Godwin alumni Eric Fornataro (Class of 2006) has become the first former Godwin baseball player to make it into Major League Baseball (MLB).

Fornataro is playing as a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals after being called up from a triple-A team in Memphis.

In 2005, Fornataro helped lead Godwin as one of the starting pitchers to a 23-1 record, one of the best in school history.

So far, Fornataro has pitched in four major league games, a long way from the time he was cut from his college baseball team. His coach told him he was not “good enough” to be a college pitcher.

After being cut from the Pensacola Junior College team, he took his talents to Miame-Dade Junior College where he impressed scouts and was drafted in 2008 by the Cardinals during the sixth round.

“He is not afraid to fail and if he does he quickly forgets about it the next day and starts over.  He has a very positive attitude and a tremendous work ethic” said his former Godwin baseball coach John Marano.

Fornataro played in the minors for seven different teams before finally he received his call up to the majors two weeks ago.

Currently he has only allowed two hits and two earned runs in a total of 3.2 innings pitched.

Eric was not regarded as one of the high profile baseball players to come out of Godwin but “Eric had a belief in himself that he used to over-come all obstacles and he made himself into a major league pitcher” said Marano.