Baseball has taken a back seat much of this offseason for Brant Colamarino, 24, a minor-league first baseman in the Oakland Athletics organization.

Colamarino was home only about 10 days after his minor-league season when flood waters came roaring through his hometown of Etna, causing extensive damage to many homes and businesses, including his parents' home on Cherry Street.

A picture, which ran in the Sept. 20 issue of the Post-Gazette, showed Colamarino washing off a couple of baskets of mud-soaked trophies that he had accumulated since the age of three.

"We did lose lots of pictures, video tapes, newspaper clippings -- a lot of stuff that meant a lot," said Colamarino. In all, the house suffered thousands of dollars in damage.

"It definitely made me forget about baseball," said Colamarino, who said he ended up spending a lot of 10-12 hour days painting, fixing walls and paneling.

A week-and-a-half ago, the family moved into a new home in Shaler. Their house in Etna is up for sale.

"I now realize everyone in the family came through the flood okay," said Colamarino. "I'm thankful about that and I'm thankful to get a new home. I've put [the flood] in the past and just dealt with it."

Colamarino, who played his high school baseball at Central Catholic and college ball at Pitt, is also ready to deal with another season of professional baseball.

He had a pretty good year on the diamond in 2004.

A 5-foot-11, 210-pound left-handed hitter, Colamarino batted .355 (65 for 183) with 11 home runs at Class A Modesto (Calif.), before being promoted to Class AA Midland (Texas) where he batted .273 (83 for 304) with 8 home runs and 50 RBIs.

He reports to minor-league spring training March 12 in Arizona.

Colamarino said his goal for 2005 is "obviously to get to triple-A or higher."

Joe Jordano, in his eighth season as Pitt's head baseball coach, said he believes those are realistic goals.

"When Brant left here, I flat out said 'This kid will be in the big leagues someday' " said Jordano. "He had a very natural swing. I thought once he learned to hit the opposite way, he was a major-league caliber hitter."

Colamarino, a seventh-round draft pick of Oakland in 2002, hit .384 with 19 home runs his junior (final) season at Pitt. Jordano said his strong first baseman fit the mold of a pro player because he could hit, hit with power, play solid defense and had good arm strength. Average running speed might have prevented him from being picked even higher in the draft.

So far, Colamarino has made a steady climb in the Oakland farm system and has impressed some important people in the process.

Jordano said he's attended and represented Pitt at Bay Area Panther Club outings the past couple years, where he's hooked up and played golf with Oakland Athletics' manager Ken Macha, a former Pitt baseball player.

Jordano said Colamarino's name is brought up and Macha has "had positive things to say."

Colamarino's off-season routine consists of hitting and doing baseball drills at Pitt and doing weight training at Bally's in the North Hills.

Jordano said Colamarino looks to be in the best shape of his life.

He's rolling into shape emotionally, too.

"I'd just like to thank everyone that helped us [with the flood]. I appreciate it and my family does," said Colamarino. "It made it a little easier having people there, having people praying for us."