April 25, 2008
That’s Club Baseball for You
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1Xc93GOxrfw
Within the first year of Emmanuel College going co-ed, the Athletics Department began to immediately implement various men’s varsity sports teams. A brand new gymnasium was built to sustain two varsity basketball teams; coaches were brought in to lead the newly instated men’s soccer, basketball and volleyball teams. As Emmanuel’s men’s teams have grown more in popularity the funding continues to increase.
Not all are happy though. The Emmanuel College Club Baseball team has been wildly successful in their league over the past two years, and were crowned league Champions in the fall of 2006. However not many students are even aware of the club’s existence. The general assumption was that after a few successful trail seasons, the club would be granted proper funding in order to make the jump to the varsity level.
It has not happened yet, and looks as though it could even be a few more years until Emmanuel has an official Men’s Varsity Baseball team.
Practices are often held at 11:00 p.m., the only time available due to the priority granted to all the varsity level teams. Late practices with inadequate equipment proved to be too much for some members. “It became really inconvenient. When you’re taking five classes, working, and living off campus, an 11:00 practice becomes very difficult to attend. You have to pick your priorities, if you are not getting any respect as a team, it’s tough to stay enthused about what you are doing,” said a former member of the club.
Despite the negligence of the Athletic Department to make any real stride to speeding up the process, the club finds ways to rend support from friends, enjoy the camaraderie of the team and the competitiveness of the league.
“We have a lot of fun. We don’t take ourselves two seriously, but we still maintain have a competitive attitude,” said junior catcher and captain, Holt Pagano.
A perfect insight to Emmanuel’s neglected club was documented on April 15th when Emmanuel College took on rival club Northeastern. The showdown was a rematch of last year’s championship game, when Emmanuel took home the gold with a 9-6 victory.
The footage seeks to provide the Emmanuel community with a taste of the club’s attitude, and hopefully spark more talk about the club making the switch to Varsity.
The game proved to be the most competitive outing the team has been involved with all year. Junior Tyler Norton took the mound for the Saints to start the game and went 6 innings strong only surrendering two runs. The Saints hit well all night and tacked on two runs of their own with sophomore Greg Mathews scoring Andy Crawford from third, and sophomore Jordan Steverman stealing home on a ball four pass ball.
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh (the final inning), freshman pitcher Pat Dillion came in to provide relief for Norton. Pat was lights out, surrendering the Huskies in order, while striking out the Huskies’ final batter.
With both teams ready to head into extra innings, the home plate umpire called the game due to conditions outside the players’ control. As it turns out that the lights at Jim Rice field would turn off before a clear victor could immerge. That’s club baseball for you.
Emmanuel being the home team, it is their responsibility to provide a field for the game. The lack of funding gives the club very little options, and disappointing results such as Tuesday night’s game, are often the outcome.
“Tuesdays night’s game proved that we are ready to compete at a Division Three Varsity level. Northeastern is a very good team and we always play well against them. I feel like we are being pushed aside. We have very little support from the administration and the Athletic Department, which is frustrating. I have also heard rumors of a Men’s Tennis team starting next year, which is just an insult to us. We have been proving ourselves for about two years now just to get skipped over in order to make room for tennis. It doesn’t make sense to me.” Junior Steve Stoeher shares his opinions on the matter. Stoeher was an integral part in Tuesday night’s win, pinch hitting in the seventh inning and providing a base hit the represented the tying run.
Club manager and sponsor Trent Pinto remains enthusiastic about the future of the club.
“I think our involvement, and success, in the New England Club Baseball Association has really put Emmanuel Baseball on the map. We have outside teams such as BU, Yale, UConn, Lasell, and Mount Ida always trying to schedule spring games with us because they know we have a strong and growing program. In the 2 seasons that we have been associated with the NECBA we have seen the league grow from 5 teams to a possible 12-15 next season. And to have won that league by beating a powerhouse school like Northeastern, certainly shines a bright light on not only EC Baseball, but Emmanuel College as a whole,” said Pinto. One worry for the seniors on the cub is a matter of future leadership. The club started two years ago under the guidance and leadership of then seniors Rocky Piccirillo, Mike Zakarian, and Dan Campagna. Now that they have moved on upperclassmen Dan Palazzo, Holt Pagano, and Tyler Norton have assumed leadership positions.
“I hope this club can sustain the enthusiasm and competitiveness in the coming years. I’m graduating in May and would love nothing more than to come back and see a mature, quality team when I visit,” said Captain first basemen Dan Palazzo.
Despite the disappointing outcome of Tuesday night, the Saints maintain a loose attitude. The bus ride back to school was full of smiles and laughs, and shoulda-coulda-wouldas. That’s club baseball for you.






