Westminster’s Eric Torrente has elected to take his talents to Tennessee and join the Tusculum College Pioneers of the NCAA D-II. “I am really excited about this, the facility and coaching staff are first class”, said Torrente when asked upon the way he felt about his decision.

Torrente in his senior season for the Warriors was a key part of Westminster’s success out of the bullpen. In his 11 appearances he shut down the opposition by striking out 23 batters; while securing two wins out of the pen. Torrente’s 23 strikeouts came in only 19 2/3 innings pitched for an impressive average of 1.2 strikeouts per inning, obtaining a strike three call in all but 1 appearance (lasting past an inning of work).

Eric had himself a tough decision to make; does he head north or stay home? Torrente had offers from schools around the Miami area such as Barry University and St. Thomas University. Yet, he credits Tusculum College as “his best option for both athletics and more importantly education”.

A key contribution to Eric’s progress into the next level was his head coach Emil Castellanos and longtime supporter Ernie Gonzalez, who happens to be the head coach at Doral Academy. “Coach Emil broke him out of his shell and helped him gain confidence on the mound”, said Rick Torrente (Eric’s father) “Emil even helped my son with his highlight video and its distribution… Westminster was the best two years of Eric’s life”.

Now Eric joins a Pioneers ball club that is arguably coming off its best season is school history. Tusculum finished ranked #9 in the final NCAA D-II 2012 standings surpassing its previous #10 ranking in the 2007 season. The pioneers went 48-10 in 2012, the 48 wins fourth most in the country. The Pioneers belong to the South Atlantic Conference where they dominated in 2012 with a conference record of 24-3.

We at La Ley Sports wish Eric and his family a fantastic experience into the next stage of their lives.