Baseball: Prairie Ridge grad Dom Listi will finish college career at Clemson

Of all the strong qualities Dom Listi possesses on a baseball field, his most endearing is an ability to reach first base.

Listi is a master at on-base percentage.

This season at Indiana State, the 2019 Prairie Ridge graduate reached base 59 times without getting a hit. The lefty swinger had plenty of hits, too (70) and a .324 batting average. But he drew 34 walks and was hit by pitches 25 times (second in the Missouri Valley Conference) for an OBP of .464.

“I don’t think I have the most tools compared to everybody else, but the specialization I have in getting to first base, I’m one of the best at doing that, and they valued that skill set,” Listi said. “That drew them toward me.”

“Them” is Clemson, where Listi, who received two extra years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will finish his college career next season. After four productive years at NCAA Division III North Central College, Listi transferred to D-I Indiana State last year and began working on his master’s degree in business administration.

Now, he will finish that degree in South Carolina and play his final season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“It’s courageous,” Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro said. “He was at North Central, tearing it up, having good year after good year. They had a successful program year in, year out. Last summer, he came to our camp and said he was thinking of going into the portal.

“He wanted a new challenge. He wanted to take a risk. I said, ‘What if you go Division I and never play?’ He said, ‘I don’t care. I want to try. I want the challenge.’ I said, ‘God bless you, then do it.’ "

Listi thrived at Indiana State, helping the Sycamores to a 44-15 record. Indiana State was knocked out by Kentucky in the NCAA Lexington Regional; the Wildcats went on to make it to the College World Series. Listi made the Regional All-Tournament team.

Listi hit .324 with three homers, 31 RBIs and 57 runs out of the No. 2 spot in the batting order. When Sycamores coach Mitch Hannahs left to take the South Florida coaching job, several ISU players, including Listi, entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Listi feels that prospective schools liked what they saw with his ability to get on base.

“I’ve done if over a long period of time at different places and different levels,” he said. “It’s the skill set of getting to first base.

“I really attribute a lot of it to coach Pec and the way he preached quality at-bats in high school. There’s more to a quality at-bat than simply getting a hit. When you’re not doing well, there are a lot of ways you can provide value to your team. That’s something I’ve always taken extremely seriously and to heart. When things aren’t going well and we’re facing a really good arm, getting hit by a pitch is the same as a leadoff single. It’s more of a mentality as well when it boils down to it.”

Pecoraro actually tells his players to worry about quality at-bats more than hits.

“I’ve heard coaches say he’s a constant pest. He’s always on base,” Pecoraro said. “Everybody wants hits, I get that. But it’s about hitting the ball hard, advancing a runner, getting hit by a pitch, walking, all these things we try and do and build up our quality at-bat average, that all goes into it.

“If you get a hit, that’s a bonus. Dom always bought into that in high school. You could see with his work ethic and his strength. I told him his best baseball was in front of him because he was going to figure it out and when he figured it out, he was going to be dangerous.

Listi’s first two years at North Central were interrupted by COVID-19, but the NCAA gave athletes extra seasons because of the pandemic. Listi is taking full advantage.

Listi (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) hit .374 in 2022, with a .500 OBP and scored 73 runs, breaking the school record and finishing eighth in D-III.

In 2023, he hit .375, scored 40 runs and knocked in 20 runs. Then, he entered the portal and headed for Indiana State.

Listi played in the Northwoods League last summer but is not playing this summer. Instead, he will work with other college players he knows in the Crystal Lake area and with Bill Miller Training around Naperville.

Listi, who hit No. 2 most of his career in high school and college, will keep with the same philosophy he always has followed, getting quality at-bats and finding ways to get on base.

“It all boils down to competition and providing value,” Listi said. “I’m going to have an opportunity to compete for a corner spot in the outfield. What it really comes down to is showing coach [Erik] Bakich and his staff what value I can provide to help the team win. If I can show them a surplus of ways I can provide value, the more likely I’ll be able to come in and help them win.

“My philosophy is if you show the coach all the ways you can provide value, you’re just going to give them that many more reasons to put you in the game.”