By PAUL GOTHAM
James Capellupo capped his varsity career garnering the Class AA Player of the Year as selected by Section V Baseball coaches. The UMass-Lowell commit etched his name in the record book and led Hilton baseball to a second straight league title.
Along the way, a gift he received as a child helped shape his daily approach to the game.
“It feels really good,” he said. “Having put in so much time over my career and to finally win something of that caliber is pretty cool and definitely a testament to everything that went into that.”
The right-hander logged a 7-1 record as he struck out 88 batters in 52 innings.
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Those numbers only scratch the surface of Capellupo’s impact on the mound. Starting with a 10-0 win over Monticello on April 5th at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, he hurled six shutouts to break the previous Section V Baseball mark of five. Combined with four shutout frames against Rush-Henrietta, Capellupo strung together 46 straight innings of scoreless ball.
“He’s a big-time competitor,” Hilton head coach Kevin Whelehan. “He hates to lose. He’s extremely focused and obviously, his stuff is pretty good.”
Capellupo hurled a no-hitter against Webster Schroeder, a team that averaged nearly seven runs per game in its other 21 outings. He tossed three 2-hitters and had a pair of 1-hitters.
“It’s just the type of kid he is,” Whelehan said. “He’s intrinsically motivated, very driven. He wants to be the best that he can be. We see that in other sports. We see it in the weight room. We see it in the work he does in the classroom. He’s obviously working toward doing the best that he can here in high school, but he’s obviously going to be competing at the college level next year. He’s a completely driven kid.”
Capellupo set the Section V record for shutouts with a 2-hitter against host Brighton. He struck out 13 of 25 batters faced without allowing a runner past second in that game. He set down the last eight Brighton hitters that came to the plate and 10 of 11. Of the two hits allowed, one was a weak infield ground ball, the other a double – the only time a ball found a barrel against him on that day.
Also included in his shutouts was a 4-0 blanking of eventual Class AA finalist, Victor.
“He’s all business,” said Victor head coach Sean Rucker. “He’s really locked in and focused on the job at hand. When he gets on the mound, he’s going to bring it to you. He doesn’t walk anybody. He’s very hard to hit and he’ll handle eight to 12 outs himself. You’re going to have to really work hard to make something happen against him, and it’s hard to do.”
It is fitting that his performance on the mound sets him apart from others. On those days when he toes the rubber, Capellupo wears a mitt given to him by Molly Jacob – mother of the late Brenton Jacob.
“Wearing that glove is a reminder to give everything I have each game and not take anything for granted.”
Brenton Jacob played American Legion Baseball at Brooks Shepard Post under then-head coach Jim Capellupo (James’s dad). Brenton passed away unexpectedly at the age of 26. The elder Capellupo took his son with him when he went to visit Molly Jacob soon after her son’s passing. Molly wanted James to have her son’s glove. James was seven at the time.
“When you’re younger and given a gift like that, you’re excited and just want to take good care of it and make his mother happy. After a couple years, I started to appreciate how any game could be my last. Obviously, it doesn’t have to necessarily mean passing away, but how serious life is and how short it can be.”
The glove, a Wilson A 2000, has been restrung three or four times, and the pocket has needed work.
“It’s getting up there in uses, so I try to take good care of it. I don’t ever use it in practice and just preserve it for the games,” Capellupo said. “When I throw bullpens, I wear it just for comfort because that’s what I’ll be wearing in the games to keep it consistent.
“If I’m playing catch in the outfield in the beginning of practice, I would never use it for something like that. I would never take ground balls with it. Whenever it’s in my bag, I never want it to be crushed, so it’s always at the top of my stuff. I always have two baseballs in it at once. That way it’s keeping its shape and not sitting flat.”
Molly Jacob was on hand the day James broke the Section V record for shutouts in a season.
“I was super-excited that she was able to see that. There’s a pride factor that a part of her son is still carrying on as part of an achievement like that.
“Obviously, I was super-young, but people who have a lot of respect in the baseball community say he was someone who played the game the right way. He played the game hard and gave it everything he had each game. He was a good person to be around. To be able to have that glove with me, carrying on that for somebody who passed away is a pride thing and also inspires me to be a better teammate and player.”
The Brenton Jacob Memorial supports youth sports in East Rochester where Brenton attended school.
Capellupo, a two-time All-Class selection finished the season with a 0.27 ERA.
“He’s been a three-year varsity starter, our number one for two years,” Whelehan said. “He’s a kid that as a sophomore came in as relief and toward the end of the year worked into a starting role.
“He’s going to be tough to replace that’s for sure. He’s heart and soul on the mound for us every Monday or every sectional game. He’s the guy we give the ball to and we’re confident that we’ve got a chance to win.”
Capellupo’s teammates, Jeffrey Broadnax and Steven Kraus also earned spots on the 2023 Class AA team. Kraus hit .400 with a .631 slugging percentage. The junior finished with six doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI. On the mound, he was 4-2 with 38 strikeouts and a 3.69 ERA. Broadnax hit .373 with .593 slugging percentage. The FLCC commit had five doubles, two home runs and 14 RBI.
Victor’s Weston Elkovitch, Carter Fink and Mitchell Schalberg also earned Class AA honors. Elkovitch hit .320 with three home runs and 20 RBI. On the mound, the junior fanned 50 in 39 innings of work over 10 appearances. Fink, a 2022 Class AA selection, had a record of 6-3 on the mound with a 4.34 ERA. The Niagara University commit struck out 62 in 47.2 innings of work.
Rush-Henrietta’s Evan Brock garnered back-to-back AA honors. Brock hit .446 with 12 extra-base hits including five doubles and four home runs. Brock drove in 16 runs and scored 18.
Jack Cannon (Webster Schroeder), Sam Miller (Fairport), Matt Wilmarth (McQuaid Jesuit) and Alex Young (Penfield) rounded out the Class AA team. Cannon hit .403 with four doubles, three triples, a home run, 10 RBI and 20 runs scored. The LeMoyne College commit was 2-0 on the mound with a 2.45 ERA over 20 innings of work.
Miller was 5-1 on the mound with 0.78 ERA. The junior right-hander struck out 55 and walked 19 over 44.2 innings pitched. At the plate, Miller hit .429 with three home runs and 29 RBI. Wilmarth struck out 76 over 47.1 innings of work. The junior right-hander had three wins and a save with an ERA of 1.035 and WHIP of 1.162. Young, a 2022 selection, hit .338 with 11 RBI and 13 runs scored. Behind the plate, the senior finished with a .985 fielding percentage over 150 innings. He committed two errors without allowing a passed ball.
*Section V coaches decided the All-Class teams.
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