When sophomore pitcher Peter Lannoo made the commitment to enroll in Cornell University almost two years ago, Ivy League academics were the driving force behind his decision, not the university’s baseball program. However, after a year of playing on the club team, Lannoo decided to take his game to the next level and fulfill his goal of becoming a college varsity athlete. Looking back, he can’t imagine having it any other way. “Each day is amazing… To wake up every morning and be playing D1 baseball is a dream I’ve had forever.”
Lannoo is currently a biology major who, in a typical Cornell fashion, is exploring his options. He’s never one to back down from a challenge, whether it’s on or off the field. He enjoys the university’s challenging curriculum, remarking, “it doesn’t seem like you’re skating through anything – which can be fun”. He takes the same mentality when it comes to training with the team. “I love baseball because I can get pretty hypercompetitive, and it’s a healthy outlet for that.”
Since joining the Big Red, Lannoo’s pitching style has changed upon working with his new coaches. “I’m not trying to blow pitches by people. I can’t pitch 96 or 97, so I have to pitch smart, stay low in the zone, go for weak contact…” He describes this sort of approach as playing a game against the hitter, and not surprisingly, will readily admit that he finds this kind of challenge exciting.
When he’s not playing baseball, Lannoo enjoys going hiking. One of his favorite things about Cornell is the wide variety of trails that are sprinkled all throughout the campus and the seemingly endless amount of natural beauty.
When asked to reveal a fact that not a lot of people know about him, he informs us that he played the cello for 12 years. His parents wanted to give him options when he was younger, so they started him off both with baseball and let him choose a musical instrument to play. By the time he got to high school, however, he grew too busy to continue his musical career, instead focusing his efforts on athletics. That doesn’t stop him from appreciating music, though. “I’ll listen to literally anything, whether it’s rap, Celtic music, or sea shanties.”
Lannoo hails from the Midwest, an area that is fairly underrepresented on the team. Specifically, he’s from the city of Terre Haute, Indiana. Unexpectedly, however, his favorite baseball team is the Yankees. “Derek Jeter is my number one role model. He stays out of trouble off the field, and gets the job done on the field.”
One of Lannoo’s favorite things about being on the team is how close everyone is. “The baseball team is such a cohesive unit. If you’re not constantly working towards making yourself better, you’re letting the team down, so this gives you the motivation to keep going, to keep working harder.”
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