Deer Lakes grad Andrew Bokulich sees hard work pay off with all-conference honor for Pitt-Bradford baseball

To become a better hitter, Deer Lakes grad Andrew Bokulich sought advice from a former pitcher.

During the summer, Bokulich did some landscaping work for Marc Wilkins, who pitched in 245 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1996 and 2001, going 19-14 with three saves. Bokulich asked Wilkins what his approach was in attacking hitters.

After hearing Wilkins’ answer the Pitt-Bradford catcher/outfielder turned the question around: How, then, should a batter attack the pitcher?

“What he told me … realistically, you’re going to get one or two good pitches an at-bat to swing at and do damage,” Bokulich said. “And whether it’s a fastball or a curveball or a changeup, when you get that pitch, don’t miss it.

“He said you have to be patient because it could be the first pitch, or it could be the eighth pitch in the at-bat.”

Bokulich, indeed, took Wilkins’ words an put them into practice.

After appearing in 21 games and going 8 for 45 (.177) over his first two seasons with the Panthers, Bokulich had a breakout campaign this spring. He appeared in 31 of the Panthers’ 33 games — splitting time between outfield and catcher — and hit .343 with 15 RBIs and 18 runs.

All those numbers added up to his first All-Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference honor. First team, no less.

As much as he credits Wilkins for helping him with his approach at the plate, Bokulich said his transformation also is the product of a lot of self-evaluation. He said throughout last summer, while he played for the Butler Blue Sox in the Tri-State Collegiate League, he worked on his mental game, trying not to let baseball’s inevitable negative plays get in his head.

The cerebral tools he developed over the summer, he said, carried over into his junior season at Pitt-Bradford.

“If I would have a bad at-bat, I would wipe it right after,” he said. “So my transition was a lot better. One of the big things also was pitch selection. I feel like I would guess at the plate at times, or I wouldn’t swing at pitches that I should.”

Still, the early part of his 2023 season had its share of difficulty. He looked like he was on his way after accumulating seven hits over the final three games of a four-game series with Bethany in late February, but he followed that with back-to-back hitless games — against Hiram and Saint John’s (Minn.) — in which he struck out a combined seven times.

After the game against Saint John’s, Bokulich decided to draw a line in the sand.

“I got real upset about that game because that was a game where I let things bother me pitch to pitch,” he said. “And it affected me at-bat to at-bat. I just kind of told myself at the end of that game that I put too much work in to get that upset at the results.

“I think that game in particular was a big transition point.”

The next game, against Augustana, Bokulich went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

He followed that with another two-hit, one-RBI effort against Muskingum.

Bokulich hit safely in six straight games and went hitless in only three more games the rest of the season. And he struck out only eight more times.

His grit and determination were not lost on Panthers coach Zach Foster.

“We always saw big things for Bok,” Foster, the seventh-year coach, said via email. “The kid is a coach’s dream. He’s got a nonstop motor. … He’s got a great routine, he works tirelessly and, more importantly, he’s an exceptional human being.

“He’s one of the few players that remain the same guy no matter the outcome of his performance. … He’s worked extremely hard to improve his baseball tools and worked consistently to do that over the course of the past couple of years.”

Defensively, Bokulich forms a strong tandem behind the plate with Evan Fragela. Fragela, a native of Puerto Rico, also was named first-team all-conference after hitting .393.

Typically, on doubleheader days, Bokulich would play right field in the first game and catch the second game. Because he hadn’t seen a lot of playing time at the college level his first two seasons, he needed to get acclimated to the rigors of playing both positions in one afternoon. He worked it out so his coaches with the Blue Sox allowed him to gain some experience in that over the summer.

He also changed his weightlifting program to build his body up to be able to handle playing both spots.

As he heads into another summer of baseball, Bokulich has a plan to prepare himself for his senior season at Pitt-Bradford.

He said during the second half of this past season, he got better at having more competitive swings when he got deep in counts. The next step will be to get more aggressive and “do more damage” with two strikes.

And while he admitted another all-conference honor would be nice, his biggest goal is to have the team improve. The Panthers were 4-10 in the AMCC (7-26 overall), losing nine games by one run.

He wants to see some of those close losses turn into wins that, ultimately, will get the Panthers into the AMCC playoffs.

“Don’t get me wrong: I like individual accolades, and I know I worked very hard for it,” he said. “I know I earned it. My goal is I want a ring for the team.

“I want something that I can share with everybody because, at the end of the day, all those guys who I surrounded myself with, the ones who keep me accountable and the ones that would help me get my work in are the ones who, ultimately, helped me get to this point in my career.”