Puccinelli Is Living Up to Great Expectations

Some teenagers require coffee, a cold shower or a loud dose of Marilyn Manson to wake up.

Not John Puccinelli. All it takes for him to feel invigorated in the morning is the crack of a wooden bat striking a baseball.

On most school days, Puccinelli can be found in the backyard of his Toluca Lake home hitting baseballs into a net at 6 a.m. He’ll take almost 100 swings before leaving for his first class at Notre Dame High.

“I love this game,” Puccinelli said. “I’m just trying to get better every day. Even when I’m playing well, I’m trying to get to the next stage.”

From the moment Puccinelli arrived on the Sherman Oaks campus as a tall, skinny freshman three years ago, expectations have been enormous. From the first game, he was a starter. He knew he wanted to become a professional baseball player, and everyone judged him by the highest standards.

If he didn’t get three hits in a game, if his home runs didn’t go far enough, if his throws to first base didn’t resemble a frozen rope, someone inevitably questioned his skills. The bar that marks success kept going higher and higher, making it difficult to satisfy everyone.

“He’s a guy who’s had to play under a great amount of pressure, but good game or bad game, he works hard,” Coach Tom Dill said. “With his body, his swing, his savvy for the game, people have been saying he was going to be a big prospect since he was a freshman and that’s not easy to handle.”

Puccinelli’s size is a strength and a curse. He has grown to 6 feet 4 1/2 and 185 pounds, leaving the impression he should get a hit in every at-bat.

“I just think people have real high expectations for me and they think because I played Team One and Area Codes for two years that I’m supposed to hit 20 home runs, bat .500, .600,” he said. “I can do that. I know I can, but when I don’t, I think people see that as I’m not having a good season.”

Puccinelli has accomplished what every high school baseball player sets out to do--improve each season. He batted .321 as a freshman, .338 as a sophomore, .366 as a junior and is having his best season as a senior, batting .388 with six home runs and 20 runs batted in.

He willingly moved from shortstop to third base this season, a decision that strengthened the infield and helped make Notre Dame the No. 1-ranked team in the region by The Times.

He’s quiet, humble and draws others to his side by his friendly demeanor.

“You won’t meet a nicer guy,” Dill said.

He has a 3.3 grade-point average and a scholarship awaiting him at Santa Clara, but reaching the major leagues has been a goal since his first T-ball game at age 5.

Along for every step of the journey has been his father, Pat, who played professional baseball, once trained tennis players and is a scout for the Montreal Expos. Pat has been John’s private coach in every facet of the game.

“He’s taught me everything,” John said. “He’s constantly trying to help me get better.”

Said Pat: “Everything he has ever done he hasn’t wavered on since he was 5. He’s wanted to be a ballplayer.”

Playing so many years while facing constant scrutiny can be a tiring, grinding process, with many highs and lows.

But Puccinelli is on the verge of leaving high school with his perseverance and resiliency intact, which bodes well for the future.

“I always think there’s another day, that I still have thousands of more at-bats in my life,” he said. “If I have a bad game and that’s the worst thing to happen to me, my life’s in pretty good shape.”

Puccinelli was asked how often he thinks about playing professional baseball.

“Every day, every second,” he said.

Puccinelli acts like he’s ready to jump on a plane tomorrow to begin his pro career. Just give him a uniform and tell him where to go.

He’ll have to wait until June 2-3 to see where he’s taken in the amateur draft. But whether he leaves in three weeks, three months or three years, Puccinelli is determined to make his dream come true.

“I don’t want to leave this game thinking I could have done something else,” he said. “If I don’t make it to the major leagues, but gave it all I had, there’s nothing I could do. But I have a feeling if I keep working hard, I’m going to be a major league baseball player.”

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.