Did you notice that the UMass Boston baseball team never has home games?
That’s because the 10-14 Beacons have adopted Campannelli Stadium in Brockton, the home of the Brockton Rox, as their new home this season. The Beacons, who played at Brockton three seasons ago and Waltham last year, have been searching for a home on campus.
Luckily, next year, the sluggers will be able to play on their real home field here at UMass Boston.
Their present stadium is approximately 29 minutes away from campus, and for a school that is lacking student involvement and sports support, that may cause some problems for the baseball team, which was an NCAA regional champion in 2010 and is seeking for a Little East tournament berth.
Uncharacteristically, the Beacons have gotten off to a slow start to the season.
“We started off slow. I mean this is my senior year and we’ve never started off slow before, so it’s kind of something new to get used to,” senior captain Matt Consiglio said.
But the senior 3rd basemen expect his teams to pick up the pace and begin to put together a string of success soon.
“We have 25 games in 24 days, so if we’re not in the grind, we’ll definitely have to get in the grind,” Consiglio said.
The Beacons’ slow start can be partially credited to the team’s inexperience. The squad only holds four seniors on their team. Consiglio stressed that he’s not really worried, “but with a young team it takes a couple of more games than you for freshmen and sophomore classes to get a little more used to college baseball.”
While the Baseball team may be young, and still searching for their identity, sophomore pitcher Kyle Szatrowski has been a major bright spot this season. The left-handed pitcher has led the Beacons to four victories with a 4-1 record. He is averaging less than one hit per inning pitched and has a very impressive 1.96 ERA. Another highlight of their young team is outfielder, and former rookie of the week Nick Brothers. Brothers is batting .447 and has been appointed the new leadoff hitter for a Beacons lineup that is showing a great ability to get on base.
The Beacons are not a power team, but they have depth and players who will threaten to get on base at every at bat.
“We’re more of a singles, doubles team,” Consligio said. “But we have been putting a lot more runs on the board than we started off in the season and we’re pretty excited about that.”
The Beacons are poised to make a run, and they have some fantastic pieces that should make for great success down the line. Next year, with their new ballpark finished, coach Brendan Eygabroat’s squad is looking at a very bright future, and hopefully, a successful present.