Athlete of the Week winner: American Heritage-Delray pitcher Noah Lucia
DELRAY BEACH – It's a time of both excitement and uncertainty for American Heritage-Delray’s baseball program and senior left-hander Noah Lucia.
Lucia started his journey in the baseball program on the JV team during his freshman year in 2019. However he quickly impressed and moved straight to the varsity squad the following year.
“I wish I played varsity my freshman year,” Lucia said. “I can’t blame coach though because we has a stacked team with 13 to 14 D1 commits.”
The Stallions are recovering from a disappointing season last year that ended in a losing record of 11-17 and no playoff qualification.
They are off to a better start this season with a 7-3 record, beating the likes of Palm Beach Gardens and King’s Academy.
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As a kid, Lucia took part in many sports like basketball, football and of course, baseball. He found to enjoy baseball a lot more than the others and had found success and love for it up to now.
He began his baseball career at just 9-years-old playing little league with his friends. In middle school he would play travel ball and joined the travel organization, Hitmen Ultra.
“In middle school I played on a travel team with my friend and playing there I made connections and tried out for Hitmen Ultra, who were the No. 2 team in the nation at the time,” said Lucia. “I was there for about three to four years and I really enjoyed my time training and playing there.”
Lucia thanks his early coaching for being in the position he is now. He had many coaches throughout the years that helped him develop the player he is today, and playing as a left-hander.
“On my first travel team I had coach Tod Moser, he was definitely a big inspiration to me because he played pro ball and he is also a lefty, so he would help me all the time,” said Lucia.
“Now in high school I have coach Carm Mazza, who has been helping me with training. He was also a lefty. I can relate to both coaches a lot because they were both lefty like me. They helped me with all my pitches and mechanics.”
Lucia wants to continue to improve his skills and be a better ball player and prepares himself for where he wants to play college ball.
“I want to keep improving on my pitch, I want to throw consistent 85 (miles per hour) and touch 90mph,” Lucia said. “I want to keep helping my team in any way I can and win tournaments.”
“For college, I’m not committed yet. I want to stay in Florida, I grew up here. I don’t know what the future holds, but I just want to go to a program that has competitive baseball and where I can get my business degree.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Athlete of the Week winner: American Heritage-Delray pitcher Noah Lucia
