Mason Lerma '23 Recruiting Profile

My goal is to become a collegiate pitcher with a strong academic background.  Like most baseball players my age, I aspire to play baseball for a good program at the collegiate level.  I have earned a 4.0 GPA or better in both my Freshman and Sophomore years in High School while taking honors classes.  I played JV baseball my Freshman year, and Varsity as a Sophomore.  My junior year I played varsity and had a very successful season. I was I was 8-2 with a 1.70 ERA. I threw 69.2 innings with 94 strikeouts to 22 walks. My team and I won the NCS playoffs. At the end of the season I was honored to make the All League North Bay first team as a pitcher. 

I enjoy the mental part of pitching as much as the physical.  I have grown to understand and appreciate that the more I mentally prepare, the better I physically perform.  The most important advice that I always remember whenever I prepare, practice, or pitch is ‘Whatever got me to this point today, won’t be enough to keep me here tomorrow’.  My teammates have called me the “heart and soul” of our team.  I am very supportive of all of my teammates and help keep the energy and enthusiasm of the team up, even if faced with a challenging situation.  I was selected as Christian Gentleman for my high school, in my Freshman year.   

The tools I work with, skills I work at, and results I work hard for, help me to achieve the kinds of results that my coaches, teammates and I expect every time I take the mound.  I have worked hard to control and command these 5 pitches:

2-seam fastball/Sinker -83 MPH Avg.  Cutter - 77MPH Avg.  Slider -71MPH Avg.  Circle Change -68 MPH Avg.  Knuckle Curve -64 MPH Avg.  

Earning the designation of 'Fireman', I often entered the game in the middle innings of a close game with 1 or no outs, 2 men on/bases loaded.  As a sophomore pitching Varsity last season, I made an appearance in 12/17 games and led the team with 6 decisions.  Beginning this summer, I transitioned to starting pitcher as the lefty ‘Ace’ for our team.  We played several college prep squads, and excelled in tournaments.  The highlight was when I, along with four of my teammates, were selected as 16-U NorthWest representatives for the USA Baseball NTIS Champions Cup!  My stats and highlights are below:

Cardinal Newman (CN) Varsity Season 2021 (verified via MaxPreps)

Season Statistics: 4W-2L/20.1 IP -  2.75 ERA/.984 WHIP - 25k’s/7BB’s

Cardinal Newman Summer Program 2021 (verified via GameChanger)*

• Season Statistics: 4W-0L/38 IP - 1.289 ERA/.789 WHIP - 34K’s/5 BB’s 

Summer 2021 Tournament Highlights (verified via GameChanger)*

Buchanan Invitational, Clovis CA. June 26, 2021 

Starting Pitcher vs. San Joaquin Memorial (Ranked #16 in CA. by Max Preps)

• Game Statistics: 7-1 Victory.  7 IP/90 Pitch CG - 1.00 ERA/.571 WHIP - 11K’s/0BB’s  

Jesuit Jam, San Francisco CA. July 23, 2021

Starting Pitcher vs. Cal Club Baseball (CCB) Prospects (college prep squad)

• Game Statistics: 10-1 Victory.  7 IP/88 Pitch CG - 1.00 ERA/.571 WHIP - 1K/1BB’s  

USA Baseball NTIS - NorthWest Stripes 16U

Champions Cup Tournament, Cary, N.C. August 13-17, 2021

• Individual Statistics:  2 appearances, 6 IP/75 Pitches thrown.  0 ER, 7K’s/1BB

*Verified by Derek DeBenedetti, Head Coach, Cardinal Newman Varsity Baseball