“At my old house we had a big backyard, and I was 6 and I had a [baseball] bat and just played around and I actually wanted to play, so I started in second grade,” said Adrian Pullaro, who is a current baseball player at Fossil Ridge High School. “[My first team] was recreational, which is the lowest skill level, and I played for Bacon, my elementary school.”

The 16-year-old sophomore admits he didn’t think baseball was going to be something he would ever play at a high school level. “My team was really bad. But in fourth grade I got put on the Werner [Elementary School] team on accident and we were really good and I finally started to shine. In seventh grade the team broke apart and I moved up to AA and I was one of the best. The next year I moved up to AAA.”

In minor league baseball, there are five class divisions: Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, Class A Short Season, and Rookie. Triple-A leagues are the highest level.

“AAA was the most competitive level and it helped prepare me, but there was still anxiousness when I first started high school baseball,” Pullaro said. He has enjoyed his overall experience on the FRHS baseball team and he likes the relationship the team has. “We have almost our own culture,” said Pullaro, who hopes to eventually play at the college level.

“There are only like 50 kids in the program, so we’re pretty close. I like my coach and my team and the way we work together and know each other.”

Pullaro said that his overall greatest struggle in playing baseball is confidence. “You have to trust yourself and your body to perform. You have to be cocky and instinctive. If you go up to the plate without confidence, you’re not going to perform. If you try to field a ground ball unsure if you’re going to make the throw or not, you’re going to make an error. I didn’t hit well over the summer and fall and I consistently went up to the plate without confidence.”

However, Pullaro reports that he is improving on his confidence since last summer and plans on giving a performance this spring. And even with shaky confidence at home plate, some of Pullaro’s biggest achievements have been hitting a couple game winners. He also takes pride in his leadership skills. “I’ve always been a leader, and coming onto a new team last year I had to reestablish myself as one.”