Hello club baseball fans, it is with great joy that we inform you your favorite team is headed to Holly Springs, North Carolina from May 23^rd-30^thto participate in the Club Baseball World Series.

How did this happen?

The Eagles faced a difficult road. After beating Northeastern 2-1 in a three game series, Boston College dropped their series to Umass 1-2 despite incredible pitching performances from Kevin Haley (had a perfect game in the 7^thinning) and Grady Dittmaier (left in the 6^thwith a no-hitter). Due to these losses, BC had to sweep Uconn in the final weekend of the season to make the regional tournament. Fortunately, this is exactly what happened, and the Eagles found themselves in Philadelphia two weekends ago in the regional tournament.

In the first game, the #2 seed Eagles faced SUNY Brockport. Kevin Haley delivered a strong 5 inning performance and left with the lead in the 6^thdue to help from strong offensive performances from Patrick Armand, Brett Layman, Jack Patrina, Tom Moschella, John McQuillen, and Colin O’Neill. After a critical 2 out single late in the game by Tyler Lockard put the Eagles up 2 runs, Shane Kelly managed to complete the elusive 3 2/3 inning save.

In Game 2 of the regional tournament, the Eagles found themselves up against Drexel, the team which eliminated them the year before. But what did James Allentuck say to elimination? “Not today.” Allentuck delivered a miraculous pitching performance, going 8+ shutout innings against an offensive powerhouse who scored double digit runs against the reigning national champion the game before. Patrick Calabrese was called upon for the final 3 outs, striking out the side. Notable performances around the diamond also included John McQuillen, who had a tremendous game defensively, acting like a brick wall at first base.

In Game 3, the Eagles faced off against reigning national champion Penn State. Grady Dittmaier, in his usual fine form, pitched 5 2/3 innings of 2 run baseball, while Patrick Calabrese came in for the final 4 outs. The Eagles won 8-3, but Stephen Loreng delivered a key blow with a home run to put the Eagles up 3-2 in the fourth inning. Colin O’Neill followed that up with a 6^thinning bases clearing triple off the fence (absolute dagger) to send Penn State packing and the Eagles off to the World Series for the first time in program history!

The #7 seeded Eagles will face off against #2 Texas A&M on Friday, May 24^that 2:45 P.M. Other notable events include a home run derby, in which the Eagles will be represented by power hitter Colin O’Neill. Jack Patrina will pitch to him, and Tyler Lockard and Shane Kelly will be his Gatorade/hype men. Updates to follow.

The Eagles opened their Spring 2019 season with a gritty series win over Northeastern to improve to 9-2 overall and 7-2 in conference play. After dropping the first game of the 3 game set despite a strong pitching performance from James Allentuck, the Eagles were faced with their first series loss to Northeastern in 4 years. That is when sophomore standout Kevin Haley came to the rescue, pitching 5 strong innings. Junior Patrick Calabrese closed the game out and the Eagles won by 3.

The Eagles finished off the Huskies on Sunday, scoring 10 due to strong performances from Patrick Armand, Colin O’Neill, John McQuillen, Brett Layman, and Patrick Calabrese.

After the game, team president John McQuillen stated the following about the huge series win:

“Big win, great team performance all around. Had a lot of guys step up since some of our starters were injured, and we hope to carry the momentum into next weekend.”

The Boston College Eagles enjoyed a strong fall campaign, going 5-1 in conference and 7-1 overall. After sweeping Albany and winning the series against Sacred Heart 2 games to 1, the Eagles will finish their conference schedule with Uconn, Umass, and Northeastern in the spring. With the season approaching, we thought we would highlight some of the strong individual performances from the fall season that contributed to the strong position the Eagles currently find themselves in heading into the second half.

1. Brett Layman (3B): Layman, who spent the summer offseason in the batting cages every week to fix some holes in his swing, saw his hard work pay off this fall. Brett led the offense with a staggering .474 batting average, while also playing excellent defense at third base.
2. Kevin Haley (LHP): After the graduation of longtime ace Nick Assad last spring and the injury to RHP Cameron Miller, the Eagles needed someone to lead the staff. Haley, a true sophomore wise beyond his years, stepped up and didn’t look back. In 16 innings pitched, Kevin had a 1.69 ERA and 14 strikeouts.
3. Colin O’Neill (C): O’Neill added another stellar fall season to his impressive career resume, batting .323 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, and 6 RBI. Not much more you can ask for from your 3 hitter. In addition, O’Neill continued to play rock solid defense behind the plate.
4. Jack Patrina (SS): Patrina picked up right where he left off last season, hitting .423 with a 1.115 OPS. Patrina also scored a team-high 7 runs. Everyone is very happy for Jack.
5. John McQuillen (1B): McQuillen absolutely raked in the fall, hitting .450 and scoring 7 runs. More importantly, however, John led the team off the field, proving to be a valuable leader to a young and talented team.
6. Zach Pessia (OF): In 22 at bats, Pessia hit .500. Nothing more to be said here, as Pessia effectively set the table for the middle of the order all fall.

Best Play from the fall season:

Down a run late in Game 2 of the Sacred Heart series, the Eagles were in need of a big play. That’s when Marc Pietropaoli stepped up to the plate with multiple runners on. Pietropaoli wasted no time, lacing a double down the left field line, putting the Eagles up for good.

Best Single Game Performance:

Grady Dittmaier (RHP): Dittmaier delivered an 8 inning scoreless performance against Albany in November, lighting up radar guns and striking out 8. This was one of the best pitching performances the Eagles have seen in the last few years, and was sorely needed.

Unsung Hero:

Trevor Foehr (Utility): Foehr hit .364 in 11 at bats, and has been a model of consistency in his time at Boston College.

Best quote from the dugout:

“Get him a bucket, he’s throwing up!” –Mike Strabone about a pitcher who kept leaving his pitches a little high

News and notable:

BC is excited to welcome back Woody Hubbell for the fall season!

After a long tryout process in which many great players came out to compete, Boston College Club Baseball is happy to announce the addition of 11 new student athletes to its roster for the upcoming season:

Tim Healy (P)

Patrick Calabrese (P)

Stephen Loreng (P)

David Sausto (P)

Colin Duff (P)

Tim Burdick (P)

Ben Varieur (IF)

Jimmy Loeffler (IF)

Billy Wolfe (IF)

Billy Noke (OF)

Tom Moschella (OF)

With the talent at tryouts this year being extremely high, many difficult decisions had to be made. However, the Eagles are confident the players they took should be excellent additions to the team, and help offset the loss of many great players from the recently graduated class of 2018.

The Eagles are excited to kick off their season this Saturday with a doubleheader against Harvard, and hopefully see some great contributions from the new members of their team. Team president and starting first baseman John McQuillen recently commented, “I’m pumped to get the season started. We have a ton of talent coming in and hopefully it pays off on the field.” Starting outfielder Tyler Lockard echoed McQuillen’s optimism about the coming season, saying “I think we have a chance to do something really special this year.” Lockard was also recently seen in the gym twice on Monday, a testament to his continuous desire to improve his own play, especially as the team continues to add so much young talent.

Last year BC club baseball had the most successful season in program history, finishing 3rd in regionals behind strong performances from standout performers Nick Assad, Kevin Haley, Tom Clarkson, and Daniel Lu. A special thanks to all of the seniors who graduated in May (Mark Mancuso, Tom Clarkson, Mark Beluk, Daniel Lu, Matt Beauchesne, Gerry Rodriguez, Carter Montgomery, and Nick Assad) who played a pivotal role in the development of the program throughout their time here.

The Eagles returned to campus this past week ready to begin another successful year on and off the field. Their conference schedule officially kicks off on September 22nd and 23rd at home against Sacred Heart. With the preseason training underway, here are some players to watch for the upcoming club baseball season:

Jack Patrina (Sr): Returning as the starting shortstop for the 4th consecutive year, Patrina is hoping to finish his storied club baseball career just the way he started: as a standout performer.

Brett Layman (Sr): Like his partner in crime Patrina, Layman returns to start at 3rd base for the 4th consecutive year as well. A consummate professional and tireless worker, Brett was recently on record as saying he hopes “to continue to improve a little bit every day,” the kind of work ethic which has led to many web gems over the years.

Cameron Miller (Jr): Unfortunately for the program, Miller will be taking his talents to Prague in the spring, so coaches hope to get every possible inning out of his lively arm (which posted an ERA below 1.00 last season) by the end of the fall.

Colin O’Neill (Sr): A standout catcher throughout his career, nobody calls a better game or makes harder contact than O’Neill. The program is lucky to have a player like Colin, who has been a force in the offense throughout his time at BC.

Kevin Haley (So): Haley burst onto the scene as a freshman last year, pitching effectively in multiple key games, including getting the save against Albany to clinch BC’s first conference title in program history. There is never a moment too big for Kevin Haley.

Game 1: vs. Harvard: 15-0 W

Game 2: vs. Harvard: 7-0 W

Your BC Eagles opened up the season in style with two big wins over the Harvard Crimson Club Baseball Team on Sunday at St. John’s Prep. Cam “chill” Miller got the ball in game 1, going three strong innings. Despite limited hacks due to the predawn practices at Lake Street, the Eagles bats were on fire in game 1, putting up 15 runs on the Crimson pitching. Daniel Lu was a monster at the plate, going 4 for 4 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, 2 runs, and 2 stolen bases.

Game 2 saw Kevin Haley dominate in his first start as an Eagle, going three strong innings while striking out six. Woody Hubbell and Brett Layman each had a double, while Trevor Foehr had a pair of RBIs leading the offense to another strong 7 run effort.

The Eagles will take on the UCONN Huskies next weekend in their first conference matchup. Come out to support your BC Eagles at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, MA. Go Eags!

 

While you were busy “chillin” over the weekend, the Eagles kept themselves busy with a big schedule of events! The Eags went a solid 3-1 over the extended weekend.

The extravaganza began with a Saturday/ Sunday series with the UCONN Huskies. The Eagles took Game 1 Saturday with a big 12-3 win, riding the arm of Tom Clarkson and racking up 15 hits. The Sunday DH was split, with scores of 4-5 and 5-4 against a tough UCONN squad.

Lastly, the Eagles couldn’t get enough baseball for the weekend, so we took on Northeastern University last night in Jamaica Plain for a little weeknight suare. The Eagles took the game 11-4, backed by solid pitching by 5 different pitchers, and a 3 run HR in the second inning by our own Dustin Pedroia (Matt Beauchesne).

Calling all Eagles Fans! The Boston College Club Baseball Team will once again be participating in the Relay For Life through Boston College coming next month to the Flynn Recreation Complex. For those who do not know, the Relay For Life is a national set of events put on by the American Cancer Society to raise money for cancer research. The Eagles as a team have set our goal at raising $1,000, and would love any and all support you could give. Sadly, many of us have felt the impacts of cancer in our lives, so we hope you will give generously to such a worthy cause. The link is posted below.  Thanks so much, and go Eagles!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?team_id=2156260&fr_id=80954&pg=team

Boston College Club Baseball had one exceptional weekend, sweeping SUNY Albany in a three game series, with scores of 6-0, 15-5, and 6-0.

In the first game, Nick Assad pitched a shutout, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out four through seven full innings. The bats began a weekend to remember, beating SUNY Albany thanks to nine hits, including three extra base hits, including a leadoff home run by Daniel Lu in the bottom of the first.

In game 2, Albany struck first, tacking on 2 runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. However, the steady hand of the Eagles never had a doubt, as Alex Gulati and Daniel Lu both homered to headline a steady stream of scoring. 5 of the Eagles had multi-hit games, and the combination of Andrew Dawson, Kristian Singh, and Shane Kelly held the door closed on the Albany offense.