For Anthony Coppola, it was a double-whammy.
Last year during Neumann-Goretti’s baseball state championship run, Coppola was hit in the face with a fastball and it required 25 stitches and three trips to the emergency room.
Coppola was told he probably wasn’t going to be able to chew solid food or play baseball for a while. Only one of those things actually happened.
“I lost a lot of weight,” Coppola said. “It was probably a lot harder mentally than it was physically. Then I had to play the three biggest games on my last limb.”
Coppola decided he would get right back in the batters box the very next game as the Saints were just three games away from a state championship. Playing first base for the Saints last year, Coppola toughed it out by wearing a facial cage at the plate. His bravery paid off as he went 2-for-2 and drove in a pair of runs in the state championship game as Neumann-Goretti defeated Avonworth, 12-0. The only downside was he wasn’t able to enjoy his favorite South Philly staples of cheesesteaks and pizza during the run.
“Nothing,” Coppola said. “My face was blown up. My lips were purple. I could really only eat soups or mashed foods. Nothing solid for about two weeks. I felt like I was skin and bones. But my team kept me into it. They kept me headstrong and all I had to do was to go out and compete.”
This year, Coppola is hungry for more. The senior has been tapped as a team captain and has established himself as the Saints’ No. 1 starter on the mound.
“He was a role guy who stepped into a leadership role and he’s been phenomenal,” Saints coach Nick Nardini said. “He’s been dominant on the mound, keeping us in every game and he’s been one of our best hitters and he’s been really awesome to coach.”
Last year he batted at the bottom of the lineup among a team that would graduate 12 seniors. Now, Coppola is batting at the top and is depended on greatly as Neumann-Goretti goes to battle with a team that is still getting its feet wet in terms of experience. Aside from Richie Rosati at shortstop and Coppola at first base on his non-pitching days, the Saints are brand new at every other position. Through his first dozen games, Coppola was batting a team-best .412 at the plate. He had also thrown 33 innings with a 2.73 ERA and 34 strikeouts. He’s helped the Saints stay afloat at 4-4 in the Catholic League standings (through April 22).
“It’s tough to replace 12 seniors,” Nardini said. “But the one thing I think we’re doing better is we’re playing the game the right way now. At the beginning (of the season) I think we didn’t do the little stuff as good. We still have to clean some stuff up, but they are competing much, much better and they are believing in themselves. I think our best baseball is ahead of us.”
With Coppola, they know they have someone willing to battle. Coppola has been legally blind in one eye since birth. It never stopped him from playing baseball at age 3 or 4 years old.
“I’m not fully blind, I’m like 60-70 percent (blind) and that’s why I have to wear glasses,” Coppola said. “It’s in my back eye (when he bats), so it’s not that bad, since the front eye really sees everything. It’s just something I’ve gotten used to.”
No one ever wants to get used to taking a pitch to the face, but Coppola seems unbothered.
“The first time (batting after the injury), I was a little shaken, even with the big cage on,” Coppola said. “But it kind of went away. I knew it was a mistake. He didn’t do it on purpose. So be it. I got back in there to compete.”
Just like his coach and his teammates knew he would.
“He works his (butt) off,” Nardini said. “And he just never wanted to stop playing. I said let’s give it a second and let your face heal a little bit. We got him the cage and he didn’t miss a beat. He’s tough as nails. And he just doesn’t want to let his teammates down. And you’re seeing that again. He’s leaving it out there every single game.”
