Now a member of the Oakland Athletics' New York-Penn League, short-season Class A affiliate, the Vermont Lake Monsters, Trivino made his second pro start Sunday against the visiting Auburn Doubledays at Centennial Field.

It wasn't one of his better outings. Trivino allowed four earned runs on six hits, struck out only one batter, walked three and hit two others in five and one-third innings.

As a result, Trivino's season win-loss record fell to 0-2 and his earned run average inflated to 4.09.

To complete the review of his numbers thus far, Trivino has struck out 15, walked nine and hit six batters while allowing 11 runs (10 earned) on 18 hits in 22 innings.

Not exactly the kind of numbers Trivino recorded as a three-time all-region and honorable mention All-American at The Rock, where he set the single-season and career strikeouts record and established himself as one of the top NCAA Division II pitchers in the nation.

But you need to realize, as Trivino does, he's no longer facing Division II hitters. The lanky right-hander is now going against some of the best of the best young talent in the game of baseball.

Trivino is also re-adjusting to being a starting pitcher. He began his pro career with four appearances as a relief pitcher, a role Trivino said he may have played three times prior to this summer.

Technically, Trivino said in an interview prior to his first pro start July 15 against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio, he was a "piggyback starter" in his first four pro games.

"I did everything a starter would do," Trivino explained. "I had five days of rest between the times I pitched and I was pretty much on my own schedule to get ready to pitch. I warmed up in the bullpen just like I would if I was actually starting, the starter just threw the first pitch and pitched the first four or five innings."

Nonetheless, pitching out of the bullpen and also on the pro level has "definitely been an adjustment," Trivino said before he became a starter. "But it's going good. I'm enjoying it."

In his first pro start, Trivino struck out six batters, did not issue a base on balls, hit two batters and allowed one earned run in five innings.

That performance earned Trivino a passing grade from Lake Monsters pitching coach Craig Lefferts, who pitched 12 seasons in the majors.

"Lou was really good at mixing up his four pitches well and keeping their hitters off balance," Lefferts said. "He did a really nice job of keeping us in the game."

The key to being successful, Trivino said, will be "learning to stay within yourself and not pitch to the crowd."

"I try not to give into nerves," he said, "because the more nervous you are and the harder you try, to worse you're probably going to do."

"My first game here, I was all jacked up and threw real hard, but I had no idea where the ball was going," Trivino said. "You have to learn to stay with your pitches and just be yourself, keep the ball down, throw the pitches your coaches want you to throw and don't try to be more than you can be."

The biggest lesson Trivino said he has learned as a pro is how "the little things" are important.

"For the most part, I was a pretty good pitcher in college," Trivino said, "but I never really 'pitched,' if that makes any sense. As a prof, they've taught me how to read a batter, how to pitch in certain situations … more the mental aspect and preparation than anything to do with mechanics."

Oakland's 11th-round pick in this year's amateur baseball draft, Trivino is part of a Vermont pitching staff that includes four other pitchers taken earlier in this year's draft.

There was a short time when Trivino admittedly wondered if he might get a shot at playing pro baseball this summer. Told by several Major League Baseball organizations he would likely be selected on one of the first two days, Trivino remained unpicked until early on the third and final day of the draft.

He got a little antsy, Trivino admitted, but the thought never really entered his mind that he might be better off returning to The Rock for a fourth and final season of collegiate competition.

"Nothing against The Rock, because I had great coaches and met a lot of great people there, but this is what I've wanted to do my whole life," Trivino said. "Even when I was in college, the only thing I really wanted to do was continue to get better and eventually become a pro baseball player."

"If I had been picked in the 39th round or something like that, yeah, I probably would have given serious thought to whether I would be better off going back and finishing my college education and college career," Trivino said, "but thank the Lord that didn't happen."

"Hearing my name called in the draft was one of the greatest feelings I've had in my life," said the 21-year-old native of Green Lane, which is located in eastern Pennsylvania. "I think I was smiling for three days."

Virtually all 30 Major League Baseball organizations kept in constant contact with Trivino prior to the draft. Ironically, Oakland was one of the teams that had the least amount of contact with him.

"But they apparently liked me more than the other teams because they drafted me," Trivino said, "so all the pre-draft talk really didn't mean much in the long run."

Trivino, who hopes to have a long run as a pro pitcher, said he has not set a timeframe for progressing up the ladder.

"Obviously I want to move up as fast as possible," he said, "but I just want to do the best I can. Once I get accustomed to how things are done and what usually happens in terms of advancing, I will probably set goals for myself."

"Right now," Trivino said, "I'm just loving life and living the dream, playing pro baseball."

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