By Nicholas Gallo, Staff Writer
After striking out 11 batters in a 1-0 Bonnies win over James Madison University, redshirt junior Ben Contento earned Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honors. Contento also lead the Bonnies pitching staff with a win over the Dukes on Sunday, March 11.
Contento’s main reason for coming to St. Bonaventure was the baseball program. Not only did he think the program was great but there were other factors that helped make his decision.
“After visiting the school, I found that the campus was great, and I like the idea of having everything close,” said Contento. “Whether I wanted to go eat, go to the gym, hangout with people or just relax at my apartment, it’s all within a minute.”
Coming in as a freshman, Contento looked up to his former pitching teammate, Steve Klimek. Before he was drafted in the 33rd round by the Baltimore Orioles, as a junior in 2015, he saw Klimek had a great work ethic and noticed he was always working on something to get better and it stuck with him.
Being around the team for three years now, Contento has become comfortable around his surroundings and his team. As a result, his work ethic have improved.
“I feel like I changed my work ethic and was more efficient in what I did after my freshman year,” Contento said. “Just being around other college athletes makes you want to work harder, and it stuck with me through the last couple of years and helped me throughout the rehab process after my Tommy John surgery.”
According to Baseball Reference, it is a surgical operation in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from either the forearm, hamstring, or foot of the patient.. The surgery was named after the pitcher, Tommy John, which was performed in 1974.
Following his sophomore season during summer ball, Contento said he hurt his elbow after throwing too many pitches after not building up his pitch count properly. This injury would slowly progress into something that he didn’t know was coming.
“I was throwing a great game and got caught in the moment on pitch 118, 119 as I felt a pull/stretch in my elbow, but I didn’t think anything of it,” Contento said. “After a few months and dropping a total of 9 mph off my fastball since the pulling sensation in my elbow, I finally got an MRI in mid-late November of my junior year and found that there was a 50 percent tear in my UCL, which would require Tommy John Surgery.”
After having season-ending surgery, Contento said it was a tough experience seeing all he had worked for over the past few years accumulate to nothing and having to start over from scratch was frustrating.
“I coached first base my junior year, so I was still able to travel with the team and be there for the entire journey, which was a good experience to have,” said Contento. “At times, it was frustrating to be there but not able to contribute on the field was tough.”
Right after surgery, Contento would get right to work with his recovery program. He would work with the team and the training staff to get back into baseball shape.
“It started with trying to get back some strength and range of motion and during the first week post-operation, all I could really do was squeeze a stress ball,” Contento said. “I could still do legs at the gym, so I tried to keep them as strong as possible, and then for the first three months, I was only able to do some of the strength and range of motion exercises.”
Contento was frustrated with the process, but after throwing for the first time after 5 months, he could only play catch for the most part. Over the summer, he stayed on campus and worked an internship at the Office of Events and Conferences, so he could continue his rehab at school. “I would grab a bucket of baseballs and would throw them into a net, and when school started back up again, I was able to throw with a few guys again,” Contento said. “The whole process was full of up and downs, but you just have to stick to your program and have some faith that all the work you put in will pay off in the end.”
When Contento was able to throw at 100 percent, he topped out at 87 mph. He really thought he could pitch again after that and gained a ton of confidence.
“I knew the off-speed pitches would come along later, but I was very happy that the strength in my arm was starting to come back,” Contento said.
After winning A10 Pitcher of the Week Award, Contento said it was a great experience and feels like all the work through his recovery process is finally paying off. He said the team needed the win and believes the pitching staff was able to shut down James Madison University for nine innings and hold onto the one run lead.
“Striking out that many batters against a team that has put up a good amount of runs so far this season felt great, and I felt my off-speed stuff was sharp and my fastball had some life on it,” said Contento.
The team will be away today for a three-game series in Greensboro, North Carolina, to go up against North Carolina A&T University.
