ND Sports
Adam Norton Becomes
A Big Hit On The Mound
Norton won his first seven starts this season — the first Notre Dame pitcher to do that in 12 years.
photo courtesy notre dame media relations
By Dan Murphy
N
o high school baseball player in the
state of Indiana's history posted
more hits or RBI during his career than
Adam Norton. It's no surprise that the
former Andrean High School standout
has been a key piece to Notre Dame's
success on the diamond during the
first half of this season. That he's done
it without a bat in his hands is the
shocking part.
Norton, now a senior for the Irish,
came to South Bend as a smooth-
swinging shortstop. He pitched at
Andrean, as many top players do at
the high school level, but he assumed
he would settle into a role in the infield at the college level. When head
coach Mik Aoki arrived a year later,
he had other plans. Aoki told Norton
he could continue to take his hacks in
batting practice and work on fielding
ground balls, but he would have to do
that before or after practice. His main
focus would be on pitching.
"We all thought that his great impact
on our program was going to be as a
