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Red Devils’ Dressler taking his talents to Purdue
Hinsdale Central's Adam Dressler verbally committed to play college baseball at Purdue. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
Updated: August 27, 2012 1:47AM
Purdue should hire Oak Park-River Forest catcher Jack Picchiotti as a recruiter.
Picchiotti stole a page from Crash Davis in “Bull Durham” and had a regular conversation with the opposing batter while catching for the Huskies the past season.
Picchiotti directed one conversation to Hinsdale Central right-hander pitcher Adam Dressler. Since the West Suburban Silver rivals played three times in the past year, there was a lot of conversations between the two.
When Dressler would step into the batter’s box, Picchiotti would ask him, “Where are you going to college? What about Purdue?”
Picchiotti, who signed with Purdue in 2011 and recently graduated from OPRF, would have been happy to hear that he could be one-half of a future battery for Purdue featuring another West Suburban Silver product in the Big Ten. On Monday, Dressler verbally committed to Purdue to become one of the first members of the Class of 2013 to commit to the Boilermakers, who won the Big Ten title in the past season.
“We’ve talked for the past year. He has always tried to get me to consider Purdue,” Dressler said of Picchiotti. “We have talked on the phone and I texted him yesterday to tell him the news. He was excited. He’s one heck of a player that can definitely hit the ball.”
Picchiotti led OPRF to the Class 4A state title earlier this month and scored the winning run in a 4-3 victory over Lyons in the final.
Before the season, Dressler was ranked fourth among prospects in the Class of 2013, according to McCook-based Prep Baseball Report. In the PBR Spring edition, Dressler’s capsule read: “Strong-bodied righty sat 89-90 at Super 60.”
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Dressler struggled the past season as the ace for Hinsdale Central (12-22).
Purdue has recruited more heavily in the Chicago area recently. The Boilermakers already have Brother Rice’s Pat Gannon, Wheaton North’s Jack DeAno, St. Laurence’s Kyle Wood and Libertyville’s Joe Eichmann on their roster.
Chicago players that have already signed or committed to Purdue include Neuqua Valley’s Jack Amaro, St. Rita’s Stefano Belmonte and Eddie de la Riva, Warren’s Patrick Kenney, Lake Zurich’s Mike Lutz, Bishop McNamara’s Drew Nichols and Picchiotti.
Dressler selected Purdue over Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Michigan State and Illinois among others. He plans on studying business management.
“Ultimately, I wanted to be a Boilermaker,” Dressler said.
Being close to home in West Lafayette, Ind., was a factor for Dressler, who would like his family to watch some games. One of his recent recruiting visits included his father, David.
Dressler passed up an opportunity to play in the Stevenson Showcase earlier this month to compete in a tournament in Cincinnati with his travel team, the Indiana Prospects. He is in his second season with Prospects and has upcoming tournaments this summer in New Jersey, Ohio and Georgia.
