Pitt baseball picked up its fifth commitment of the 2023 class on Friday evening. Right-handed pitcher Ryan O’Rourke, a rising senior out of Morristown, New Jersey announced that he had committed to play for head coach Mike Bell’s Panthers on Twitter yesterday.
O’Rourke features a low-to-mid-80’s fastball and a low-70’s curveball. And at 17-years old, O’Rourke is 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, meaning he boasts an impressive physical frame.
He comes from a powerhouse high school program at Seton Hall Prep. The Pirates have won the Greater Newark Tournament title 16 times since its inception in 1973, including four straight from 1997 to 2000 and five straight from 2013 to 2017. Since 1948, Seton Hall Prep has earned 30 state championships.
It is also the alma mater of Rick Porcello, a former Cy Young winner with the Boston Red Sox in 2016. The Pirates have finished the season ranked in the USA Today national poll ten times.
O’Rourke joins catcher Sebastian Pisacreta, third baseman Bryce Rudisill, outfielder and right-handed pitcher Austyn Winkleblech and shortstop Ryan Zuckerman in the recruiting class of 2023.
The Panthers have lost a few of their best arms from the successful 2021 campaign this offseason, making O’Rourke a key future addition. Chris Gomez, Corey Sawyer, Jordan McCrum and Stephen Hansen have graduated, Chase Smith transferred to West Virginia and Mitch Myers was drafted and signed with the Oakland Athletics last week. 228 ⅓ of the 383 total innings pitched last season have departed the program.
