The Beacons Baseball team will kick off their 2014 campaign on March 25 against Fitchburg State down at Campanella Stadium, their home field in Brockton. The University of Massachusetts Boston is coming off of a season where they finished with a 16–23 record and were bounced early in the Little East Tournament.
There will be some changes this season. Former captain Matt Consiglio was recently added to the coaching staff.
When asked about Consiglio joining the staff, ninth-year Head Coach Brendan Eygabroat said, “Matt is a great addition to the coaching staff. He has helped with the infielders and hitters. During games he will also serve as our bullpen coach.”
This will be the final season on campus for perennial All-Conference selection Jamill Moquette. Moquette is a very important player for the Beacons offensively, with totals of 8 HR, 48 RBI, and a .349 AVG in his UMass Boston career.
Eygabroat said, “I expect Jamill to have a great year. I don’t think our season’s success will be measured solely on how Jamill preforms. In baseball, one player can help you be successful, but it is a true team game and you need all 10 guys on the field to contribute if you are going to be a championship team.”
The Beacons compete in one of the deepest conferences in all of Division Three. When asked about the stacked league which they will be playing in, Coach Eygabroat said, “the LEC is always loaded and should be very competitive again this year. Southern Maine lost in the National Championship game last spring and they will return a bulk of their team. Eastern Connecticut, Keene State, and UMass Dartmouth are all teams that could also compete for the title. I think having nine seniors this group is capable of winning the LEC.”
He then added, “in a tournament you need to have deep and talented pitching and we have that. The key to our success will be our defense. If we play clean and don’t give teams extra chances we will have a very good season.”
UMass Boston certainly has the talent to compete with the teams Coach Eygabroat mentioned. They have a strong Lineup and a dangerous 1–2 starting combination with Lucas Ilges and Kyle Szatrowski. UMass Boston certainly has a good shot in this conference.
Coach Eygabroat said that he has Nick Brothers set to leadoff for the Beacons this season as he usually did last year. Either Kyle Szatrowski or Lucas Ilges, the top two Beacons Starters, will start the home openers, but they both pitched on the first day of the preseason trip in Florida.
The Beacons have had mixed results on their season-opening trip to Ft. Myers, Florida. They escaped with a 4–3 win over Edgewood College on March 14 and later that same day, in the second half of the double-header, they edged Edgewood again with a 2–1 victory in 10 innings. They lost 5–4 the next day to SUNY Plattsburgh and on Sunday, they were beat 8–4 by Wisconsin-Stout. The most impressive player of the early part of the trip has to be Lucas Ilges, who threw nine innings of six-hit ball, allowing only one run in the process in the second win over Edgewood. Ilges certainly made a case to be the Opening Day Starter when the Beacons return north next week.