(Photo Credit: Daniel De Mato)
by Justin Paura
One of the hallmarks of SUNY Cortland’s unprecedented run of success is finding those unheralded diamonds in the rough. Former Mattituck star Joe Tardif, who has lived and breathed baseball ever since he was a little kid, certainly fits in that criteria hailing from the small east-end hamlet of Cutchogue.
The college sophomore had quite the high school career for Mattituck. He led the Tuckers to the Class B State Championship in 2015, earning Section Player of the Year as a junior. In his senior season, Tardif won the Suffolk VIII MVP award with a .456 batting average and won six games as a pitcher for the Tuckers, who lost in the county semifinals. The Cutchogue native also led Mattituck’s soccer team to the Class B state soccer championship in 2014.
The Tardif family has gone through their share of adversity. Joe and his brother John were born 11 weeks premature and neither of them weighed more than three pounds upon birth. While Joe became an accomplished athlete, John was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and is a quadriplegic. That never stopped the twins from doing literally everything together. Joe would help John eat and perform his daily routine, while John would toss batting practice to Joe in the backyard. Despite being several hours apart, the two still maintain a great connection.
“It’s definitely been tough,” Joe said when asked about the struggle of being away from his best friend. “I try to FaceTime him as much as I can, but he and my parents do a really great job keeping the communication strong while I’m here.”
“It is awesome to watch the dynamic with the family,” said Cortland Head Coach Joe Brown. “It’s very unselfish of him to help his brother out, it’s amazing. The family travels to many of the games. Joe is a great student and has improved tremendously as a player,” he added.
Tardif decided after high school that he would attend SUNY Cortland and play for one of the nation’s top Division-III programs. The Red Dragons were listed as the preseason number one for the third straight season, coming off a year where they were one win shy of making its fourth consecutive D3 College World Series in 2017. Tardif knows the expectations that come with playing for team and has that championship mentality, even at the start of the season.
“Every year being at Cortland, we have a chance of winning a national championship,” Tardif said. “That’s pretty much the goal every year.”
Still hungry for the program’s second national championship, Cortland is very competitive in terms of who gets playing time. Even with Tardif’s impressive high school resume, he got 10 starts as a freshman and played in only 20 of Cortland’s 47 games. He finished the season with eight hits in 37 at-bats, including seven strikeouts, six RBI and two walks.
“It has definitely been different coming off of the bench, as opposed to starting every game in high school,” Tardif said. “Everyone has their role and everyone needs to find their niche in the team to create a successful environment.”
So far in this young 2018 campaign, Tardif is already seeing signs of progression in his sophomore season. He has appeared in seven of the Red Dragons’ eight games, including three starts, and has four hits and a stolen base.
Getting playing time with one of the best Div-III baseball schools in the country does not come in a solo-effort. Tardif gets enormous support from his parents Shelly and John, older siblings Katie and Brian, and his twin brother John. Their family bond is stronger than life and even though they live on LI, the Tardif’s always do their best to see Joe play.
“They do a really great job of traveling,” Joe said. “We played in Virginia and Maryland so far this season and for them to drive seven hours from home to see me play, not even a full game, it means the world to me.”
Joe has always played to make his brother proud, and his brother is his number one fan. Joe and the Red Dragons have started the season 4-4 as they look to return to the top of the SUNYAC.
