Since he began playing t-ball at age six, Pat Donavan has been hitting home runs and throwing strikes. A native of Lowell, MA, Donavan is a freshman here at UMass Boston and so far he has made quite an impact for the Beacons and in the Little East Conference.
Donavan plays third base and he is also a starting pitcher, positions that he has played since his varsity days at Lowell High School. He came to UMass Boston in particular for the school’s baseball team, “I just wanted to play ball wherever I went.” Donavan has found his academic niche here at UMass Boston. Currently a major in exercise physiology, Donavan plans on obtaining his masters in physical therapy at UMass Lowell. With his career goals pretty well set in his mind, it’s safe to say that the Beacons will have his talent on the team for another three years.
Donavan has won three Little East Conference awards so far this season with two Rookie of the Week awards and one Player of the Week award. When asked how he felt about winning the awards, he said he owed them to two things, hard work and his team. “You work during the off season and it pays off, but the whole team pushes each other to do better.”
The team has already won three times the number of games that they did last season, but Donavan wouldn’t attribute any of that success to himself. “Everyone plays their hardest, not for themselves, but for the team.”
Like most other athletes at UMass Boston, Donavan plays constantly. In the fall he plays with the Beacons fall-ball team and in the summer he plays for the Legion team in Lowell, MA. During the wintertime it’s straight to the gym for this hard thrower.
As of now Donavan is ranked quite high in Little East standings. With a 4.45 ERA and a 6-2 record, he is tied for third with wins and first in complete games with five. He has pitched the third most innings of all pitchers in the conference with 56.2, and has also thrown one shutout. He is tied for eighth in strikeouts, sending 40 batters back to the dugout with their heads hanging low. When he is not striking out batters he makes sure not too many get hits, keeping his opponents to a modest .272 batting average.
Counted among his personal highlights is the opportunity he had to travel to Florida and play some preseason games. “It was a blast going down there and we got to play some tough competition.”