Rueben Livingston: Don’t sleep on the Bulldogs this season

Rueben Livingston understands the most important thing about baseball.

“It’s a very hard sport,” the Wilson senior said. “A lot of people don’t get that. Going out there, trying to hit a 95 mph fastball, is not easy.”

Livingston speaks the truth, but his actions don’t back it up. The Bulldogs’ hulking third baseman makes the game look easy when he has a bat in his hands. He crushed opposing pitchers last season, batting .415 with an .862 slugging percentage and a ridiculous 1.422 OPS.

In a devastating Wilson lineup that averaged 8.4 runs and scored 10 or more runs in nearly half its games he was the most productive hitter, leading the team with six home runs and 28 RBIs. In 25 games he scored 26 runs.

He was the only underclassmen in a star-studded lineup that sent eight players to college programs. Still, teams didn’t want to deal with him.

“They pitched around him,” said Bulldogs coach Sal Raccuglia. “They’d rather pitch to Luke (Holman, an Alabama recruit) because he was more of a free swinger, whereas Rueben knows the zone and he’s disciplined and patient. He needs to be this year, because I don’t know that he’s going to see too many fastballs.”

With Holman and Randy Carlo hitting behind him Livingston had ample protection in the lineup. He won’t have that luxury this season. He is the only returning position player from a team that went 22-3 and won the District 3 Class 6A championship. He’s ready for that challenge.

“It’s going to be different,” he admits. “We’ve talked a lot about being more patient, getting deeper in the counts. I’m going to be a lot more patient, I’m going to run the bases a little better and score as many runs as I can for my team.”

Livingston, at 6-4 and 220 pounds, is built like a tight end or a power forward. He played a little football and basketball growing up but always knew baseball was his sport.

“I didn’t want to do anything but baseball,” he said. “I’d wake up in the morning and only think about baseball. I (still) throw the football around, run routes. I love doing it all, but it always comes back down to baseball. It’s really my passion.”

He’ll play next season at Kent State, which recruited him as a third baseman. He committed in the fall of 2020.

With his size and power he’s sure to get pro looks.

“I’m not really worried about that right now,” he said. “I’m just worried about this season, and college. But if pro baseball comes, it comes.”

Livingston is stronger but leaner after an productive offseason in the weight room. Knowing he might not see too many pitches he wants his legs to be a weapon.

“I’m gonna get walked a lot,” he said, “and if I’m able to run the bases I’m going to put pressure on the defense for my teammates, that’s all I want to do, score runs for us.”

Livingston is also going to see more time on the mound. He was limited to two innings last season because of a shoulder issue but is anxious to return. He started and went three innings in the Bulldogs’ first exhibition game at Myrtle Beach last week.

“I haven’t been a starting pitcher for a while, but going to Myrtle Beach, and being a starter against the first team we played, it felt pretty good,” he said.

The Bulldogs had excellent pitching last season — they had a 1.35 staff ERA — but it’ll be more important than ever. Raccuglia knows his lineup is not going to be putting up a dozen runs a game as it often did last year.

“That’s gonna be the key to our season, if we throw strikes,” he said. “We’re going to need to play low-scoring games. We won’t have the offense we had last year. And then we’ve gotta play some defense.”

The Bulldogs figure to be well-armed.

That starts with Cole Leaman, a senior committed to play at Lehigh University. He whiffed 55 batters over 30 2/3 innings last season, when he went 3-0 and compiled a 2.74 ERA.

He’ll be joined in the rotation by Matt VanOstenbridge, a promising sophomore left-hander.

“He’s gonna be special,” Raccuglia said.

Seniors Jake Kope and Christian Valent and junior Owen Geng will also see time on the mound. Like most of the players in the lineup they are untested at this level. They had trouble getting on the field last year because of a talented senior group that included All-Berks picks Holman and Danny Estrada and all-division picks Kyle Cincinnati, Ryan Kelly and Andrew Trayer.

The key guy in the new-look lineup, Raccuglia said, is right fielder Ryan Sekulski. He’ll hit behind Livingston in the order.

“When they don’t pitch to Rueben, Ryan’s got to step up,” Raccuglia said.

Livingston is confident his teammate can come through.

“He’s a hitter that’s gonna put it in the gaps and he’s gonna run,” he said of Sekulski.

Wilson will again battle it out with Gov. Mifflin in Division I of the Berks Baseball League. The Bulldogs won the division title last season, got upset by the Mustangs in the league championship game, then got payback in the district title game, beating them 11-0.

After graduating a dozen seniors some may be looking past Wilson. Livingston advises against it.

“No sleeping on the Bulldogs,” he said. “Never. You can’t. We’re gonna surprise; I just know that. We’re gonna play really good baseball, and we’re gonna play it right.”