Bergman protege Brugnoni faces Tigers

Lakeland, Fla. – Somewhere, somehow, you got the feeling the late Dave Bergman might have been watching the Tigers play Florida Southern Monday.

First of all, the Moccasins' head coach is Lance Niekro, the son of Joe Niekro. Joe Niekro was Bergman's teammate, business partner and life-long friend.

Secondly, Florida Southern's designated hitter is Dominic Brugnoni, one of Bergman's players with the Grosse Pointe Redbirds, a travel team Bergman started and ran for 20 years.

"He trained me all through high school and I played for the Redbirds," said Brugnoni, who is from St. Clair Shores and Warren De La Salle High School. "He was a great influence on my life – a big influence on my life."

Bergman, the former Tiger and member of the 1984 World Championship team, died on Feb. 2. Brugnoni was unable to attend the funeral, but thanks him still for guiding him to Florida Southern.

"He was friends with my head coach (Niekro)," Brugnoni said. "He put me in touch with him."

Brugnoni, a junior outfielder whose older brother Giancarlo is in the Tigers farm system, was Florida Southern's MVP last year. He hit .340 with 42 RBI, five homers and a team-best .497 slugging percentage. He was named to the all-tournament team in the NCAA Southeast Regional last year.

This was the third time he's got to face his hometown Tigers.

"The first time I faced Max Scherzer he said," he said. "I struck out, but it was awesome – facing a Cy Young winner, it was unreal."

He went 0-for-2 Monday, though he did drive in one of the Moccasins' two runs with a groundout.

"Coming out here kind of gets us away from having our minds on the season," Brugnoni said. "We just come out and have fun. It reminds us what the game is really about – having fun."

Twitter@cmccosky