By Tim Morris
The significance of the timing was not lost on former Manalapan High School pitcher Joe Serrapica.
On June 9, 2012, he took the mound for the Braves in the NJSIAA Group IV baseball title game at Toms River High School North. In a bulldog effort, the right-hander pitched a two-hit shutout to lead the Braves to their second straight state championship with a 2-0 victory over Hillsborough High School.
On June 11, 2016, close to the four-year anniversary of that state championship, Serrapica had another reason to remember a June date. It’s the day he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 24th round of Major League Baseball’s 2016 First Year Player Draft.
“I always wanted to play in the major leagues, and now I’ll have a real opportunity,” he said.
Serrapica, who went from Manalapan to Fordham University, had an inkling he would be drafted. As many as 10 teams contacted him before the draft, but he said he still got quite anxious as each day and each round of the draft went by. He had a year of eligibility remaining at Fordham, and that would be his fallback position. He wouldn’t need it, however. Finally, the phone rang on the third day of the draft, and Serrapica had his wish come true.
After signing with the Rays, the hard-throwing right-hander was headed to Wappingers Falls, New York, to play with the Rays’ New York-Penn League’s affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Serrapica admitted that when he first slipped on his professional uniform, he would be on cloud nine. But the time to be starry-eyed would be short.
“You have to worry about winning,” he said.
He will pitch out of the bullpen at first for the Renegades.
It was a long and hard road for the former Brave to get to where he is. Just a year into his Fordham career after starring at Manalapan, he was on the shelf after having Tommy John surgery. He was out for 11½ months and missed a season.
The Tommy John surgery has become a life-saver for pitchers by extending their careers, and it worked out for Serrapica, who came back from the surgery throwing harder than ever with a 96 mph fastball.
“[The surgery] made me a better player and person,” he said. “I had to work hard and take care of myself.”
The comeback from surgery required perseverance, hard work and a lot of belief. It made Serrapica appreciate what he had and, as he said, take care of himself.
The road back was still bumpy. He learned that it takes more than 96 mph heat to get hitters out. He went from being a starting pitcher to the bullpen.
“I was inconsistent,” he said. “I had good stuff, but I was wild in the zone. It was humbling. It was a reality check.
“I was wild in the zone. Velocity is nothing if you can’t hit your spots.”
Through these hard times where a pitcher’s confidence can erode, Serrapica never gave up. Prior to the surgery, he said that he was more of a thrower than a pitcher. That changed as he pitched his way back to the Fordham rotation by utilizing all of his pitches — fastball, slider and changeup — more effectively.
In a nod to the Atlantic Baseball Confederation Collegiate League (ABCCL), it was stint with the Ocean Giants the summer of his junior year that proved to him he was finally back.
“I pitched well that summer,” he said. “I felt like myself.”
It carried over into fall ball, where he was throwing harder than ever, and into last season, when he was back in the Rams’ starting rotation and was one of the club’s aces.
Serrapica’s senior year at Fordham was outstanding for the Rams and him. He tied for the team lead in wins (five) and led Fordham in innings pitched (84) and strikeouts (92). He had a 3.54 ERA. He also had two saves. Most importantly, he was 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in conference play, helping the Rams win the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship.
Major league scouts liked what they had seen, and the next step for the Fordham starter was the MLB draft.
Serrapica played for the Braves during a golden age of Manalapan baseball — a period in which the Braves and head coach Brian Boyce thrived. During his four years, the Braves won three Shore Conference A North Division titles, a Monmouth Tournament title and back-to-back state titles. He played first base when the Braves won their first state title in 2011, blasting Westfield, 29-14, and his three-hit, shutout gem led Manalapan to its second straight title the next year.
The pitcher credited Manalapan baseball with starting him on the road to professional baseball.
“[Manalapan baseball] introduced you to real success,” he said, adding he is still close friends with many of his teammates.
Manalapan gave Serrapica the opportunity to test his mettle and prove that he can rise to the occasion, as he did in that state final. That shutout showed what Serrapica was made of, and it can’t be a surprise to see that it has taken him to Wappingers Falls and the Rays.