Secaucus’ Patrick Pantoliano, who recently gave a verbal commitment to William Paterson University, has fully recovered from a broken ankle he suffered at the start of basketball season almost a year ago
Secaucus’ Patrick Pantoliano, who recently gave a verbal commitment to William Paterson University, has fully recovered from a broken ankle he suffered at the start of basketball season almost a year ago
It’s safe to say that Mother Nature hasn’t been so totally kind to Patrick Pantoliano.
The Secaucus High School senior has had to endure a severely broken ankle that cost him his entire junior basketball season a year ago.
Then after he rehabs the ankle to get back in shape for the baseball season, the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entire spring season, eliminating Pantoliano’s chances to take the mound for the Patriots.
First things first – let’s address the ankle injury.
The Patriots were competing in their first basketball scrimmage, almost a year ago to the date, when Pantoliano was going up for a shot.
“I don’t remember much,” Pantoliano said. “I was going up for a layup and someone undercut me and fell into my leg.”
The collision took place just four minutes into the Patriots’ first scrimmage.
“I was pretty upset,” Pantoliano said. “At least it was a clean break. I didn’t need surgery.”
The fracture of the fibula was extensive enough to tell Pantoliano the bad news.
“The doctors first told me six-to-eight weeks,” Pantoliano said. “Then I went to a couple of doctors and they said it was more like eight-to-12. I first had to think of the positive before the negative. I was happy it wasn’t worse. I first thought I could come back for basketball. But I just wanted to be 100 percent.”
After the cast came off, the tough part began. Pantoliano had to endure three sessions of physical therapy a week.
“I got a little range of motion back,” Pantoliano said. “But it was extremely tough.”
Pantoliano told the physical therapists that he was a pitcher in baseball.
“So he molded my therapy to help my balance in pitching,” Pantoliano said. “It definitely helped me in a lot of ways.”
After a while, Pantoliano was back running, getting ready for the baseball season.
“I was running at full speed,” Pantoliano said. “I was back.”
But then, another dose of nature threw a wet blanket on top of everything. The coronavirus first shut the spring season down by just two weeks.
“I felt I was ready,” Pantoliano said. “I was doing long tossing. I just hoped that the pandemic wouldn’t last long.”
But it did, wiping out the entire spring season.
“It was just a string of bad luck coming down on me,” Pantoliano said.
Pantoliano was attending workouts with Wladyka Baseball, the organization he belongs to. Eventually in August, Wladyka’s 17-and-under team went to a tournament at Diamond Nation in Flemington to play in a COVID-friendly environment.
“We wore masks in the dugout,” Pantoliano said. “There were a lot of restrictions, but it was a great feeling to be playing baseball again. I worked so hard to get to play high school baseball in the spring. Just the chance to go out there on the mound once again was a blessing.”
Pantoliano threw five innings, allowing five hits and two runs in a Wladyka victory. It wasn’t that he was bringing the high heat, topping out in the low 80s on the Juggs speed gun.
But it was enough to impress Mike Lauterhahn and the coaching staff at William Paterson University, a program that always expressed interest in Patrick.
Sure enough, Pantoliano repaid the William Paterson coaching staff’s faith by agreeing in principle to attend the school next fall.
Who knows if there will be a basketball – or even a baseball – season this winter and spring?
One thing is for sure: Patrick Pantoliano is healthy and ready to go.
“When you break your leg, it’s basically like starting all over,” Pantoliano said. “I think I’ve really changed as a pitcher. I’ve really evolved as a pitcher. It’s really changed me as a pitcher. I’ve been feeling great. From the day I broke my ankle, I said that I’m a fighter. I knew I’d be back. I’m going to get back to being the same pitcher I was before I got hurt.”
That’s something that a lot of people are looking forward to…
Make sure to get your hands on next week’s editions of The Hudson Reporter for the 2020 Hudson Reporter High School Football All-Area team. It should be a fun edition with features, numbers, statistics and year-end honors. It’s a must-get for any local football fan, especially with the wide range of talents to consider because of the COVID-19 crisis…
Hudson Reporter High School Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (4-2). 2. Hoboken (5-2). 3. Union City (3-3). 4. Lincoln (5-3). 5. Hudson Catholic (3-4)…
Hudson Reporter High School Boys’ Soccer Top Five: 1. Union City (11-2). 2. Dickinson (7-3-1). 3. North Bergen (7-4). 4. St. Peter’s Prep (10-6). 5. Weehawken (8-2). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com
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