Penn State baseball's annual First Pitch Dinner in January provided an opportunity for three members of the historic 2000 Penn State team - Eric Spadt, Joey Puliafico, and Kevin Damiano - to reunite not only with each other, but with other alums and the 2020 Penn State team.
In 2000, the Nittany Lions advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals at Texas and earned a school-record 45 wins. Michael Campo was a first-team All-American, establishing school records with 261 at-bats, 111 hits, 24 doubles and 83 runs on his way to Big Ten Player of the Year and Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
To advance, the Nittany Lions went 4-1 in the NCAA Regional in Montclair, New Jersey, but they did it the hard way. A tournament-opening loss to North Carolina forced the Lions to go through the losers bracket of the double-elimination round, and they ultimately played 45 innings in slightly more than 48 hours.
After dropping the opener Friday night, the Nittany Lions bounced back with wins over Army and Rutgers on Saturday, and then swept the Tar Heels in a doubleheader Sunday.
Damiano shined as a freshman pitcher, yielding just six hits in nine innings pitched over the two games against North Carolina on Sunday, earning the Upper Montclair Regional title for the Nittany Lions and Most Outstanding Player honors for himself.
"It was my freshman year, so it was my introduction to college baseball, so to be able to make it as far as we did and play against Texas in the Super Regionals was an unbelievable experience and it was something that we were hoping we could build on for the future." Damiano said. "I think we did by the looks of the stadium [Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, which opened in 2007] that's out there now."
In the first tangle with the Tar Heels, Damiano entered in the fifth and preserved a 6-5 win with 3.1 innings of one-hit ball. Penn State elected not to make a change on the mound heading into the second game of the day, so the lefty made his first collegiate start, allowing just five hits over 5.2 innings as Penn State went on to a 10-3 win.
"When the game time came around we just knew that everybody was there to help each other and we put the individual things aside for the team cause we all knew we wanted to win; that was the end goal," Spadt said.
The season started slowly, but the group made some adjustments and there was no stopping them.
"We realized there were some key players that needed to get moved around to make sure they got some playing time and once that was done, I think we won like 14 or 15 straight, and then kind of got to the point where we were actually seeing ourselves in the rankings, it was a big shock. It was exciting. It was a good year," said Puliafico, who drove in 38 runs and made 40 starts for the year.
Penn State finished the season ranked No. 19 by Baseball America and No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
"It happened so fast for us it was kind of like, I don't even think we really thought about it. I think the first time we thought about it was the time between the last game in the Big Ten Tournament and then watching our names come up on the big screen, showing that we're in the tournament and it started to become a little bit real," Puliafico said.
Following the historic season, four players were drafted, including Spadt, who had batted .317 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs in 2000. Once Spadt played professionally, he returned to Penn State to complete his degree.
"I knew when I was done [playing baseball], I was definitely coming back to finish what I'd started," Spadt said.
Spadt has been a health and physical education teacher for 18 years and still coaches baseball. Puliafico works at an investment bank and Damiano works for the United States government.
Through social media, members of the 2000 team are able to stay in contact with their former teammates.
"I'd say the best memories are just being with the guys. It's kind of what you miss the most when you're all done is the camaraderie with the guys and being around the guys and working hard and seeing how all your hard work come to fruition and make good use of it and succeed," Spadt said.
