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Procopio Pulls Off Consecutive No-Hitters!
By Jeri Jacquin
Lets start off with just a plain trivia question. When is the last time you heard of a pitcher throwing consecutive no hitters? There have been notable no-hitters and they are easily Googled, but a back to back no hitter by the same pitcher? Well let me enlighten you.
The first no-hitter was on Saturday March 23, when a 17 year-old Senior from Montgomery High School named Brad Procopio pitched a game against Otay Ranch with a final score of 12-0. If that is not jaw dropping enough, lets add that he struck out 15 batters. Perhaps we can add a little more drama in a game he previously pitched against Bonita (the game prior to his first no hitter) when Brad struck out another 15 batters.
On the Montgomery Aztec baseball field, Wednesday March 28, in the Southbay area, Brad Procopio finished this particular baseball day with his second consecutive no-hitter against Chula Vista with a final score of 11-0, striking out 13 batters.
If one is to look at 2005-06 previous season, Brad’s overall ERA was 1.70 with a record of 7-4. He had 72 strike-outs, which placed him 7th in the County and 2nd in League. His opponents’ batting average was .179. His accolades last year came in the form of awards as Mesa League First Team, Mesa League Pitcher of the Year, Union Tribune All-Academic Team and also Breitbard All-CIF Second Team.
The Aztecs fought all the way to the CIF Division II Championship at Tony Gwynn Stadium at SDSU in June 2006 and earned respect for being the underdog team and although they did not win, they ended their 2005-06 season with a highly respectable 22-9 record, and Brad got a taste of playing on a famous field.
So you may wish to know, “what has he done lately” and I am so very glad you asked. Lets look at this young man’s record so far this 2006-07 season. As it now stands he has two wins and no losses with an ERA of 1.42. This translates as 18th in the county and first in League (Max Preps). Already this early season Brad has 53 strike outs which places him 1st in county and 1st in league. His opponents are batting .095 against his pitches.
Would saying “not to shabby” be an understatement here?
Will Pitch for Education
But that is not all one needs to know about Brad. He is also an excellent student with a 3.8 GPA at Montgomery High School and doing the usual senior panic of deciding on which college he wishes to attend. As another senior year of 2006-07 slowly starts to come to a close, it is only another phase of a young persons life. One of the most important mind bending aspects of a seniors’ life (and that of his parents) is deciding an educational future. The insanity begins as a students visits colleges, applies and starts the process of finding the funds to pay for a well-rounded education.
But what is a student to do when the maze to find funds becomes more dead end than good leads? The internet has a wealth of information and sites but it is a huge process to weed out the worthwhile ones, first of all, then go through all the scholarships that are available. Once that is done another process must take place to find out which scholarships a student actually qualifies for.
There are companies that will gladly take your money and convince you that they will find the scholarships, however, there is no guarantee that you will get them. High school counselors have become overwhelmed in trying to help both the junior and senior class with scholarships and making sure the FASFA applications are in on time.
So what is a student to do? If you ask anyone in the education field the constant answer to “where can I find scholarships?” is a resounding ‘oh they are out there’!
Knowing all of this one would think the scouts and scholarships would be available to Brad. It just doesn’t seem to be the case. With funds being tight for all colleges, it takes persistence and connections to find the dollars needed to afford that price of a well-rounded education.
What does Brad hope to accomplish in college? He has decided to combine his love of baseball with his compassion for fellow athletes and has chosen the field of sports medicine for his degree. This does not mean, however, that he has forgotten his dream of playing major league baseball.
Experience even in Youth
It is not as if this young man woke up recently and said, “hey, I think I’ll pitch a ball”, Brad has been playing baseball since he was six years old. In 1998 his team was in the Tournament of Champions and All Stars in 1999 for the Imperial Beach Little League. That same year he began travel ball with the San Diego Rookies.
In 2000, he once again made the All Star Team for I.B. and moved on to the San Diego Cherokees placing 3rd in the USABF World Series. In that same year academically he was selected to represent his class at the San Diego County Math Field Day Competition which proves he started quite early with multitasking his playing with his education.
In 2001 Brad again made the All Stars for IB and placed 2nd in the USSSA State Championship with the San Diego Cherokees coming in third at the state rankings. He pitched a 1 hitter in the All Star game and pitched his first no-hitter at the Triple Crown World Series Qualifier. This would also be the year he began to pitch for the Montgomery Aztecs batting .385 and only giving up 1 earned run in 15 innings pitched.
In 2002 Brad pitched his first no hitter at the Little League Memorial Day Tournament striking out 17 in six innings and also hit a home run. He later pitched 2 one-hitters striking out 29 in two All-Star games. He finished the season with a batting average of .725 and led the league in Home Runs. He would pitch his 2nd and 3rd no-hitter’s in Travel Tournament play with the San Diego Cherokees.
All of this led to Brad visiting down under and playing in Area Code Baseball in Australia where was 13 years-old pitching for a 16 year-old team.
Again, not to shabby eh?
Talking with Brad
When I asked Brad how he felt about his first no hitter, his response was, “I was numb, it didn’t set in that I had thrown a no hitter until two days later. It was a great feeling!” and the second? “It felt like a dream! Like something written only in books. I just never thought that something so great could happen to me.”
So how do you celebrate consecutive no hitters? How do you celebrate a rare feat such as this? Well, this particular young man asked to go to Soup Plantation to have dinner with his family | 
