Chad Cooperman, like his two brothers before him, has a powerful arm and knows how to get batters out when he’s on the mound. That was what was primarily expected of him when he stepped onto campus at Bloomsburg University last fall as a recruit for the Husky baseball team.

But his versatility and team-player attitude has led him to see the field early on in a different position. The 2016 Salisbury High School graduate has made 26 starts so far this season at third base, and has appeared in nine games on the mound, starting four of them.

It was expected that Cooperman would be used all around the field, but he figured the majority of playing time would be found at the heart of the diamond.

“I was recruited primarily as a pitcher, but had discussed potentially playing the field as well,” said Cooperman. “At any given moment, our team can have 4-5 freshmen position players on the field, so knowing that we will have tons of talent and experience moving forward is going to be key to our success.

“It was my goal to have an impact on the team right away, and having that opportunity to play a large role as a freshmen is awesome, but something I worked really hard for as well.”

It has been an adjustment on the mound for Cooperman since his days as the Falcons’ ace. With bigger and smarter hitters at the plate at the Division II level, there has been a different approach and strategy for the freshman pitcher.

“On the mound, I have learned that collegiate hitters have a lot more ability than those that you face in high school,” Cooperman said. “Collegiate hitters have much more power and consistency, so throwing good strikes and having consistent off-speed pitches are essential for success. On the other hand, some pitchers in the [Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference] are draft prospects and have fastballs that can work their way well into the mid 90s. Being aggressive early in the count and not missing fastballs over the plate are necessary, because they are too good to fall behind in the count.”

Cooperman has needed to take his game to another level this year. In 77 at bats, he has a .273 average.

“The biggest transition from high school to college is getting used to the speed of the game,” said Cooperman. “Players throw harder, hit farther, and run faster, and adjusting to that increased pace was the greatest difficulty.

“Dealing with failure has also been something that I have had to adjust to as well, simply because it didn’t happen that much in high school. I started the season 2 for 26 at the plate and allowed four earned runs in my first inning as a pitcher, since then I have found a lot more success. I have been hitting really well in conference play (.350) and have managed to get into the conference rotation as a starting pitcher too.”

After the season ends, Cooperman will be back playing in the Blue Mountain League with the Northern Yankees, a year after playing in the BML title game. He will also double-roster with the Allentown Railers of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, a circuit where several major leaguers have played on their way to the big league.

The Huskies’ final regular season games against Kutztown were canceled and the team finished the season 9-16-1 in league play and 22-24-1 overall. The team graduates just three seniors from its roster.