Pitelli brothers, standouts at UM, FIU, honor father’s memory with baseball success

When the Pitelli brothers were kids, they would smash hard ground balls at each other in their Kendall driveway, making diving catches on the concrete.

“We would make plays,” Dominic Pitelli said, “not giving a crap what would happen to our bodies.”

Given their passion for baseball, it’s no surprise that both of the brothers – Nick, 23, and Dominic, 22 – have played Division I baseball.

Dominic was an immediate starter at shortstop for the Miami Hurricanes, playing three years there before getting drafted in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Reds last year.

Last week, Dominic was promoted to Double A after hitting .290 with an .868 OPS at Daytona (Class A). Dominic, who is 5-foot-10, has been used at shortstop, third base and second base.

Nick, a 5-7 catcher, just finished his senior season at FIU, helping the Panthers (27-30) reach the Conference USA playoffs for the first time since 2018.

FIU’s season ended on Friday with an 8-5 loss to Western Kentucky.

However, on April 10, Nick got quite a thrill when he picked up his first career walk-off hit in a 5-4 win over Florida Gulf Coast. With the bases loaded and one out, Nick was inserted as a pinch-hitter, and he lined a single to right.

Nick, who is extremely close with his brother, called Dominic after the game to discuss his feat.

“Dom said, ‘That’s dope as hell. I’ve never had a walk off in my life’,” said Nick, recounting the conversation.

“Twenty-four hours later, he hit a walk-off homer.”

Indeed, with none on and two outs in the ninth, Dominic homered to right-center off a changeup.

Nick was at home when that happened. He heard his mother scream. Startled, he ran to her bedroom only to find that she was listening to the game online, and her yell was in celebration.

Dominic finished the game with two homers and three RBIs.

“Dom stole my shine,” Nick said with a laugh.

Jokes aside, this has been the greatest combined season for the Pitelli brothers. Dominic has been promoted one step closer to the major leagues, and Nick received the most extensive playing time ever at the Division-I level, producing a .244 batting average, two homers and a .795 OPS in 24 games, including 11 starts.

But all that success is bittersweet because the boys lost their father, Gino, who died on Jan. 28, 2021 due to pancreatic cancer.

Gino, who was 51, passed away just two weeks before Dominic made his Hurricanes debut.

It’s a touching story. Gino, who was an American of Italian and Cuban ancestry, met Zandra, who is an American of Colombian heritage, while both were working at a Publix store in Doral. She was 18, and he was 21.

“We met each other’s families,” Zandra said, “and it was a slam dunk.”

Zandra soon embarked on a nearly 30-year casino-marketing career in the cruise industry.

“I traveled quite a bit, and Gino was Mr. Mom,” Zandra said. “He did everything with the boys, taking them to school, picking them up and taking them to practice. It was 24-7.”

When the boys played at Doral Academy, Gino was in the dugout, acting as the team’s scorekeeper.

During this time, Doral lost in the 2019 Class 7A state finals, falling 3-2 to Venice. Nick was a senior that season, and Dominic was a junior.

“Gino was great,” Doral coach Ralph Suarez said. “He helped me with paperwork, hotels, travel, logistics. And Dom and Nick helped establish our program as one of the best in Florida.”

In Gino’s memory, Doral has a banner in right-center field that reads:

‘In Loving Memory

Firebird for Life

Gino Anthony Pitelli

1969-2021’

Nick said his father was sick for the last six years of his life.

“It was a miracle and a blessing he was with us as long as he was,” Nick said.

During the COVID year of 2020, Zandra was laid off, and that turned out to be another blessing as the family spent more time together than had normally been the case.

After Gino passed, Zandra started her own business in order to be more present in the life of her sons.

And, as always, the boys have each other.

“We were attached at the hip until Dom left for pro ball,” Nick said. “We’ve had the same friend group since we were little, and we still talk at least three times per week.”

Since Nick played for Miami Dade College in 2021 and 2022, he only faced Dom last year, when the Hurricanes beat FIU all four times.

This year, with Dom off playing pro ball, FIU finally ended a streak of 12 consecutive losses to Miami.

As soon as that game ended, Nick got a text from Dom:

“Just remember: I would never have let that happen had I been playing.”

Nick, who is set to graduate this summer with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business, may have played his last baseball game. It is unlikely he’ll get drafted, although there’s a chance he can play a fifth college season while studying for a Master’s degree.

If nothing else, he is determined to help his mother grow her “Miami On Tap” mobile-bar business.

Dominic, a Criminology major, vows to, at some point, finish the year he needs to earn his Bachelor’s degree.

Both Dominic and Nick want to keep doing well on and off the field in honor of their late father.

“I know he’s watching us,” said Dominic, who has his father’s name and a cross written on the inside of his cap. “I play for him every day.”