For Bellarmine College Prep, nobody is more reliable on the mound than starting pitcher Justin Calomeni, who strikes out batters as easily as Stephen Curry drains three-pointers.
Just ask the normally explosive St. Francis offense, which Calomeni shut out twice in the span of 10 days, taking away a possible West Catholic Athletic League playoff championship as well as a nearly perfect season from the Lancers. The senior’s dominance on the mound gave Bellarmine a share of the league title, which had evaded the Bells since 2006.
Expect Calomeni to be starting multiple games in the Central Coast Section tournament, including Wednesday’s first-round opener against Fremont at Bellarmine (4 pm first pitch).
The Bells senior ace has posted an impressive 8-1 record with a 1.21 ERA in 69.1 innings through the regular season and WCAL playoffs. Calomeni, who averages a strikeout almost every inning, has thrown six complete games for Bellarmine, three of which were shutouts.
“Justin has done an outstanding job for us. Justin has commanded the zone with three pitches,” Bells coach Mike Rodriguez said. “He’s been extremely reliable. He’s thrown a ton of strikes. He’s been ready to throw, he’s risen to every challenge, and that’s something that has really helped our team.”
Calomeni, who has maintained a 3.5 grade point average during his time at Bellarmine, will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to play baseball next fall. He made his decision to become a Mustang in November. While many of his friends were stressing over the college application process, Calomeni’s decision was in the rear-view mirror.
For Calomeni, baseball has always been his passion. From a young age he would hit Wiffle balls in the backyard, always having a knack for baseball. Although he also played basketball and soccer in elementary and middle school, in addition to baseball, he decided America’s pastime was the only sport he wanted to play upon attending Bellarmine.
“He fell in love with baseball when he was 3 years old and he’s had a bat in his hand ever since then,” said Calomeni's mom Elaine Calomeni on her son’s love for the sport.
The Bell star said his success on the mound has not always come easily to him.
“I was always good, I always had ability, but I was never a superstar," he said. "I wasn’t ‘that kid’, but I worked on it and developed into a decent player.”
As a junior, Calomeni did not even make the varsity for Bellarmine, spending his third year of Bellarmine baseball on junior varsity. Although this was not what he wanted he kept his mouth shut and went to work, resulting in him becoming the go-to guy for Rodriguez and his Bells this year.
The senior ace hopes to take home the Central Coast Section championship in the final tournament of his high school career.
“For my Bellarmine baseball goals, to win this last CCS tournament, that’s all we really want as a team,” said Calomeni.
In the long run, he has even bigger aspirations.
“My goal is to play professional baseball, that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Off the field, Calomeni is involved in the community. Over the summer, he took time out of his busy baseball schedule to coach a Special Olympics softball team with teammate and friend Dylan Steele as part of their senior service projects.
“We had an amazing time doing it,” Calomeni said. "It showed me there are more important things in life than baseball.”
Calomeni is also an avid baseball fan. Having lived in San Jose his whole life, the San Francisco Giants are his favorite team. One player he admires is Ryan Vogelsong, a pitcher who was written off for most of his career before he really began to heat up for the Giants in 2011.
Calomeni sees a lot of himself in Vogelsong.
“I feel I pitch a lot like him,” Calomeni said. “What I’ve gone through is nowhere near what he has gone through, but I feel I can relate to being knocked out, and no one feeling much of you, but there were a few people who believed in you and you took that and rode with it.”
