It came at the perfect time.
Nick D’Agostino was hoping to have a great senior baseball season at Abraham Lincoln High School. The ace pitcher and shortstop was back with the Railsplitters and he truly believed this was a year he and his teammates could make more than a little noise in the Public League.
Then came coronavirus.
Then, after a short delay, it was decided that the season would be axed as the nation and world dealt with the pandemic.
That meant D’Agostino missed the entire spring, and thought he was going to be on hiatus until next year when he played college baseball. That would mean sitting out for a year and a half before he played in a game that counted.
Then he got a text.
“I wasn’t planning on playing because nobody was really playing, but then I got a message from (Ken Brough) and he asked me if I wanted to play for a team in Bucks County,” D’Agostino said. “It’s part of the Bucks County Community College team, they have a team, and I’m playing with them in a league that plays other teams. We haven’t done much, just started practicing.
“I was so glad when I got the text because me and Brough are good friends. He was our pitcher two years ago, he graduated in 2018. We still hung out, and he knew I wanted to play, but didn’t have anywhere to do it. It felt really good to get a chance. I thought I wasn’t going to play at all this year.”
He’s not back to normal, but he’s back and that’s more than he was hoping for.
D’Agostino was disappointed he didn’t get a chance to finish what he started at Lincoln. The Railsplitters came into the season with high hopes after a good season last year, and D’Agostino believed this could have been a championship season.
He’s also sad he didn’t get another year to play with the guys he formed a great bond with over the last three seasons.
“It was hard because, you know, we spent four hours a day, five days a week together, and then it was just over before we had a chance to have this year,” said D’Agostino, who lives near Holmes Circle. “We thought it was going to be a great year. Then the whole coronavirus started, they suspended it, but we hoped to get back. But after a little while, I knew they were going to cancel it.
“I wasn’t a captain before this year, even though (Coach John Larsen) wanted me to step up last year and be a leader, but I was a captain this year. I think we would have been really good. It was hard, mostly because I loved playing with those guys. We had a great team of good guys.”
But now D’Agostino is ready to show what he can do after graduation.
He hasn’t done much thus far, but it just felt good to put on a uniform and get back in the game.
“In our first game, it was a scrimmage, and I played two innings at shortstop and two innings at second base,” D’Agostino said. “I didn’t get a lot of work, only a few balls were hit to me, but I made the plays.
“It just felt good to be back out there. I didn’t think I’d be playing at all and now I’m getting a chance to play and have fun. I hope we get to play a lot of games. Just good to do what I love to do.”
The team has given D’Agostino a chance to play even more baseball in the future.
Now that he’s playing for the team with guys from Bucks County Community College, including a head coach who is an assistant coach with the college team, D’Agostino is going to try to catch on with the team.
A pitcher by trade, D’Agostino is willing to throw or play in the infield for a shot at going to college. Then after two years, the goal will be to catch on with a school so he can play two more years and get his degree. He hopes to major in engineering.
“I like math and dealing with numbers, and I know you can do a lot of things with an engineering degree,” D’Agostino said. “I want to do engineering, but something with computers. I love working with technology.
“Bucks is a great school for me. I now know a lot of the guys who go there. I think that will make it a lot better.”
D’Agostino will come in ready to go. Not only is he getting some exercise playing baseball, he plans on working out on the job.
So far this summer, he has worked with his uncle doing odd jobs, mostly in carpentry. He’s hoping once the coronavirus restrictions are eased, he gets to work with his dad.
“My dad is a mover, and last year I helped him, that’s a fun job,” D’Agostino said. “Both jobs are good. I’ve learned a lot working with my uncle. I’ll be able to fix things around the house.
“I just want a job where I can make some money and pay for my books and things like that. That’s going to be my summer. I’m just going to work and play baseball. It’s all I want to do this summer.”
