It was a frigid January afternoon in Massachusetts, with temperature gauges hovering at about 10 degrees and snow drifts covering more than two feet on the ground.

Mike Hart, who is the baseball coach and a teacher at North Attleboro High School, left his classroom at about 4 p.m., only to discover a surprise in the parking lot.

It was one of his former players, Nick Sinacola, playing long toss in the school parking lot.

“Everywhere else was covered with snow,” Sinacola explained with a shrug.

If nothing else, that commitment to getting his work done goes a long way toward explaining why Sinacola has made himself into a pro prospect.

A 6-2, 190-pound junior righthander for the Maine Black Bears, Sinacola struggled for much of his first two years of college, posting a 6.81 ERA as a freshman and a 5.57 ERA last season.

He entered this year winless collegiately – a combined 0-5 record.

This year, Sinacola has been stunningly dominant, posting a 7-1 record with a 1.25 ERA and a .174 opponents' batting average. In 50.1 innings, he has struck out 96 batters and walked 15. Maine is 7-1 when he pitches and 8-13 when he sits.

So … how has Sinacola managed this amazing turnaround?

Part of it is that work ethic that manifested itself this past January in the North Attleboro parking lot. But part of it, too, is his ability to learn his craft, picking up tips from coaches as well as teammates.

This past summer, when most leagues were shut down, Sinacola was invited to compete for the Brockton Rox. While there, Sinacola got to talking to Boston College pitcher Joey Walsh.

“He throws a hard, wipeout slider,” Sinacola said. “I saw that, and I wanted to adjust my slider. My old grip was two seam, and I threw it 77-80 (mph).

“I slid my grip down to the horseshoe. I started to work on it, and now it’s my favorite pitch.”

Sinacola throws his new slider 81-84 mph, and Maine coach Nick Derba said his ace throws strikes with that pitch 70 percent of the time.

“It’s a pro-level breaking ball,” Derba said. “His fastball mostly sits 90-92. He needs to continue to work on fastball command, and he also throws a splitter, which can be an out pitch in time.”

Sinacola credits Derba with teaching him the splitter.

“My freshman year, I was throwing a bullpen session with Coach Derba,” Sinacola said. “He told me my changeup was not where it needed to be, and he said, ‘Let’s try a splitter.’

“It clicked right away.”  

Sinacola’s big hands make that splitter easier for him to throw and to make deceptive, but it’s that coachability that really bodes well for his future.

Derba, judging from what scouts have told him, believes Sinacola will get drafted this June between the third and ninth rounds.

Getting drafted anywhere would be the culmination of a dream for Sinacola, 21.

Sinacola was about 3 years old when he started following his sister, Marissa, onto her softball fields.

“He would cry until they let him on the field to take a swing,” said their mother, Alicia Sinacola, who is a nurse. “I’ve never had a hobby that I’ve loved as much as he loves baseball.”

Mike Sinacola, Nick’s father and a department of public health administrator, took his son to his first Red Sox game when the boy was 5. In youth leagues, it was not unusual for Sinacola to play as many as four games in one day – a doubleheader with the “A” team and a double dip with the “B” squad.

“When he got put on the ‘B’ team, he said: ‘I’m going to show them they made a mistake’,” Mike Sinacola said.

At age 14, Sinacola watched the MLB Draft with his father and remarked: “I want to hear my name called one day.”

While he waits for that big day, one of Sinacola’s biggest thrills in baseball so far came at the close of his senior season at North Attleboro, leading the Big Red to the first state title in program history. Sinacola threw a complete game – 105 pitches – scattering five hits in a 4-3 win over Beverly.

All three Beverly runs were unearned against Sinacola, who also scored twice, banged two singles and stole a base.

Not bad for a kid who didn’t make varsity until his junior year.

“We knew he had a live arm, but earlier in his career, he would get too deep into counts,” said Hart, who got married two days after winning that state title. “By the time Nick got on the varsity, he started trusting his stuff more, going after hitters instead of nitpicking.”

Sinacola, who threw one no-hitter in each of his two varsity seasons, was named The Boston Globe’s Division II Player of the Year as a senior in 2018. He went 10-0 that season, including 3-0 in the playoffs.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever met a kid who loves baseball as much as Nick,” Hart said. “He always keeps a glove and a ball in his car – just in case he gets a chance to play catch.”

Despite Sinacola’s skill and his passion for the game, he went undrafted out of high school and didn’t have much in the way of scholarship offers, choosing Maine over options in Division II and Division III.

However, in his collegiate debut at national power Florida State, Sinacola showed a glimpse of his talent. Entering the game in relief, Sinacola pitched five scoreless and hitless innings, striking out five and allowing just two walks.

“That was a great way to have my first outing,” Sinacola said. “It made me feel like I belong.”

Sinacola, who has a 3.6 grade-point average while majoring in Finance and minoring in Economics, has had some rough times, too. Maine, for example, finished its COVID-shortened 2020 season with a 1-12 record, the program’s fewest wins since posting an identical ledger way back in 1907.

But things are looking up this season, as long – apparently – as Sinacola continues with his superstition of eating a pepperoni and cheese sandwich the night before he pitches.

Other than that, the other key is for Sinacola to continue to learn his craft.

“Over the past year, I’ve been studying my own pitch sequencing,” Sinacola said, “just becoming a student of the game and getting my work done.”

Even if that work has to happen in 10-degree snowstorm weather.

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