Boston College Athletics
Time for Renewal and Baseball
February 09, 2021 | Baseball, #ForBoston Files
The emotional end to 2020 is now ready for a new breed and brand of Birdball.
Mike Gambino didn't have to answer his phone to know what the call was about to tell him. The sports world was swirling around college baseball, and it made Boston College's home opening win - the earliest home game in program history - feel like a million lightyears away. The 10-7 decision over Holy Cross, the momentum from the previous weekend series at Clemson - it was all about to vanish into smoke.Â
Not even thinking about the upcoming weekend series at No. 10 NC State erased the pit feeling in his stomach. Gambino knew something was amiss, and he knew those three games against the Wolfpack, no matter how optimistic he was about what could happen on the diamond, were about to disappear. The coronavirus and COVID-19, the contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel virus, was about to swallow the season like a medieval moon door.
The 2020 Boston College baseball season started with optimism about where the team could go, but the season was about to be canceled. The Eagles' run was over before it was ever allowed to truly get started.
"Last year was a team that had a real chance to go to Omaha," Gambino said. "We knew it was going to be a slow start and a really good build. We knew that, and I really liked where that team was and where it was going. When it got canceled, we were down at NC State with what we thought was going to be a really good series against a really good team, and we felt great about things. We had scheduled aggressively early on, and I don't think the record tells the story of where that team was going. It was a really, really good club."
The surreality of the season's abrupt ending compounded the disappointment of college baseball's rites of passage. BC was 6-9 when the NCAA suspended its spring sports and less than a week removed from the win over the Crusaders. It was a banner moment for the Eagles' Harrington Athletics Village because the March 10 date was the earliest game ever played on BC's campus. The Pete Frates Center husk rose above the first base line like a partially-completed baseball temple, and the cloudy skies failed to diminish the moment created by the 70 degree springtime conditions.
The new-look offense hammered and bewildered Holy Cross pitching, and BC built two different five-run leads with big innings in the second and sixth. A total of five runs crossed in the first and second innings with another three in the sixth, and a staff-based outing gave three arms a minimum of 40 pitches against the Patriot League's third place team. Daniel Baruch, a position player on weekends, earned his first career win with two innings of relief.
"We had a top-10 offense in the country," Gambino said last week. "We had quality starting pitching. Emmett Sheehan was starting his development process and learning how to be a starter. Max Gieg was starting to come back as healthy, and Evan Moore had just thrown the ball well in the midweek game against Holy Cross. Samrath Singh was starting to get healthy. We had all of these pieces, and the time that we were a little bit thin early was starting to turn into the time when these guys were coming back."
The scythe cut every normal rite of passage for a college baseball player. The conference tournament was moving from Durham Bulls Athletic Park to Charlotte's BB&T Ballpark, and the Charlotte Knights' downtown home previously hosted Wake Forest, NC State and Clemson as part of its 2019 Collegiate Baseball series. BC, for its part, won Pool A at the ACC Tournament in 2019 and was within a game of the conference championship, but the pandemic denied a repeat performance.
That tournament fed directly into the NCAA Tournament, and the Eagles' upward trajectory all but guaranteed a collision course with the selection committee. TCU's selection to the Fayetteville Regional the year before kept BC out of a competitive bracket with Arkansas, Cal and Central Connecticut. BC's win over Holy Cross was the first avenged step in the midweek games that conspired to keep the Eagles out of 2019's road to Omaha.
The full cancellation in college foreshadowed the fate of Minor League Baseball, and Major League Baseball subsequently slashed its entry draft to five rounds. Joe Suozzi eventually signed with the New York Mets, but the abbreviated choices ultimately cost players like Jack Cunningham and Joey Walsh a signable selection in those later rounds.  As MLB began a delicate return to the field, the Harrington Athletics Village, a baseball haven for maroon and gold, transformed into an auxiliary practice site for the Boston Red Sox as the league resumed its season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the summer, Sal Frelick and Cody Morissette returned to action and were impact stars in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League with Frelick winning the batting championship with a .398 average. But even summer baseball absorbed a massive blow when the majority of collegiate development leagues canceled their 2020 season. The Cape Cod Baseball League, where Frelick and Morissette were committed, was chief among them, and the limited slots denied BC players the typical step forward.
It was a depressing timeline, but it led to an emotional baseball explosion in the fall when the players finally returned to campus. The fall season, another team tradition, happened, and the Pete Frates Center opened as a glittering tribute to both its namesake and the sport he loved. It was more than a glimmer or a hope, and it burst open the possibility of a 2021 baseball season capable of making amends for the time lost on the diamond.
"We normally are able to build up and end with a 'World Series,'" Gambino said, "but our form was a little bit flipped because we wanted to get the guys (game) ready. When we started with 14 practices, we went right into our scrimmages, and we basically did three-game series every week before switching teams.
"Those kids were so excited to be on the baseball field," he said. "They couldn't wait to be on the baseball field together to play, that (being on the field) was a good day. They love baseball and love playing here, and they love this program. And every week, the series that we had, with two new teams every week, they were going at each other. There was a lot of smack talk. We had a walk-off home run in one game with a dogpile at the plate."
That energy completely flipped the narrative and changed the perspective of playing baseball. The bad karma produced by the disappointing, necessary end of last season built an unmatched determination founded in a one-track mind. The Frates Center completely opened and unveiled a new locker room, and the schedule was unveiled. Everything off the field melted away, and the familiarity of playing together, on a diamond as the Birdball family, took center stage. Baseball season, once an eternal relic lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, returned.
"We've been able to stay on the field," Gambino said. "We had practice time before Thanksgiving, and we had the excitement of moving into the Pete Frates Center in November, which added a new wrinkle. We have indoor cages, and for the first time, our program is outside of the Bubble. It was still a hard fall (season), and I was really proud of the guys. I'm really proud of what they did to go through that fall and what they're doing with the protocols. They're taking this seriously because they want to play baseball."
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Not even thinking about the upcoming weekend series at No. 10 NC State erased the pit feeling in his stomach. Gambino knew something was amiss, and he knew those three games against the Wolfpack, no matter how optimistic he was about what could happen on the diamond, were about to disappear. The coronavirus and COVID-19, the contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel virus, was about to swallow the season like a medieval moon door.
The 2020 Boston College baseball season started with optimism about where the team could go, but the season was about to be canceled. The Eagles' run was over before it was ever allowed to truly get started.
"Last year was a team that had a real chance to go to Omaha," Gambino said. "We knew it was going to be a slow start and a really good build. We knew that, and I really liked where that team was and where it was going. When it got canceled, we were down at NC State with what we thought was going to be a really good series against a really good team, and we felt great about things. We had scheduled aggressively early on, and I don't think the record tells the story of where that team was going. It was a really, really good club."
The surreality of the season's abrupt ending compounded the disappointment of college baseball's rites of passage. BC was 6-9 when the NCAA suspended its spring sports and less than a week removed from the win over the Crusaders. It was a banner moment for the Eagles' Harrington Athletics Village because the March 10 date was the earliest game ever played on BC's campus. The Pete Frates Center husk rose above the first base line like a partially-completed baseball temple, and the cloudy skies failed to diminish the moment created by the 70 degree springtime conditions.
The new-look offense hammered and bewildered Holy Cross pitching, and BC built two different five-run leads with big innings in the second and sixth. A total of five runs crossed in the first and second innings with another three in the sixth, and a staff-based outing gave three arms a minimum of 40 pitches against the Patriot League's third place team. Daniel Baruch, a position player on weekends, earned his first career win with two innings of relief.
"We had a top-10 offense in the country," Gambino said last week. "We had quality starting pitching. Emmett Sheehan was starting his development process and learning how to be a starter. Max Gieg was starting to come back as healthy, and Evan Moore had just thrown the ball well in the midweek game against Holy Cross. Samrath Singh was starting to get healthy. We had all of these pieces, and the time that we were a little bit thin early was starting to turn into the time when these guys were coming back."
The scythe cut every normal rite of passage for a college baseball player. The conference tournament was moving from Durham Bulls Athletic Park to Charlotte's BB&T Ballpark, and the Charlotte Knights' downtown home previously hosted Wake Forest, NC State and Clemson as part of its 2019 Collegiate Baseball series. BC, for its part, won Pool A at the ACC Tournament in 2019 and was within a game of the conference championship, but the pandemic denied a repeat performance.
That tournament fed directly into the NCAA Tournament, and the Eagles' upward trajectory all but guaranteed a collision course with the selection committee. TCU's selection to the Fayetteville Regional the year before kept BC out of a competitive bracket with Arkansas, Cal and Central Connecticut. BC's win over Holy Cross was the first avenged step in the midweek games that conspired to keep the Eagles out of 2019's road to Omaha.
The full cancellation in college foreshadowed the fate of Minor League Baseball, and Major League Baseball subsequently slashed its entry draft to five rounds. Joe Suozzi eventually signed with the New York Mets, but the abbreviated choices ultimately cost players like Jack Cunningham and Joey Walsh a signable selection in those later rounds.  As MLB began a delicate return to the field, the Harrington Athletics Village, a baseball haven for maroon and gold, transformed into an auxiliary practice site for the Boston Red Sox as the league resumed its season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the summer, Sal Frelick and Cody Morissette returned to action and were impact stars in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League with Frelick winning the batting championship with a .398 average. But even summer baseball absorbed a massive blow when the majority of collegiate development leagues canceled their 2020 season. The Cape Cod Baseball League, where Frelick and Morissette were committed, was chief among them, and the limited slots denied BC players the typical step forward.
It was a depressing timeline, but it led to an emotional baseball explosion in the fall when the players finally returned to campus. The fall season, another team tradition, happened, and the Pete Frates Center opened as a glittering tribute to both its namesake and the sport he loved. It was more than a glimmer or a hope, and it burst open the possibility of a 2021 baseball season capable of making amends for the time lost on the diamond.
"We normally are able to build up and end with a 'World Series,'" Gambino said, "but our form was a little bit flipped because we wanted to get the guys (game) ready. When we started with 14 practices, we went right into our scrimmages, and we basically did three-game series every week before switching teams.
"Those kids were so excited to be on the baseball field," he said. "They couldn't wait to be on the baseball field together to play, that (being on the field) was a good day. They love baseball and love playing here, and they love this program. And every week, the series that we had, with two new teams every week, they were going at each other. There was a lot of smack talk. We had a walk-off home run in one game with a dogpile at the plate."
That energy completely flipped the narrative and changed the perspective of playing baseball. The bad karma produced by the disappointing, necessary end of last season built an unmatched determination founded in a one-track mind. The Frates Center completely opened and unveiled a new locker room, and the schedule was unveiled. Everything off the field melted away, and the familiarity of playing together, on a diamond as the Birdball family, took center stage. Baseball season, once an eternal relic lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, returned.
"We've been able to stay on the field," Gambino said. "We had practice time before Thanksgiving, and we had the excitement of moving into the Pete Frates Center in November, which added a new wrinkle. We have indoor cages, and for the first time, our program is outside of the Bubble. It was still a hard fall (season), and I was really proud of the guys. I'm really proud of what they did to go through that fall and what they're doing with the protocols. They're taking this seriously because they want to play baseball."
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