Role models mold Berteotti into Hall of Famer
Jerry Berteotti with his wife, Shelley, and son, Lino.
ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Jerry Berteotti with his wife, Shelley, and son, Lino.
Clothes may make some men but role models molded Jerry Berteotti into the man that he is today. The Upper St. Clair alumnus and Peters Township resident is a beloved husband, adored father, a decorated sports hero and a successful businessman.
For starters, there is Berteotti’s father. His namesake married his sweetheart, Dorene, and together they reared two daughters, Missie and Kendra, before tackling a third, the youngest and only son, Jerry, himself.
“My father, even though he has passed, was and still is my hero,” Berteotti said. “My mother and my sisters, I can’t express what my family has done for me. Their love and support for everything that I have done is immeasurable.”
What Berteotti did at an early age was take responsibility. He worked. He delivered the daily paper in the wee hours of the morning. On his route, he befriended many but he embarked on a lifelong relationship with Jerry Malarkey. His neighbor played a critical role in Berteotti becoming a professional baseball player.
“Long before he became my coach, Jerry knew all about my dreams and he always made it seem possible,” Berteotti said. “He was always in my corner. He pushed me and helped me push myself. With a lot of hard work and because of his backing, I wound up making baseball my life.”
By Eleanor Bailey/Almanac
ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Austin Wilding was a standout on the mats and on the track at Upper St. Clair High School. The 2012 alum went on to wrestle at West Point and now serves in the military. He was recently inducted into the USC athletic Hall of Fame.
After three years of being the starting catcher and a record-breaker for USC, Berteotti continued to be a Panther, playing at the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated as one of the college’s top catchers. He still ranks in the Top 10 in RBI and doubles.
In 1994, he signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Invited to the club’s spring training, Berteotti was voted “hardest working and most improved” catching prospect by his peers. To this day, he still recalls his first base hit: a line-drive for a double while playing in the minor leagues.
Though he was cut from the Dodgers, manager Tommy Lasorda convinced the organization to keep him on as a bullpen catcher. He did a little of everything but most of all he made a lasting impression on his teammates. When it came to splitting up playoff profits, the players included Berteotti into the pool.
As a youth and later as a student, Austin Wilding walked past the Hall of Fame plaque hung at the entrance of the Upper St. Clair High School gymnasium every day on his way to wrestling practice. When he returns from a deployment in Iraq and visits his alma mater, the officer will notice a new name added to the wall. His own.
Wilding and Jerry Berteotti (see related story) were recently inducted into the athletics wing of the USC Hall of Fame.
“I am so honored,” Wilding said of being listed alongside the likes of former Major League Baseball standout Sean Casey and former LPGA performer Missie Berteotti. “Seeing the names of famous USC athletes that I looked up to, met and learned so much from means a lot. These people were legends to me and needless to say, I am thrilled to have my name added to that same plaque.”
Wilding’s athletic and academic achievements at USC are legendary. He earned distinction in wrestling, cross country and track while excelling in the classroom enough to earn an appointment to the United States Military Academy.
A four-year letterwinner, he qualified for the WPIAL championships in three sports. A Century Club member for more than 100 career victories on the mat, Wilding earned All-State acclaim with a sixth-place showing at the 2012 PIAA championships. He was a two-time bronze medalist in the WPIAL.
He earned distinction as the Waldie-Shaeffer Memorial Scholaship Award winner and garnered the Congressional Leaders of Tomorrow Award as well as the Superintendent’s Academic Achievement Award.
While he majored in economics at West Point, Wilding earned four varsity letters in wrestling. He was the New York state collegiate runner-up and the team leader in pins his sophomore season. Named to the Dean’s List every semester, Wilding graduated in the Top 5 percent of his class. Currently his is a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States Navy.
In a letter read by his parents, Jim and Carla, during the induction ceremony, Wilding thanked them, his coaches, his teachers, teammates and siblings-he had two brothers, Corey and Brooks, who wrestled with him at USC and three sisters, Hannah, Mary and Lydia-for making this moment possible.
For example, he recalled how his father would stand at every 200-meter mark on every western Pennsylvania track yelling out his splits and instructing him to lower his arms as he run. He remembered, too, the cheers from family members at the Giant Center in Hershey when he was a senior at USC and at Madison Square Garden and the field house during his time at West Point.
The Hall of Fame distinction he said “would not be possible if it had not been for the biggest legends in my life, my parents.” He also credited all his coaches, including the assistants, saying that it is always easier to succeed when you have a fired-up, competitive coach who believes in you and is in your corner. “They believed in me and pushed me to be my best.” He also noted how his teachers “facilitated” his success and “prepared” him for the “rigors” of college and transformed him into a “life-long” student.
“Through the years, your support from me has been tremendous,” Wilding closed.
“There is no doubt in my mind, had (Malarkey) not believed in me the way he did and encouraged me and been on my side, all those things don’t happen for me,” said Berteotti, who owns USC school records for single-season and career RBI as well as batting average.
Jim Render believed Berteotti would make a better football player than a golfer. The legendary football coach encouraged him to put down the putter and pick up the pigskin.
“In the fall of my freshman year, I tried out for the golf team because I was eager to follow in my sister’s footsteps,” Berteotti said about Missie, who played professionally. “Around that time I met Coach Render and I can’t tell you how many conversations I had with him about me golfing rather than playing football.”
The following fall, Berteotti switched sports.
“Man, am I ever glad I did that,” he enthused. “Coach was tough and demanding but what I like was how he made me want to get better.”
By his senior season, Berteotti was one of the best quarterbacks in the WPIAL and the Panthers were the best team in Quad-A. He combined for more than 1,000 yards passing and rushing and garnered Almanac all-star honors.
As his success increased, so did Berteotti’s swagger. He earned the moniker of “Mr. Confident” from his skipper as well as his respect, particularly after he mastered some of the team’s more perplexing plays.
Berteotti recalled the turning point. It was the fourth game of the season on a Saturday afternoon when the Panthers visited Shaler. He and wide receiver Chris Cardello worked unsuccessfully on a roll-out pass route during practice all week but pulled off the play in the heat of battle.
“All week in practice I don’t think I completed one pass. I either bounced the ball at his feet or threw is over his head. I drove Coach nuts,” said Berteotti. “Of course, when the opportunity presented itself, I am out there and the play comes in and I rolled left and threw a perfect pass. I will never forget Coach’s reaction. It was 30 years ago and it still gives me chills but I can’t verbalize to you how it made me feel. It was a turning point for me. I knew I could do it.”
Emboldened with pluck, Berteotti also knew the Panthers could contend for the WPIAL championship, even though they needed to beat Butler just to get into the playoffs as a fourth-place finisher in their conference.
“I will never forget that bus ride back home,” recalled Render after USC beat the Golden Tornado in Week 10 of the regular season in 1988. “Jerry said to me, ‘Coach, this is going to be great. We got ’em right where we want ’em.’ And, led by our very confident quarterback, we did end up beating Central Catholic, 7-0, for the WPIAL championship.”
Recently, the brash quarterback, however, did not exude the assurance he had demonstrated in the athletic arena. He was taken aback by his induction into the Upper St. Clair’s athletic Hall of Fame. When he flipped through the pages of the program, he admitted to being “a little intimidated” upon reading about the accomplishments of the other inductees.
“I don’t know if I feel real confident right now,” said Berteotti as he stepped to the podium to accept his distinction. “It’s a great surprise.”
Having grown up in Upper St. Clair, success is not surprising.
“Being from USC is why I am here. It has been unbelievably supportive to me, my family, our careers, to my business and something that has helped me every step of the way. I talk to people every day of my life and in my business and I will tell you that in fact when I grew up it was the hard-working, determined guys that wanted to succeed and did. It was something that really pushed me and helped me every time I faced a challenge.”
Today, Berteotti’s glory days as an athlete are behind him, but he employs the lessons he has learned from sports as he continues with his current challenges of raising his two sons, Lino, 10, and Angelo, 2, with his wife, Shelley, and of running the family business. He owns and operates Pizzaz Italian Restaurant in Peters Township.
“Athletically, high school was the best time of my life and provided me with some of my fondest memories like winning the WPIAL championship, and personally, I made some of my best friends and benefited from some great coaches, who I hope know how much I appreciate what they have done for me. I wanted to win and be as good as I possibly could be and they pushed me to do that. Plus, I demanded the best in myself.
“I hope I am passing on those lessons to my sons and using them in my business as well because I care about my customers and the communities I serve. I want it to be the best it can be because I really love owning Pizzaz. It’s who I am and what my dad did. It’s what I know.”
With his induction, Berteotti also knows he is now on par with his sister Missie. She was one of the first inductees into the USC Halls of Fame back in 2000.
“I cannot tell you how proud I am to join her,” Berteotti said. “I am so proud to be the little brother. I know that I am not on the same level as an athlete as she was but to now be in the same club as her in that respect is humbling and amazing.”