Top Senior Male Athlete of Spring: Andrew Rigassio

For the last two seasons, Andrew Rigassio has been the most feared hitter on the Columbia baseball team and one of the most feared in the county. He wrapped up this spring as the best hitter on the best baseball team that head coach Lorenzo Busichio has led during his nine-year tenure.

His numbers were video game-like this spring, slugging a ridiculous .932, with a .536 on base percentage, .420 batting average, scored 35 runs and 12 homeruns, all of which led the team. He drove in 36 runs and picked up nine doubles and 37 hits.

Looking even deeper into his numbers, not only was Rigassio on base in more than half of his plate appearances this season, he hit a homerun once every 7.3 at bats (pretty much once every other game), connected for 2.6 hits for every time he struck-out, and of his 37 hits, 56.7 percent of them went for extra bases.

"Andrew hits some of the highest shots I've ever seen," said teammate and good friend Stephen Tamayo. "I'm more of a line drive hitter, but he just hits bombs. …He has always been a great hitter."

Rigassio was the rock in the middle of an extremely potent offense (.318 team batting average, 8.1 runs per game) this season at Underhill and caused nightmares for coaches trying to figure out how to get the Montclair State University bound third-baseman out.

The Cougars wrapped up an 18-10 season with an unfortunate first round exit from the state playoffs, just two days before losing a one-run game to West Essex in the Greater Newark Tournament championship game. The finish makes this season's Cougars the best baseball team in the last decade for Columbia High School.

"I thought we had a great year as a team," Rigassio said. "We had the most wins we've had in a long time. We made it to the GNT final which is great. I would've loved to win it, but just making it there was a great accomplishment. And it was great just playing with the guys on the team. We had a lot of seniors I played with my whole life and it was just a good memory. I'll never forget about it."

Rags, as he is affectionately known by his teammates, did not come into high school as a homerun hitter. The Cougar slugger admitted that he was more of a line drive hitter up until the beginning of his junior year. But in the first game of the 2009 spring season, Rigassio drilled a seventh inning grand slam against Morristown for his first career homerun. The next game, at home against Belleville, he hit another grand slam, this time in walk-off fashion against Belleville, and thus began the legend of Andrew Rigassio.

"I was always just a line drive hitter and I was ok with that," he said. "Then I guess I changed a little something in my swing and I started hitting homeruns."

He went on to crush five homeruns last spring and led the Cougars to a spot in the state sectional semifinals.

"I'd stay nowhere near his hands because he turns on the ball so fast," Tamayo said of pitching to Rigassio. "If he's not on our team, our homerun count goes down from 30 to 10. If you take him out of the lineup, they can just pick people to pitch to in the lineup."

This spring, with many starters returning to a very talented Cougar baseball team, Rigassio was surrounded by two very good hitters in front and one behind him, meaning that he got to see a ton of hittable pitches, which he did not miss much. Joe Meola, Armand Spears and Stephen Tamayo (one, two and four hitters respectively), hit a combined .347. Meola and Spears had an on-base percentage of .417, and with Tamayo in the four hole batting .388, with seven homers and a team leading 36 RBI, teams were often forced to pitch to Rigassio instead of around him.

"I know when the two guys in front were getting on base, there was no place they could put me," Rigassio said. "When Stephen was hitting well, there was really no place to put me."

While Rigassio will mostly be remembered for the moon-shots he crushed regularly at Underhill, he also had value as a defender and as a pitcher for the Cougars.

Andrew's natural position is at first, but out of necessity he was moved to third base this season, with Tamayo (third baseman in 2009) taking over behind the plate.

"Defensively, he put me to shame at third base. He just has soft hands. …For a big guy, he can really move," Tamayo said. "His defense is one of the most underrated parts of his game."

He came up with countless big hits in big spots (walk-off this season against Bloomfield), but also had some great pitching performances over the last two years. Last spring against West Morris Central at Underhill, he struck-out nine through seven shutout innings. He also shutout Morris Knolls last season and against Belleville this year he threw a no-hitter.

Rigassio may be mostly know for his ability on the baseball diamond, but he was no slouch on the gridiron this fall for perhaps the biggest turnaround this school year at CHS. The Cougars were coming off of a 1-9 season, which was preceded by a 45 game losing streak, spanning parts of five seasons. In the new Super Essex Conference Liberty Division in the fall, The Cougars rolled to an 8-2 record, and were within three-points of winning a divisional championship. They qualified for the playoffs for the first time in nearly 30 years and had a very positive season.

"Football this season is something I'll never forget," Rigassio said. "Just the guys on the team and the coaches and the way we turned around the program. It was just a fun time. I never had that much fun playing football."

Off of the field and the diamond, Rigassio is a quiet and unassuming teenager who can be shy at times. He's not much into talking about himself, and said that he prefers to lead by example as opposed to yelling and getting in kids' faces.

"He's loud when he needs to be," Tamayo said. "He's a really mellow laid back guy. It's hard to see him angry or upset because he's always so relaxed."

He said his one regret is that he didn't do better academically in high school. Lucky for him he'll get another shot at academia beginning this fall at MSU, where he'll have a brand new beginning, and will be vying for a spot on the varsity baseball team.

"I know it's not going to be easy. I'm ready to work hard and do whatever it takes," he said. "If I don't play my first year, it's fine with me. I just have to work harder and hopefully be able to play my sophomore year."

After college, Rigassio said that he sees himself becoming a teacher and perhaps a coach at the high school level.