in the game and be effective for 90 or 100, 105 pitches.”

DiMatteo said he now is more of a “pitcher” as opposed to being a “thrower.” He said he can put each of his pitches wherever he wants, whenever he wants.

“I really had no idea where the ball was going,” he said about his early days as a college pitcher. “My head was whipping around. But now I have honed my mechanics … because that’s what’s going to make you throw more strikes.”

All of that has allowed him to be the linchpin of a stacked pitching staff. Freshman Erik Streussnig (Plum) and senior Ethan Marszalek were a combined 8-1 through Saturday’s games, and sophomore Brendan Cruz has been a stalwart in the bullpen.

DiMatteo and his fellow pitchers are a big reason W&J was picked to win the PAC and a big reason the Presidents entered Sunday at 9-1 in the conference (18-5 overall). But DiMatteo wants more than that. He wants to finish his college career with a trip to the Division III World Series.

“This is definitely the most complete team we’ve had in my four years,” he said, “so I’m confident we can make it to the World Series. The past three years, we lost in the regional, and we’re sick and tired of doing that.”