3/30/2002 - Football
Not Your Typical Saturday for Candeto
Links associated with this release:
0
0
0
So how was your Saturday? Maybe you slept in. You might have colored Easter eggs and munched early on some candy. Perhaps you spent the day traveling to a relatives or a sponsors house for the holiday. All perfectly normal, restful ways to spend a Saturday.
For Craig Candeto, Saturday was anything but normal and it was nowhere near restful. You see, Candeto is a quarterback on the Navy football team and the Mids had spring practice Saturday morning. That alone would keep anyone busy and anxious to find a sofa to crash onto when it was finished. But Candeto is also the starting center fielder on the Navy baseball team, and Navy was playing host to Army in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
With a schedule like that, there really wasn't much of a decision for Candeto. In fact, there was just one obvious decision for him ... he would do both.
His long day wasn't made any easier by the strenuous football practice of Friday. It was the first time in the week of spring practice contact would be allowed. Even though he was a quarterback, even though he had to play baseball, Candeto was not off limits to a hungry Navy defense, anxious to prove themselves to the new Navy coaching staff.
As he prepared for his busy Saturday, Candeto tried to spend Friday night thinking about anything but football or baseball.
"I just wanted to ease my mind a bit and try not to think about it," said Candeto. "Plus I was kind of worn down from football, so I wanted to make sure I had a good night's sleep."
That sleep quickly came to an end at 6 a.m. Saturday when Candeto's alarm announced the beginning of a long and eventful day. Just 40 minutes later, Candeto was in the football locker room inside of Ricketts Hall, preparing to have his ankles taped. By 7:15 he was in his position meeting, which lasted until 8:35 when it was time to return to the locker room and slip on his pads and helmet and begin the short walk to the practice field.
Practice began for Candeto less than 30 short minutes later as he held for the Navy kickers. After some stretching with his teammates, Candeto moved to one side of the field at 9:05 to work on pitches and hand offs. At 9:25, the quarterbacks and the receivers joined together for the first passing drill of the morning. After throwing short then deep passes, across the middle and down each sideline, 9:50 rolled around, meaning it was time for a scrimmage.
The scrimmage began as Candeto moved under center at his own 25-yard line with the first-team offense preparing to face their conterparts on the Navy defense. The first play called by the Navy coaches was a pass. Candeto quickly scanned the field and threw a strike to Dominic Bailey down the left sideline. It would be a good drive for the quarterback and the offense. Candeto threw to both sides of the field, scrambled for yardage -- including on a long third-down play -- and ran a sneak on fourth down to pick up a new set of downs deep in the red zone. The 75-yard drive ended at 10:04 with Candeto sneaking between his offensive linemen for a touchdown.
Candeto would participate in 39 plays of the scrimmage, and worked the ball down the field several times with just one interception on his stat sheet. At 10:50, head coach Paul Johnson pulled Candeto aside, gave his pupil the nod and dismissed him from the remainder of practice.
"I thought Craig did okay out there today," said Johnson. "I've had this situation before, with guys playing both sports. Same thing happened with my quarterback at Georgia Southern. You just have to work around it."
Candeto's football teammates were pretty impressed with what he was doing this spring.
"I think it's great," said wide receiver Brandon Rampani. "You have to give him credit for being able to accomplish something like this. It helps both teams out. He's able to be with us in practice, then can help the baseball team."
As he sprinted off the field towards the locker room, Candeto quickly gave a wave to his parents telling them to get the car ready. Within 15 minutes of dodging defenders and removing his blue number 11 football jersey, Candeto found himself on the opposite side of the Yard, wearing a gold number 33 baseball jersey and stepping into the batting case.
As the clock changed from a.m. to p.m., Candeto and his "other" Navy teammates sprinted onto the field for the National Anthem prior to the start of the baseball game. Candeto spent the top-half of the first inning without a ball being hit to him in center field then, at 12:10, stepped into the batters box as the No. 3 hitter for Navy. He would fly out to center and would finish the game hitless.
With trying to fit in four games on a weekend, Patriot League baseball games are just seven innings long. In some kind of cruel joke for Candeto, at the conclusion of seven innings Saturday the score was still tied at 2-2, meaning Candeto's day would last longer than slated for. But it was worth it.
In the Army half of the eighth inning (1:52), Candeto made what many called the "catch of the year" for Navy. With the leadoff hitter sending a short flyball to shallow center field, Candeto sprinted and made a diving, sprawling catch to keep the bases empty. The next Army batter again sent the ball to center field where Candeto made a more routine catch. In the bottom of the inning, Candeto was in the dugout cheering as Navy staged a two-out rally to plate the winning run.
After a quick and much-needed break between games, Candeto again sprinted out to his position at 2:30 to start yet another game. As in game one, he would have a hand in the outcome of game two.
The score was again knotted at 2-2 when Candeto stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. As the clock struck 4:13 p.m., the quarterback/center fielder sent a 3-1 pitch down the foul line in right field and over the wall for a go-ahead home run. After a quick celebration, everyone knew the game was far from over.
In the top of the seventh, Candeto stood watching helplessly in center field as the first-two Black Knight batters walked on 11 pitches, then saw the third hitter reach first base safely while advancing the runners on a short bunt down the third-base line. No outs, bases full; not how Navy wanted to spend the seventh inning.
The fourth Army batter hit a shallow fly ball to right field for an easy out, with the runner on third deciding to challenge the arm of John Cocca on the play. The right fielder threw a strike to catcher David Woolsey who would eventually tag the wayward baserunner for a surprising and unconventional 9-2-5-2 double play. Finally, moments later at 4:37 p.m., a ground ball to short was tossed across the diamond for the third out, giving Candeto a game-winning home run and meaning his day was close to being finished.
The victory not only gave Navy a sweep of the doubleheader on the first day of the Patriot League season, it also secured the N-Star for the Midshipmen, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's doubleheader. It is the first N-Star won by the Mids since the 1999 season.
"What a great day for Craig," said Navy baseball coach Steve Whitmyer afterwards. "He made a big catch in game one, then hit the home run in game two. Plus I heard he did well in the football scrimmage.
"His big challenge over the next few weeks is to not get fatigued and to overcome the mental hurdles along the way. He has to stay consistent and not let his emotions get too high or too low."
After running through a similar two-sport routine last season, Candeto and Whitmyer altered his workout schedule a bit this year.
"I am not working out with the baseball team much this year," said Candeto. "I am working out on a lot my own, stepping into the batting cage whenever I can. It's a little different routine than what we did last year.
"I also am trying to find the chance to throw a baseball whenever I can. I throw the ball in both sports, but they really are different types of throws."
At 4:50 p.m., Candeto was analyzing his day for a few members of the media.
"I thought we moved the ball well in football today. It's still early, just a week into practice, but I felt good out there. Things are starting to come together for us.
"I would say this is the biggest home run I have ever hit," said Candeto. "To hit a home run to beat Army and win the N-Star is a pretty good feeling. The pitcher threw me a fastball at 3-0, then at 3-1 he threw me another fastball up and away. I was able to get my hands on it and hit it on the short end of the bat."
He then made perhaps the understatement of the day:
"It's been a long day and I'm a bit sore. But it is a good soreness. I am sure I am going to have to ice everything tomorrow.
"But this is fun. I am very blessed to be able to do something like this. I try to explain what its like to my friends, but I am not sure if they really understand what a day like this is like."
And at 4:55, Candeto said thanks to the reporter and went over to help his teammates with the many chores needed to prepare the field for the evening. He was just 17 hours away from the start of another baseball doubleheader.
