Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Greensburg Central Catholic’s Ethan Brody

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, April 8, 2024 | 10:54 AM

Last year, the Greensburg Central Catholic baseball team went 9-6 overall, 8-4 in the section and earned a WPIAL playoff berth.

In the first round against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Centurions dropped a close 1-0 game.

That wasn’t the result the Centurions wanted, of course, but senior Ethan Brody saw a lot to build on.

“We have a lot of guys upcoming this year. We have Anthony Grippo, sophomore, and Ian Shipley, sophomore, and they both had great freshman seasons last year,” Brody said. “This year, we’re definitely going to be able to build off those guys, the younger guys coming back.

“We have a few older guys coming back like me, Grant (Miller), and Tyree (Turner). We’ll definitely be able to build off that this year.”

GCC finished third in its section last year behind Riverview and Serra Catholic, and the aspirations for this year are to leapfrog those teams.

“One team goal this year is winning the section, and I feel like that’s very doable. I feel like that’s definitely something we can accomplish,” Brody said. “Personally, I also want to win the section, but along with that, I’m looking to get 50 strikeouts this year.”

Section games are going to be important to any success GCC has this year, and that started on a positive note with two wins against Ligonier Valley at the end of March.

“I think we’ve just got to be able to consistently hit the ball like we hit (then), and take the stuff that’s given to us,” Brody said. “If we’re getting walks, if we’re able to get a nice bunt, right-side hit to move the runner over, take the stuff that’s given and keep the hitting up.”

Last year, Brody went 6-0 with a 1.31 ERA, including a no-hitter against Southmoreland.

Brody is planning on attending La Roche to play baseball, get his bachelor’s degree in biology or exercise science and get his master’s degree in nursing.

This week, Brody took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

How did you get started with baseball?

I got started with baseball when I was probably 2 or 3 years old and my mom just put me into T-ball because she had my older brother play baseball. She just threw me into T-ball the same age she put him in, at about 2 or 3 years old.

What kind of work do you put in on and off the field to achieve the success that you have?

I’m big in the gym. I like to go to the gym six to seven times a week, keep my body in shape and stay active. And then over the offseason, when I’m not playing high school ball, I’m playing for my summer club team, Pittsburgh Hardball Academy. They have a lot of good guys out there, like Nelson Cooper and Bubba (Snider), who’s my pitching coach, and they’ve helped me develop a lot and work on a lot of my pitching.

What is your mentor approach to some of the younger kids on the team as a senior?

As primarily a pitcher only, I’ll pitch one of the games in the week, and I’m either just hitting or hanging out. So I like to get into the bullpen with the guys, especially the younger kids if they’re having problems with off-speed pitches. I’m big on trying to watch their mechanics, see what they could be doing wrong. Even when we’re in practice, we’ll do live pitching. We’ll bring in a new pitcher, and I’ll stand behind the mound and be like, “OK, what are you doing? Let’s break it down. Let’s look at your pitching. Let’s see what’s going on here.” I think primarily I see myself as a mentor for our pitching game, especially because we don’t really have a pitching coach right now.

Is there a player in MLB you try to emulate?

Especially because I’m hitting a lot more this year, my favorite MLB player and a player I aspire to be like one day is Shohei Ohtani. He’s a legend.

What did the recruitment process look like?

Recruiting was a long process. I probably started trying to get recruited when I joined my club team back in sophomore year. They’ve definitely been a big help throughout the way. They’ve provided me with a lot of different opportunities to go to camps, and they also provided me with connections. I would have never gotten in contact with the coach from La Roche if it wasn’t for my coach at Hardball. Actually, a former player there was a catcher at La Roche, and he was able to get me in contact with one of their coaches. The recruiting process, it’s been a long journey, but it’s definitely been a big help from my coaches and other friends and mentors from Pittsburgh Hardball Academy. They were able to get me set up with a lot of the coaches I was able to get in contact with.

What’s one thing that people may not know about you?

I’ll actually do a couple, one baseball related one and one not baseball related one. The not baseball related one is I actually have a YouTube channel. I like to post video game content, like Fortnite and whatever. I have about 60 subscribers. One thing that people don’t know about me baseball related is I’ll talk to myself on the mound, like have full-on conversations with myself.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.