Kirtland multi-sport standout Lucci Cantini cuts 40 pounds to chase baseball career
How far would you go to chase a dream?
What would you sacrifice or lose to give your dream a chance?
For Lucci Cantini, the answer to that question is 40-some pounds.
A year ago, Cantini was a 240-pound road-grader for the Kirtland football team. This spring, he had transformed himself into a 195-pound block of chiseled granite as he chased an opportunity to play college baseball.
Cantini began his senior year earlier this week at a 7-on-7 event at Riverside, where he and the Hornets went up against West Geauga, Madison, Lake Catholic and the host Beavers.
Cantini enters this fall as a two-time all-Ohio center on the gridiron — he’s just going to be doing it at a much-lighter weight.
“I just felt like my weight was holding me back in my ability to get extra bases off hits,” Cantini said of his motivation to lighten his load. “Why not cut down and see what happens? I had a pretty decent season, and now summer baseball is going on. Being less is definitely better for being faster and more agile.”
Cantini said he has always loved playing baseball and football, but he came to the realization baseball was a better option for him to play collegiately. So he started paying close attention to his caloric intake, noting, “I was tracking what I was doing, writing stuff down, figuring out how much I needed to eat vs. how much I am eating.”
That, coupled with his normal workout regimens, gleaned stunning results. The weight began to fall off. He quickly pointed out he hasn’t lost any strength in the weight room, either.
In Kirtland’s recently concluded baseball season, when the Hornets advanced to the regional tournament for the second year in a row, Cantini batted .429 with 19 runs and 16 RBI. He led or shared the team lead in doubles (9), triples (1) and home runs (2), as well as proving to be an agile backstop behind the dish as the Hornets’ catcher.
While the lost weight benefitted him in baseball, the question remains how a smaller Lucci Cantini will benefit on the football field.
“If anything, it’ll help me out,” he said. “I’ll be able to get out to extra levels in blocking and maybe even expand where I play if I’m lucky.”
Cantini said he doesn’t have any college offers for baseball yet, noting, “That’s what the summer is for.” He said altering his body composition shows, “I’m all in on what I want to do.
“It shows I’m willing to dedicate my time and body to a bigger goal, a goal bigger than myself,” he said.
As his senior year begins, Cantini said he is shooting for the stars. He and the Hornets have already won two state titles with him under center and will be shooting for a third in four years this fall. A talented roster will return next spring in baseball, too.
“It’s been a blast, just playing with the guys,” Cantini said of his high school career. “Kids that are brothers to me, growing up with them, playing with them my entire life. Winning games is the best part of everything. It’s more fun knowing it’s all homemade — we’re all from the same place. We’re not outsourcing what we are doing. We’re just having fun being good.”
