The Brothers Caradonna-bunkmates to battery

It is not unusual for a baseball program to try to emulate a successful team at a higher level. It was never officially announced, but the Blue Devils are apparently trying to mold themselves on the "We are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates of 1979.

Something got mixed up in the translation, because in the case of the Pirates, the name was a reference to a song, while for the Blue Devils, it is a literal statement.

This season, Duke boasts two sets of brothers on the roster, J.D. and Jeff Alleva and Ryan and Troy Caradonna.

So much brotherly love may be a bit unusual in college baseball, but the Caradonnas take it a step further. They combine for an all-family battery, as Troy has started every game at catcher, and Ryan has developed into the pitching staff's ace.

Both appear to be enjoying the situation.

"It has been phenomenal," Ryan said. "We played together in high school, and growing up. This is like my junior and senior year of high school all over again. I'm having a blast."

All that fun has been made possible by Troy stepping into the starting role as a freshman. This is not an easy thing to do, but Troy said that having a brother on the team helped ease the transition.

"From the beginning it has been extremely helpful," he said. "Especially getting through the fall training and running, that just doesn't happen in high school.

Troy said the adjustment to pitching on the collegiate level has been the most difficult part of the transition.

"The pitchers in college throw three pitches for strikes and they can spot them inside or outside whenever they want to," he said. "In high school, it was fastball, curveball, right down the middle of the plate every time.

"Right now I'm not putting up the numbers that were my goals."

Troy remains optimistic despite his occasional struggles with the bat. He said that his brother has been of great assistance in maintaining his confidence.

"That's one of the things he's helped me out with," Troy said. "It's such a long season that if you get down, you're going to be screwed. The only thing you can do is work harder and pick up the stats.

"[Ryan] struggled through his freshman year, and now he's the ace of our staff."

That statement is not just brotherly love talking.

The elder Caradonna leads the Blue Devils in ERA, wins, strikeouts and innings pitched.

Moreover, after two years of limited action, he has become Duke's best pitcher, something which he said carries certain obligations.

"It carries a lot of weight," Ryan said. "If the team is in a slump, you're the guy they look to to pull the team out of it. It makes it so that you have a lot of responsibility."

He leads the team in virtually every category, but the title of Staff Ace may have more to do with his ACC play.

Caradonna has posted two of Duke's three ACC wins, including the team's most dominating pitching performance of the season, a complete-game 10-1 victory over Virginia Sunday.

"Ideally you want to say you don't [put any extra emphasis on ACC games]," he said. "I think I have done a decent job of that. But when you play the ACC teams, you get a little extra rush of adrenaline. We do our best to keep an even keel."

Troy may be getting the benefit of experience this season, but Ryan claims it is a big advantage having his brother behind the plate.

"Sometimes when a catcher comes out to the mound he'll blow smoke at you," Ryan said. "Having my brother behind the plate, he won't pull any punches. He'll come out and say, 'Ryan you suck' or 'Ryan, you're not throwing hard, so don't try to.'

"He knows me so well, and he is brutally honest. That's definitely an advantage."