By Steve Svetovich
Dunmore High School recent graduate Nico Ruggiero made the most of his athletic career.
Son of Vito and Christine Ruggiero, Dunmore, Nico excelled for four years in baseball, football and basketball at Dunmore. He was, simply put, a three-sport standout from beginning to end.
“I really didn’t have a favorite sport,” he said. “Whatever sport I was playing, well, that was my favorite. It depended on what season it was. When football started, I loved football and when basketball started I loved that. And I loved baseball when that season started. I conditioned myself for each sport.”
And for all of his dedication and accomplishments in the three sports during his senior year, Nico was named Dunmore High School athlete of the year. A captain on the baseball team, he batted .300, with five doubles, 12 RBIs and a 1.000 fielding percentage as a center fielder. He also excelled as a southpaw pitcher. He was the team pitcher of the year.
He was an All-State honorable mention football player as a running back for the Bucks. He was a stalwart safety on defense for Dunmore.
Scrappy on the hardwood, Nico, a starting point guard, was MVP on Dunmore’s basketball team.
The scholar-athlete finished his Dunmore academic career with an impressive 3.7 academic average. His best academic subject is statistics. He earned a 98 in statistics.
Down-to-earth and hard-working, Nico will attend West Chester University to study business management in the fall.
“I want to graduate college with that degree and get a very good job,” he said. “There should be a lot of jobs for that.”
Nico said he learned a lot from Dunmore veteran baseball coach Mike Hallinan. “He taught me to be respectful on and off the field and to focus on my goals.”
The three-sport standout has very high praise for Dunmore football coach Kevin McHale.
“I learned so much from Coach McHale,” he said. “He taught me to always get up. When you get knocked down, always get right back up.”
Nico, 19, said his parents are his biggest supporters.
“They teach me to always be respectful. Never give up. If you put your mind to it, you can do it.”
He talked about what it takes to be a good pitcher in high school baseball. ‘You need to throw strikes. It doesn’t matter how fast you pitch, just learn to hit the corners and throw strikes.”
A smart athlete and a gamer, Nico likes listening to music in his spare time. He would like to see Lil’ Baby in concert.
He is looking forward to attending West Chester. “I’m not sure if I will play any sports there. I am thinking about playing baseball.”
Nico said he loved his academic and athletic experiences at Dunmore. “It was an overall great time,” he said. “I learned a lot and made great memories. I met a lot of great people.