The Beacons rode a record-breaking pitching performance last week and improved to 4-6 on the season.
Junior Jaime Soto whiffed 16 batters to break a UMass school record. The Beacon bats rallied behind Soto’s striking performance and beat Fisher College 7-1.
“It was one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen in my 18 years of baseball,” said Head Coach Brendan Eygabroat.
The impressive win comes right in time for Little East league games, notably the double-header against Johnson & Wales University and 2005 regular season champ Eastern Connecticut University.
“We took some extra time on drills this week. We’re a team that doesn’t possess a lot of power,” said Eygabroat. “So we have to be more aggressive, either on the bases or at the plate.”
Captains Jaime Soto, Ryan Blanchard, and Bob Kniffen have been together for three years and remain the foundation of the team this season. With only five returning players and zero returning starters, the captains realize their team’s improvement will take time.
“We’ve been working hard this week,” said Blanchard, a native of Gloucester. “Having this week off really helped us get some good practice in.”
With strong pitching, like Soto’s Rocket-like performance and the complete game Nick Conway pitched earlier in the season, the Beacon’s can continue being aggressive.
Pitching has been the key,” said Kniffen, a junior at UMass. “But the bats are coming around. Coach did a good job at recruiting this year. We’re really building off last season’s strong performance.”
Building off last year’s team has been difficult considering the inexperience but Eygabroat and his staff of assistant coaches have focused on the importance of team unity every practice.
“Last season we won the most games in school history,” said Eygabroat. “I don’t see why we can’t do that again.”
“We’re coming together and peeking at the right time,” said Kniffen. “Hopefully we’ll roll on and have a successful season.”
The optimism carried through last Wednesday’s practice and the Beacon’s came together as a team to end the long day. The final lesson came loud and clear, “Back to .500!!”