WOODBURY — After the summer season, some pitchers either keep throwing to stay in shape or just never throw until they have to again. The winter can be difficult to keep the pitchers’ arms in shape and to keep pitchers ready for the upcoming spring season. Now that the calendar has officially turned to April, Nonnewaug baseball is keeping an eye on player safety.
Junior T.J. Angiolini, NHS’ expected lefty-throwing ace for this upcoming season, explains what he does to keep his arm in shape during the winter.
“I am going to the gym everyday and working on keeping my arm flexible and strong,” says Angiolini, who had a 3.00 ERA and struck out 52 batters in 35 innings with a 10.4 K/7 during the 2024 season. “I also go to the pin shop [Watertown]everyday to work on exercises that help my arm strength and my accuracy. I do this to improve myself so I can be better.”
Pitcher Tyler DiElsi, who is coming off a strong season achieving all BL first team last year, has worries about this upcoming season whether he can play or not.
“During the offseason, it’s important for me to make sure my arms are in my best condition when going into the season,” said DiElsi, who has battled recently with two torn muscles in his elbow. DiElsi is out for much of the upcoming season, missing at least 6-8 weeks. “This winter I trained with my pitching coach a lot, working on whole body training to get me moving faster and becoming more powerful. Unfortunately I’ve been dealing with an injury in my elbow which is from the over usage of pitching throughout the year.”
For pitchers like DiElsi, there’s always an injury risk when it comes to the craft of pitching.
“I should’ve taken a break from fall to winter from throwing but I didn’t and the injury has made it difficult for me to get prepared for the season,” DiElsi said. “Before the injury I was throwing long toss, throwing bullpens and doing all the pitching drills trying to keep my arm conditioned. It’s important to do this because during the season we were throwing pretty much everyday and it’s a lot on the arm, so building up to that in the winter is important. After I take my rest for my injury I am going to stretch more, go through therapy and have a good stretching routine before and after I throw to make sure my arm is fully warm and ready to throw.”
With DiElsi’s injury, Nonnewaug coaching staff has a lot of thinking to do and more open spots for people to pitch on varsity with the season set to begin this Saturday at Thomaston.
For those who aren’t on the mound, the risk of injury is always a looming threat. Derek Chung, who plays second base explains the difficulty of playing a sport in the winter while preparing for spring and avoiding injury.
“I try to stay on top of stretching and light warm-ups before throwing around once or twice a week.” Chung said. “It’s tough with basketball because I have it everyday but after throwing I ice it well. I also try to be flexible in my right arm to avoid stiffness when the season comes.”
Nonnewaug baseball assistant coach Kyle Brennan explains the importance of what pitchers need to do to stay ready.
“It’s important for pitchers to balance staying sharp and improving their velocity and stuff, versus also making sure they don’t overuse their arm,” said Brennan, a longtime member of the Chiefs’ coaching staff who was the assistant coach and scout on the 2023 state championhip team. “There’s a sweet spot there. You don’t want to take months off but your arm needs some rest to prevent injuries.”
