'He knocks the living crud out of the ball'

Jedd Cordisco could have transferred to another school when it became apparent that he wasn't going to be a regular in the College of Charleston's baseball lineup last season.

He chose another option. Not willing to change schools, Cordisco decided to change sports, and now finds himself contributing at forward for the College of Charleston soccer team.

Cordisco has played in 10 games and scored two goals in a reserve role for the Cougars (9-8, 3-3 Southern Conference) heading into the final game of the regular season at 7 p.m. tonight at Patriots Point when Charleston takes on Wofford.

"Right now, I'm very happy with my decision," Cordisco said. "The team is great. All the guys are like a family. It's very closely knit. They're very accepting of me and support me. I enjoyed the baseball guys and everyone there, and it was hard to leave them, but the soccer guys made the transition easier because they have really accepted me."

Charleston soccer coach Ralph Lundy says Cordisco's transition from one sport to another on the collegiate level has been fairly remarkable.

"Now, I played three sports at Western Carolina in 1971, but the way things are these days, it's so hard to be a two-sport participant or a two-sport athlete because everybody is specialized and all seasons now are 12 months a year," he said. "Everybody plays their respective sport all year."

Fortunately for Cordisco, he brought impeccable soccer credentials with him.

A four-year MVP for the soccer team at Pittsburgh's Hampton High School, Cordisco was actually more heavily recruited in that sport than baseball, even drawing an offer from national-power Indiana.

"I visited Indiana, but it takes 30 minutes to get from one side of the campus to the other," Cordisco said. "I thought, 'No way.' "

Cordisco was leaning toward baseball anyway because he had always wanted to pursue his dream of eventually playing in the Major Leagues. A baseball offer came in late from the College of Charleston.

He visited and was sold on the school as well as the city.

His baseball career began with great promise. An outfielder, Cordisco played sparingly as a freshman, but as a sophomore, he played in 33 games with 15 starts and hit .333 with two homers and 11 RBIs.

Then when an anticipated spot in the starting lineup didn't open for him last season, Cordisco decided it was time for a change.

"I went in and talked it over with (former baseball coach John) Pawlowski, and I was really thinking about transferring," Cordisco said. "But the more I thought about it, I just couldn't see myself being anything but a Cougar. I wanted to try soccer."

Of course it's not enough to simply decide to change sports, particularly on the college level.

The transition hasn't been easy.

"He has been away from the game for three years, and that's a real important period of development," Lundy said. "He's an amazing athlete, but to play college soccer, you've got to be more than an amazing athlete."

For baseball, the 6-2 Cordisco had been fanatically lifting weights to build up his strength and power and his weight had risen from 205 pounds to almost 240.

"Trying to get back to soccer weight, I had to run all summer," he said. "I'm down to about 203 or 204, but it was a big swing for my body."

His endurance is still an issue, as well as just honing his skills, but Lundy sees huge potential.

"He's an amazing athlete with amazing speed and power and he has a very good athletic mind to play the game," Lundy said. "He reads the game fine. He plays hard, runs hard and puts lots of pressure on the defense. They cannot take a break when he's on the field. He heads the ball well, and knocks the living crud out of the ball. We want him to shoot more because the velocity of his shot is punishing. He's powerful."

Cordisco, a junior, still has another full year of soccer ahead of him.

"He has been effective in the minutes that he has gotten," Lundy said. "If he continues to work at it, he can have a major impact for us. That's what we're hoping for."