2018 Summer Ball Notebook
Follow the Birds from Coast-to-Coast All Summer Long
Following the conclusions of the 2018 season, the Boston College baseball roster spread out across the country for sports on wood bat collegiate summer league teams from coast-to-coast. Players represent the Eagles as close as New England and Cape Cod and as far away as Alaska, Michigan and North Carolina. All told, 20 players slated to return to BC next season are under contract in 10 different leagues; many of which held opening day the first week of June.
The prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, renowned as the best summer league in the country for the nation's top prospects, is schedule to kick-off its 2018 season on Tuesday, June 12. Eight Eagles are anticipated to play on the Cape this summer, including outfielder Chris Galland with the Harwich Mariners. Galland, an All-ACC Third Team pick, was recently honored as a Collegiate Baseball News All-American and earned All-New England. Last season, catcher Gian Martellini played in 29 games for the Cotuit Kettleers; driving in 16 runs on just 17 hits, including four doubles and three home runs. This summer, Martellini moves back across the bridge to play for the Wareham Gatemen.
Complete list of summer placements located below...
The summer season ended on August 13, far from where it started. Gian Martellini joined the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League on June 16 and went 0-for-2 with a walk in a 2-0 loss at Harwich. On the Cape for the second summer in a row, Martellini, who played for Cotuit in 2017, was on a temporary contract and didn't see game action again until a brief appearance in a blowout win over Hyannis on June 30.
Nearly two months after his summer debut, Martellini was behind the dish catching strike three before embracing with his pitcher at the mound as they were engulfed by teammates in a dogpile; celebrating the Gatemen's Cape League championship.
"It was pretty awesome," recalled Martellini. "We went through our playoff run 6-0, which I don't think has even been done before by a number-one seed. We started off with Cotuit; beat them both games. Then we played Falmouth and beat them both games. And then we played Chatham and beat them both games."
Click to continue reading complete Gian Martellini feature.
Brian Dempsey’s days as an up-and-coming infielder for the Boston College Eagles have come to an end. When he returns to campus for the beginning of the fall semester, he will encounter the start of his junior season. The time to make the leap to upperclassman and leader has arrived.
For a program that was one win away from Omaha just two years ago, the prospect of making a return to the postseason lies with its strong core seniors and juniors.
“I think next season is going to come down to the junior and senior classes,” stated Dempsey. “We’re going to have another year under our belt. Guys like [Dante] Baldelli and [Jack] Cunningham started pretty much every game as sophomores. [Matt] Gill is going to be great. [Joey] Walsh is going to be great. He has had a great summer on the Cape and I think those two guys are going to step into bigger roles on our pitching staff.”
Click to continue reading complete Brian Dempsey feature.
Chris Galland made his debut for the BC baseball team as a late-game substitution against Santa Clara in the second game of the 2018 season; his rookie campaign. Galland successfully put down a sacrifice-bunt in his first plate appearance and followed with a single through the left side in the ninth.
As a freshman, Galland was named All-ACC Third Team, All-New England and a Freshman All-American. He hit .316, scored 36 runs, smacked 10 doubles and owned a .801 OPS. Galland led Boston College with 28 stolen bases to rank second in the ACC and 17th in the country at the end of the regular season. He set the BC record for stolen bases in a season and was successful on the first 20 attempts of his career. All this earned Galland a temporary contract with the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, where he finds himself out to prove his worth on the field and in the lineup once again.
“The goal for me was to stay on the Cape the whole summer,” said Galland, who did not learn of his summer placement until late in the Eagles’ spring season. “Even though I was a temp player, I didn’t want to be here for a week and then gone. I thought that I belonged here from the beginning and I still feel that way. Every day, I’m trying to get better.”
Click to continue reading complete Chris Galland feature.
“During the summer last year, I just lifeguarded,” recalled Suozzi. “And, this is kind of funny, I was playing in men’s softball games so I didn't play any baseball games last summer.”
He spent his summer days on Long Island as a lifeguard and his nights playing slow-pitch softball in his hometown of Glen Cove, N.Y. One year later, he finds himself at the opposite end of Long Island, playing summer ball for the Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.
Click to continue reading complete Joe Suozzi feature.
The prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, renowned as the best summer league in the country for the nation's top prospects, is schedule to kick-off its 2018 season on Tuesday, June 12. Eight Eagles are anticipated to play on the Cape this summer, including outfielder Chris Galland with the Harwich Mariners. Galland, an All-ACC Third Team pick, was recently honored as a Collegiate Baseball News All-American and earned All-New England. Last season, catcher Gian Martellini played in 29 games for the Cotuit Kettleers; driving in 16 runs on just 17 hits, including four doubles and three home runs. This summer, Martellini moves back across the bridge to play for the Wareham Gatemen.
Complete list of summer placements located below...
MARTELLINI, WAREHAM CLAIM CAPE CHAMPIONSHIP [Aug. 15]
The summer season ended on August 13, far from where it started. Gian Martellini joined the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League on June 16 and went 0-for-2 with a walk in a 2-0 loss at Harwich. On the Cape for the second summer in a row, Martellini, who played for Cotuit in 2017, was on a temporary contract and didn't see game action again until a brief appearance in a blowout win over Hyannis on June 30.Nearly two months after his summer debut, Martellini was behind the dish catching strike three before embracing with his pitcher at the mound as they were engulfed by teammates in a dogpile; celebrating the Gatemen's Cape League championship.
"It was pretty awesome," recalled Martellini. "We went through our playoff run 6-0, which I don't think has even been done before by a number-one seed. We started off with Cotuit; beat them both games. Then we played Falmouth and beat them both games. And then we played Chatham and beat them both games."
Click to continue reading complete Gian Martellini feature.
DEMPSEY AND BIRDBALL VETERANS READY TO STEP UP [July 16]
Brian Dempsey’s days as an up-and-coming infielder for the Boston College Eagles have come to an end. When he returns to campus for the beginning of the fall semester, he will encounter the start of his junior season. The time to make the leap to upperclassman and leader has arrived.For a program that was one win away from Omaha just two years ago, the prospect of making a return to the postseason lies with its strong core seniors and juniors.
“I think next season is going to come down to the junior and senior classes,” stated Dempsey. “We’re going to have another year under our belt. Guys like [Dante] Baldelli and [Jack] Cunningham started pretty much every game as sophomores. [Matt] Gill is going to be great. [Joey] Walsh is going to be great. He has had a great summer on the Cape and I think those two guys are going to step into bigger roles on our pitching staff.”
Click to continue reading complete Brian Dempsey feature.
GALLAND PROVING HE BELONGS ON THE CAPE [July 2]
Chris Galland made his debut for the BC baseball team as a late-game substitution against Santa Clara in the second game of the 2018 season; his rookie campaign. Galland successfully put down a sacrifice-bunt in his first plate appearance and followed with a single through the left side in the ninth.As a freshman, Galland was named All-ACC Third Team, All-New England and a Freshman All-American. He hit .316, scored 36 runs, smacked 10 doubles and owned a .801 OPS. Galland led Boston College with 28 stolen bases to rank second in the ACC and 17th in the country at the end of the regular season. He set the BC record for stolen bases in a season and was successful on the first 20 attempts of his career. All this earned Galland a temporary contract with the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, where he finds himself out to prove his worth on the field and in the lineup once again.
“The goal for me was to stay on the Cape the whole summer,” said Galland, who did not learn of his summer placement until late in the Eagles’ spring season. “Even though I was a temp player, I didn’t want to be here for a week and then gone. I thought that I belonged here from the beginning and I still feel that way. Every day, I’m trying to get better.”
Click to continue reading complete Chris Galland feature.
SANDY BEACHES TO THE SANDLOT [June 18]
A year removed from high school baseball, Joe Suozzi’s summer was typical of many 19-year old former athletes; one vastly different than one experienced by any college baseball player competing at as high of a level as the ACC. A year later, Suozzi has since completed his first season as an outfielder at Boston College, but his path to this point was anything but typical.“During the summer last year, I just lifeguarded,” recalled Suozzi. “And, this is kind of funny, I was playing in men’s softball games so I didn't play any baseball games last summer.”
He spent his summer days on Long Island as a lifeguard and his nights playing slow-pitch softball in his hometown of Glen Cove, N.Y. One year later, he finds himself at the opposite end of Long Island, playing summer ball for the Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.
Click to continue reading complete Joe Suozzi feature.
LEADING OFF [June 11]
Jake Alu | 3B | Sanford Mainers | NECBL
Through four games with the Sanford Mainers, Alu is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with three walks for a .500 on-base percentage. In a game at Plymouth last Friday (6/8), he was on base all five times; tallying a 3-for-3 game with two walks, a double and a run scored.
Nick Couhig | P | Nashua Silver Knights | Futures
Couhig, a 6-foot-1 right-hander from Falmouth, Mass., has made three relief appearances for the Nashua Silver Knights after the first week of the season. He is 1-0 with a perfect 0.00 earned run average in four innings with eight strikeouts and has allowed just three hits. In his season debut, Couhig came out of the pen to pitch the seventh with Nashua trailing 5-4. He struck out one in a scoreless-frame, working around a pair of singles, and the Silver Knights rallied for four runs in the bottom half to take the lead and earn Couhig the victory.
Jack Nelson | P | Kalamazoo Growlers | Northwoods
Nelson, who owns a 7-2 record with a 3.83 ERA through three seasons at BC, is 3-0 in three games pitched for the Kalamazoo Growlers. He holds a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings with 12 strikeouts. Nelson's first two wins both came in relief, including a five-inning appearance against Battle Creek (6/2). He made his first start of the summer at Kenosha (6/6) in a 7-0 Growlers win. Nelson tossed five-shutout innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts.
