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Madison's Minucci Getting into the Swing of Things at Southern New Hampshire

Yankees' great Yogi Berra famously once said, "90 percent of the game is half mental," but Southern New Hampshire University junior Jon Municci might argue that baseball is even more of a head game than that. Blessed with all the physical tools it takes to succeed, it wasn't until this season that Jon's mental game caught up with his smooth stroke. Now with those two traits aligned, Jon's play is reaching a whole new level.

Jon, a Madison native and Hand graduate, has caught fire in the early going of his junior baseball season for the Penmen. Guiding his team to a 13-1 record and first place in the Northeast-10 Conference, Jon leads the team in hitting (.453), slugging (.698), on-base percentage (.474), home runs (2), and stolen bases (9), along with leading the entire conference in RBI (20). Jon was named the NE-10 Player of the Week in late February, crediting his success to getting his mental and physical tools in tune.

"Jon probably hit the nail on the head; the tools have always been there and it has just been a matter of maturing and understanding his approach," said Penmen Coach Scott Loiseau. "Honestly, the biggest thing for Jon has been playing in the summer league, the Futures League. Getting to play everyday, and getting the chance to succeed everyday at that level, played a big part. He is a really special player."

While the physical attributes have always been there, early in his collegiate career Jon didn't have the instruction manual on how to use them. Coming in as a freshman, Jon was given an opportunity to compete for a starting outfield spot, and though he started a handful of games, he never lived up to the potential many saw in him coming out of Hand.

So Jon spent a lot of time on the bench, watching and learning over the course of his first two seasons, doing so with purpose.

"As a freshman, I worked hard, but I didn't perform that well to be the everyday starter," Jon says. "I had to just sit on the bench a little bit and learn a lot. It is different than high school, especially at this level with the wood bat. Sophomore year I didn't play as much; I sat behind a great right fielder, Chris O'Neil, who taught me so much about the game and about how mental toughness was such a big part of baseball. I learned so much from him. I wasn't producing, but he didn't let me get down. Sitting back and looking at it now watching him play on the field really helped."

Jon certainly is doing his mentor proud, producing cleanup-hitter numbers from the seven spot in the lineup, an unlikely number in the order for the conference's top run producer and his team's leading hitter.

"We hit him there because we want him to drive in runs," said Loiseau. "Usually, the top RBI man in the league you wouldn't put in the seven hole, but everyone above him hits, too, so it is kind of weird. We've talked a lot about [moving him up the order], but he keeps getting up with runners on and keeps hitting so this is kind of the approach we are taking for now."

While Jon's numbers speak volumes about his evolution as a ballplayer, Jon says the only number he cares about is 13-Southern New Hampshire's win total this season.

"The success feels good, but the season is not over yet," says Jon. "I care more about winning than my numbers. If we are winning and I'm batting .100, at least we are winning. It is nice to have personal accolades, but I just go back out there and hope everything falls in place. The season is not over so I'm going to work my hardest until the last pitch of the year."

And that means working on more than just his swing and arm from the outfield.

"I feel like physically I've had all the talents, but I had to learn how to just mentally be tough enough to produce," he says. "If I go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, I can always go 4-for-4 tomorrow. Freshman year, I didn't think of that, but you really have to take it one pitch, one out, and one game at a time. Everything now is play as hard as you can and focus on what I'm doing right now."

If Jon's hot streak is to continue, he may very well guide the Penmen deep into the postseason.

Say Jon: "I can't really predict [where we will end up], but we are really strong and we have so many mentally tough kids on our team that go out there everyday and produce. Everyone is producing, it's not just me. I have a feeling we will definitely be in the playoffs and I have high hopes and expectations for our team."