Prep Baseball Report

Pitching Leads Conte To Duke Commitment


Bruce Hefflinger
PBR New England Senior Writer

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Pitching Leads Conte To Duke Commitment

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Nicholas Conte RHP / SS / North Providence, RI / 2020

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Nick Conte never took pitching seriously until his sophomore year of high school. Now the North Providence senior has a baseball scholarship to pitch for Duke University.

“My freshman year in high school I made the varsity team playing shortstop and hitting, but I wasn’t pitching,” Conte reflected. “My sophomore year I started pitching and everyone around me said I had a future in pitching.

“I hadn’t really taken it seriously until then. Before, I guess, I was just a thrower. When I started working on my mechanics, I could see I might have success as a pitcher in the future.

“My high school team didn’t have many pitchers so my coach threw me out there,” Conte continued. “If I could clean up my mechanics, I began to see that I could have a lot of success.”

At the same time, the 14th-ranked 2020 in New England began to think about college - one school in particular.

“I’ve always had an interest in Duke,” explained the second-ranked senior player in the state of Rhode Island. “It’s pretty much been one of my dream schools. I sent them an email but got no interest. However, in the summer I made the East Coast Pro team that traveled down that way and (head) coach (Chris) Pollard was there. I threw 14 pitches and he called me afterward wanting me to come on an official visit. I went a week later.”

Things went well for Conte, who a summer earlier began drawing college interest after participating in the Future Games for Team Connecticut.

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