The Heights Spring Sports Preview

The Heights spring sports Preview 2016

C4-5,HOW MIKE GAMBINO’S RECRUITING PLAN FOR

BC BASEBALL IS FINALLY WORKING

C8, BC SOFTBALL’S ROAD TO REGIONALS

C2 & 3,BIRDBALL’S BEST BATTERY

MATES READY TO LEAD C6 & 7MANNELLY

AND MARGOLIS AIM TO BRINGA TITLE TO BC

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 20162 SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW KING AND DUNN

Is Mike King even going to last three innings tonight?

Head coach Mike Gambino remembers pacing in the

dugout in the second inning of an April matchup with No.

18 North Carolina, thinking about an early exit for Boston College’s

top starter. King, his most reliable arm, led the ACC in walks allowed,

only surrendering 12 free passes all season, but he couldn’t seem to

fi nd the strike zone that night. And it looked like the Tar Heels were

going to make him pay.

With two outs and the bases loaded, the 6-foot-3 right-hander

walked another UNC batter—this time, on four straight pitches—to

put the Eagles in an early 1-0 hole. By now, Gambino was really

sweating: Every run matters, especially when facing the Tar Heels’

ace, Zac Gallen.

King is a Picasso on the rubber, painting the corners with his go-

to two-seam fastball that acts as a pseudo-sinker. His location is his

best tool, as he brushes the edges of the plate to bait hitters into easy

ground ball outs and strikeouts. He doesn’t miss.

Except for that night, when his fastball command was nowhere

to be found. So King adapted. Relying more heavily on his off -speed

and secondary pitches, he escaped the second-inning jam without

any further damage and went on to blank UNC for six more innings.

He didn’t yield another walk, and only allowed one runner past fi rst

base for the rest of the game. Th e complete game exhausted King for

102 pitches, and every ounce of eff ort he had to keep a lethal Tar Heel

off ense off the scoreboard on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff .

Even though BC lost 1-0—a fi tting microcosm for King’s season, dur-

ing which many solid outings resulted in undeserved L’s due to a lack

of run support—the performance was impressive nonetheless.

Although King has the potential for complete games every time he

takes the mound, nine innings won’t be the norm for the junior. Often,

he will need help closing the door in tight, low-scoring ballgames on

Friday nights. He’ll need an exclamation point to cap off his starts, a

back-end arm who can erase inherited runners and dodge late-game

scoring situations.

He needs Justin Dunn.

Before each game, Dunn, a Freeport, N.Y., native, listens

to Jay-Z as he starts his warm-up routine. Th e Brook-

lyn rapper’s iconic voice reminds him of Derek Jeter’s

face-carving, diving catch in the stands against the Red Sox. Or Mr.

November’s opposite-fi eld shot for the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2001

World Series. Or the pinstriped pitching staff of the early 2000s that

included Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Mike Mussina.

So naturally, when the Eagles’ closer takes the mound, he models

himself after…

“Pedro.”

Pedro Martinez? Th e Boston hero and notorious Yankee killer?

“I get that question a lot, actually,” Dunn said with a chuckle. “I

have to give credit to people where credit is due. His stuff is just so

electric, and if I can be anything remotely close to what he was, I think

I can do pretty well in this conference.”

King thinks “pretty well” is an understatement.

“He’s probably the best [closer] in the ACC,” King said. “I think his

off speed pitches are the best pitches I’ve ever seen. He’s not seen very

often, so to throw him out there for one inning, it’s untouchable.”

Dunn’s best pitch may be his slider, which ranges upwards of 85

mph—faster than most Major Leaguers’—and drops off the table

faster than you can say “whiff .”

Couple that with an electric fastball that sits at 95 mph (and has

been rumored to peak at 97), and the result is a fi lthy arsenal that

rivals some of the best closers in college baseball. Together, Dunn

and King—who both frequent 2016 MLB Draft prospect lists across

the Internet—are poised to lead a pitching staff that could carry

BC to its fi rst winning season since 2010 and a return trip to the

postseason in May.

If 2015 was King’s breakout season, then his Apr. 17 start against

Georgia Tech was certainly his standout gem.

King was a fi rst-inning single away from a no-hitter, going

the distance against the Yellow Jackets in just one hour and 52 minutes

and striking out eight. Th e Rhode Island native faced the minimum

number of batters and retired the last 17 hitters who stepped up to

the plate. Th e complete-game shutout earned him ACC Player of the

Week honors.

At his best, King has the two-seam fastball of Doug Fister and the

calculated command of a young Cliff Lee.

But the key to King’s success isn’t his body as much as his brain.

Associate head coach and pitching specialist Jim Foster has molded

the honor roll student into a Grade-A baseball mind, anticipating pitch

sequences based on the count and the type of hitter at the plate.

“He loves the pitcher that already knows what he’s going to call

prior to calling it,” King said of Foster.

For example, if King is facing a power hitter, he pitches him back-

wards—meaning he’ll spin a couple curveballs across the plate to start

an at-bat when the batter is looking for a fastball. If he gets ahead in

the count, King likes to keep the hitter off -balance with a two-seamer

that runs in on the hands of right-handed hitters and jams them before

they can bring the barrel to the ball.

Pitching sequences don’t always follow cookie-cutter guidelines,

though. Certain types of swings will dictate which part of the plate

King will attack, and the situation can aff ect pitch selection, as well. But

Foster, King, and junior catcher Nick Sciortino all know that.

Last year, BC’s battery and the pitching staff were on the same page

so often that Sciortino wouldn’t even have to put down a sign for King.

Th ey both knew what was coming.

When King and Sciortino are clicking like that, they know some-

thing else, too: the hitter doesn’t stand a chance. And when they aren’t

in sync, they have someone waiting in the wings to clean up any mess

that falls on his plate.

Not everybody can close.

Th ese are the words of Gambino, but they have been

echoed in dugouts across the country for years.

It’s not complicated, really. When one player messes up, the conse-

quences are usually negligible—striking out at the plate with runners in

scoring position or allowing an RBI double won’t cost the team a win.

For a closer, though, one small mistake is the diff erence between

life and death. It’s a job with enough pressure to ruin MLB careers, and

college students aren’t immune to it.

Last year, Dunn assumed the closer role less than a month into

the season and pieced together a nine-inning scoreless streak over a

two-week period in April. During the stretch, the righty fl ame-thrower

picked up a save in the Eagles’ Beanpot win over UMass, threw three

scoreless innings with three strikeouts at No. 18 North Carolina, and

struck out the side against Rhode Island to earn his fourth save of the

season.

Two weeks later, BC found itself clinging to a 1-0 lead in the fi nal

game of a series with ACC foe Virginia Tech, who had silenced the

maroon and gold lineup in the fi rst two games of the weekend bout.

Naturally, it called on Dunn in the ninth inning to seal the shutout

and send the Eagles home with something to show for their trip to

Blacksburg, Va.

Th e Hokies’ fi rst batter walked on fi ve pitches, placing the tying run-

ner on fi rst base with Virginia Tech’s cleanup hitter, Brendon Hayden,

set to step into the box. After Dunn missed with a fi rst-pitch ball, he

had to return to the zone and challenge the Hokie slugger. Hayden

made him pay.

Th e payoff pitch was hammered over the right fi eld fence and off

the scoreboard, sending Hayden into a trot around the diamond as BC

realized the implications of the two-run walk-off homer. Th ree consecu-

tive losses at the hands of Virginia Tech dropped the Eagles’ winning

percentage down to .500 for the season, and each loss seemed so easily

avoidable. All they needed were three outs.

Of course, Dunn can’t be blamed. His command briefl y escaped

him, and the count forced him to sling a strike over the plate to a great

hitter. Hayden took advantage of it. Sometimes, you just have to tip

your cap to the other team.

But Dunn couldn’t shake it off . After Gambino gave him nearly

two weeks to clear his head, Dunn surrendered three runs in four in-

nings of relief against No. 24 Notre Dame, allowing the Irish to break

open a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning and run away with the victory.

Previously thought to be a Sunday starter, Dunn was thrust

into the closer’s role without some of the mental toughness the job

requires. Now, after an off season of growth under Foster, Gam-

bino believes he is more than ready to embrace the hardest gig in

baseball.

“If you’re going to close, at some point you might give it up. Th en

how are you going to react after that?” Gambino said. “And Justin

has showed he can handle that, too. Justin’s matured a lot since he’s

been here in all facets: academically, emotionally, athletically.”

Gambino isn’t the only one who believes in Dunn. In fact, Dunn’s

biggest supporter might be the same one handing him the ball late

in the game.

“You’re sitting in the dugout like, ‘Th ose are my two runners. I

don’t want him to lose this game for the team,’” King said. “And you

hand it off to [Dunn] and you’re just like, ‘Whatever. He’s got it.’

Th ere’s so much trust with him. He’s had a lot more composure under

pressure, I know he’s gained that from freshman year until now.”

Perhaps it’s his teammates’ confi dence in his abilities that has

translated into Dunn’s own self-assurance on the fi eld.

As Dunn gets loose before an inning, he struts around the rubber

like his neighborhood corner, chain dangling, while opposing hitters

try to read his pitches. On the mound, he carelessly sags off to one

side before starting his violent leg kick.

“Basically, it’s too easy for him,” King said with a smile. “It comes

across as swagger, or even cockiness, but it’s just that confi dence that

he has that he knows his stuff is better than whoever’s hitting.”

So far in 2016, King and Dunn have already showed—al-

beit briefl y—fl ashes of the brilliance that’s expected out

of the junior pitching tandem this year.

As the Opening Day starter in Glendale, Ariz., for BC’s series with

Northern Illinois, King delivered seven innings of shutout ball, giv-

ing up only one hit en route to a 5-1 win. Th e next day, Dunn closed

out the second game of the series with a strikeout. In the team’s fi rst

weekend of action, King earned a win, Dunn notched a save, and the

Eagles left the desert with a 4-0 record under their belts.

Gambino and his staff

know that the success of King

and Dunn is absolutely vital if

the group wants to accom-

plish its goal of reaching

Omaha at season’s end for

the NCAA Tournament.

And both Gambino and

MLB scouts recognize that

the tools are there for

BC’s bookends.

But what about

Dunn’s Pedro Mar-

t inez compar i-

sons?

King, for

one, sees

the similar-

ities clear

a s d a y :

“Oh, big

time.”

But

Gambino?

“When Pe-

dro was Pedro,

all three of his

pitches were ar-

guably the best—he

had the best fastball,

the best curveball,

and the best changeup

in the big leagues,” he said. “I

love Justin, but he’s not there

yet.”

Yet.

FROM STARTRILEY OVEREND

ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR

MIKE KINGJUSTIN DUNN

TO FINISHThe bookends of BC’s pitching staff showed flashes

of brilliance last year. Can they put it all together

and send the Eagles to Omaha in May?

46 Strikeouts in only

47.1 innings pitched

last year

59

97

122.99

53

1

Saves in 2015, T-7th

on BC’s single-sea-

son record list

Innings pitched

without allowing a

run over a 6-game

stretch last April

MPH, rumored top

speed of his fastball

during the Cape Cod

Summer League

Walks allowed, T-1st

in the ACC

Career ERA, 2nd

all-time in school

history

Hits allowed last

season, T-4th in

ACC

Hits allowed in a

complete game

shutout of Georgia

Tech last AprilDREW HOO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016 3SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW NICK SCIORTINO

Out of all the bad things that

happened for Boston College

baseball on April 10, 2015, Nick

Sciortino’s error was probably the least memo-

rable.

After suff ering under the weight of 110.6

inches of snow, Shea Field had fi nally cleared

and dried enough to give baseball its home

ACC opener, three weeks overdue. Yet instead

of a cheery spring afternoon, it was a chilly,

windy day of baseball. And it didn’t get better

from there.

Friday night starter Mike King cruised

once through Clemson’s order at home before

the Tigers figured him out. Clemson then

scored in each successive inning, building up a

double-digit lead and crushing BC by a score

of 11-6. On a longer timeline, this was also the

day Chris Shaw, BC’s best bat last season, broke

his hamate bone and missed the next three

weeks of the season, a pivotal stretch during

which the Eagles were swept in back-to-back

weekends.

And then there was Sciortino’s day behind

the plate—arguably his worst of 2015. In the top

of the fourth, after back-to-back doubles and a

single had put a pair of runs on the board for

Clemson, Chase Pinder tried to steal second.

Sciortino came up throwing but sailed the ball

over the head of Blake Butera at second, allow-

ing Pinder to move on to third.

Th at was the error Nick Sciortino made in

2015. Th e only one.

And even then, King bailed out his battery

mate, striking out the man at the plate to strand

Pinder on third. It wasn’t often that Sciortino

needed to be bailed out last season. With his

cannon of an arm, Sciortino helped his pitchers

by throwing out 17 runners last season, tied

for fourth-most in the ACC, and another 17

down at Cape Cod this summer, which led the

league. No, more typically it was the other way

around.

Such as the very

next afternoon.

After taking the

thrashing Friday

night, BC handed

the ball to John

G o r m a n f o r

the second

game. Th e

senior

walked the leadoff man on eight pitches, then

gave up a seeing-eye single to right, placing

Clemson in a place to pick up right where it

left off .

Th at is, until Sciortino spotted Eli White

taking a hefty lead off second. Th e error he had

made the night before throwing to second didn’t

deter him. He relayed a sign to Johnny Adams

at short, and, on the next pitch, he fi red the ball

to second base, where Adams laid down the tag

before White could dive back safely. One out.

Just moments later, Steven Duggar took off

for second, daring Sciortino to make the 127-

foot throw again. Sciortino did. Two down.

Gorman still hadn’t quite settled in, surren-

dering a walk to the third man in the order. Th e

cleanup spot fell to Reed Rohlman, who had

smacked a pair of doubles on Friday. Instead

of trying to just throw a strike once the count

reached 3-2 and risk another blast to a gap,

Gorman trusted his catcher, hurling a ball in the

dirt for Rohlman to chase. He did, and Sciortino

handled it from there, hucking a throw down

to fi rst to end the inning.

By averting the potential crisis in the fi rst,

Sciortino helped his starter get through 5 1/3 on

a day he didn’t nearly have his best stuff . Th at lift

was just enough for BC’s off ense, which rallied

in the absence of Shaw to put up eight runs and

even the series. Even though the only off ensive

spark Sciortino provided that game was an

inconsequential base hit, he was as valuable

a part of the win as anyone else, as any starter

who knew Sciortino would say.

“It’s complete trust,” BC head coach Mike

Gambino said of his pitching staff and their

primary catcher. “Trust that he’s going to keep

them focused, and that he’s going to get them

through stuff .”

The staff has reason to trust him. The

sophomore, who started 43 of BC’s 65 games at

catcher last season, had 381 chances to make a

defensive play. Besides that one throw to sec-

ond that got away, he made all of the other

380, giving him a .997 fi elding percentage.

Th at was the best of any ACC fi elder with

at least 200 opportunities last season.

But he didn’t start out as one of the

top defensive catchers in the confer-

ence. At this point, Sciortino

can still say he has spent

the majority of his life at

shortstop.

Sciortino

started

i n L i t t l e

League as any kid does

in baseball, bouncing

around the diamond to

diff erent positions along

the way. When he was 11,

he saw his first regular

time behind the plate

for a travel team.

Yet long be-

fore the experience

proved enough for Sciortino to learn the fi ner

points of the role, coaches threw him back

to short, where they saw his strong arm and

good hands fitting best on the field. From

then on through his fi rst couple years at high

school, he stuck to the infi eld, excelling along

the way to become a star in his hometown of

Barrington, N.J.

By hitting .491 with a pair of homers his

sophomore year as the shortstop/second base-

man for Haddon Heights High School, he made

his way onto the radar of college coaches. On

perfectgame.org, Sciortino was ranked as the

18th-best prospect in New Jersey of the Class

of 2013—but still not as a catcher.

“I thought I was going to play college base-

ball as a middle infi elder,” Sciortino said.

As his stock rose, so did the attention paid

to him at competitive camps. But he wasn’t the

only one with the skill to make it to the next

level. His speed was the biggest problem—he

recorded a 7.26-second 60-yard dash his sopho-

more year in high school. Th at’s a time that can

be improved over the years, but anything over

seven is a disadvantage among the best of the

best competing in top-of-the-line camps.

Like, for example, Tri-State Arsenal, a top

camp situated in the Northeast that has sent

dozens of kids on to the next level, including

Mike Trout. Fortunately for Sciortino, a former

assistant coach for Virginia Tech also regularly

showed up at the camp over the winter: Mike

Gambino.

Sciortino was just 13 when BC baseball’s

current head coach fi rst met him. And Sciortino

made an early impression.

“I loved him even back then,” Gambino

said.

A former infi elder at BC and in the minor

leagues, Gambino had noticed Sciortino’s lack

of speed at the infi eld position that requires the

most quickness and athleticism. Yet, he had also

seen Sciortino’s other qualities: a strong arm,

quick hands, and a growing sense of leadership

on the diamond.

“So I start looking at that and I’m like, why

can’t he catch?” Gambino said.

Gambino spoke to Joe and Bob Barth, the

father-and-son combo that runs Arsenal, about

getting Sciortino behind the plate to catch a

bullpen session over the winter of his junior

year. Th ey liked it. With Sciortino’s high-school

mind and muscle memory fi rmly attuned to

the role of an infi elder, though, the results of

his catching reprisal weren’t quite what either

guy had in mind.

“He stunk,” Gambino said last week, laugh-

ing as he thought back on it. “I had a pretty

good relationship with him at that point, so he

came up and talked to me afterward and I’m

like, ‘Man, you stunk.’”

As a good-natured, confi dent kid, Sciortino

laughed along with him. Gambino wasn’t fi n-

ished, though. It took a little explaining about

where he was coming from, but Gambino even-

tually left it with Sciortino to keep working on

it, and he’d be back to check out his progress in

June after Sciortino’s high school season.

And then, he still stunk. But ...

“He was so much better,” Gambino recalled.

Suffi ciently better that the coach asked him

what he thought about fully committing to the

change. Sciortino said he was ready, and Gam-

bino recruited him to BC as a catcher.

Th at’s where the real learning began.

When Sciortino arrived at

Chestnut Hill in the fall of

2013, he was part of a trio of

players tasked to replace Matt Pare, a catcher

who served as captain, had the honor of wear-

ing No. 8 to honor Peter “Sonny” Nictakis,

and led the Eagles in batting average, slugging

percentage, on-base percentage, and RBIs

his senior year. Sciortino didn’t have time to

worry about leading the team in an off ensive

category—he just had to learn how to catch.

“Th ere are so many things that I thought

I knew, but I was fi ve steps behind,” Sciortino

said.

While Gambino had to focus on fi lling out

the rest of the Eagles’ lineup with guys who

could begin competing against the best college

pitching in the country, the main responsibility

of developing Sciortino fell to Scott Friedholm,

the pitching coach who came to BC with Gam-

bino in 2010.

Th e two started from scratch, fi rst re-teach-

ing Sciortino how to catch the ball as a catcher.

At that point, it was no longer about just making

sure the pitch ends up in the glove. Sometimes

it’s better to block it, sometimes it’s better to

tilt the glove a little bit to the right to nab the

corner, sometimes you need to start popping up

mid-pitch to gun a ball down to second base.

Sciortino had to learn it all, and he had to fi gure

out much of it on the fl y—in BC’s third game of

the year, senior Nate LaPointe suff ered a career-

ending knee injury, and Sciortino entered that

game to replace him.

For the rest of the year, he and sophomore

catcher Stephen Sauter split time behind the

plate, though Sciortino saw 10 more games

of action than his partner. As Gambino has

demonstrated numerous times over the past

fi ve years, he isn’t afraid to play less experienced

guys he feels will benefi t in the long-term.

Th at doesn’t mean it always worked per-

fectly. Sciortino hit just .179 during that fi rst

year, and four of his 12 hits that season all came

in the same game against Pittsburgh.

“He knew he wasn’t ready, and we knew

he wasn’t ready, but we were investing in

what we believed could be a special player,”

Gambino said.

Once Sciortino had the basics

down, the coaches were able to

push him further, getting more

specifi c exposure to the innumerable situations

that can arise. One catching drill they started to

do, for example, involved a play with dirt-ball

reads. A machine throws breaking balls in the

dirt, which the guys had to block. Th en, they

had to look the runner back at second, and

throw out the batter-runner out at fi rst.

“Scores’ freshman year, he didn’t know

that play existed,” Gambino said. “It was like

blowing his mind freshman year. But now he’s

built his database.”

As Sciortino progressed throughout the

season, he became more and more comfort-

able behind the plate, working countless hours

in practice to build up that database. Once he

entered his sophomore year with a new pitching

coach in Jim Foster, it didn’t take long for the

two to get on the same page.

“Nick is a sponge, he wants to get better

everyday, you can’t give him too much informa-

tion, he takes it all in and uses it to get better and

help us win games,” Foster said in an email.

Every guy up and down the staff likely owes

some part of his development over the past

season or two to an observation from Scior-

tino, gained either through watching them in

practice or in the hours of fi lm-watching and

meetings he takes part in prior to and during a

series. Now, for the fi rst time this year, he’ll get

the chance to pass that knowledge down the

next man in line.

Right now, that’s Gian Martellini, one of

the few position players in a pitching-heavy

freshman class this year. He’s the man Gambino

sees as his catcher of the future. While Sciortino

had to work his way through innumerable in-

game mistakes to reach the level he’s at today,

Martellini won’t be rushed. When he went into

practice a couple weeks ago and BC did that

dirt-ball read drill, he watched Sciortino and

Sauter handle the drill with ease. It was the fi rst

time he had ever seen it.

Now, Martellini can focus on hitting as a

designated hitter during the games this year

and more gradually build up his catching prow-

ess without the sacrifi ce of as much in-game

learning. Gambino also no longer has to make

the constant decisions about putting a guy out

on the diamond before his time has come. For

everything that Sciortino had to learn the hard

way, he can now pass it on to his mentee.

Sciortino isn’t the only example of this—Joe

Cronin has similar stories about that type of

improvement—but as the starting catcher,

and now also a captain this season, no other

player has the same capacity to infl uence his

peers, especially with that big crop of fresh-

man arms.

Even as he prepares to take on an even

bigger role this season, Sciortino isn’t worried

about being perfect. He can’t be: he already

made an error in BC’s opener against Northern

Illinois last Friday. Even though he’d like to keep

improving at the plate, his attention isn’t on

himself anymore.

“My main focus is helping these freshmen

get through,” Sciortino said. “I remember when

I was a freshman, walking into Miami. Wher-

ever we play, they’re going to have that same

feeling, so kind of slow them down a little bit.”

Th ere’s no one better to help get everyone

caught up.

ALL CAUGHT UP

Nick Sciortino may have

been a shortstop in high

school, but he has turned

into the ACC’s best

defensive catcher.

ALEC GREANEY

HEIGHTS EDITOR

MICHAEL SULLIVAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

.997 Fielding percentage in 2015 17 Runners thrown out at Cape

Cod, leading the league

Mike Gambino still isn’t so sure how it

happened.

Chris Shaw, arguably the best Bos-

ton College baseball player the program has ever seen,

had been complaining for a couple of days about the

fl eshy part of his right hand, around the wrist. He hadn’t

gotten hit by a pitch. No one had banged into him in the

outfi eld. And he certainly had behaved himself enough

off the fi eld to avoid any foolish actions.

In the opener of a three-game series against Clem-

son last season, whatever pain Shaw had been feeling

fi nally came to its breaking point. Th e right fi elder,

known more for his clout at the plate than his deftness

roaming the plains of Shea Field, crashed into the wall

while snagging a fl y ball off the bat of a Tiger. Not long

after, in the eighth inning of another blowout by a su-

perior Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, Gambino

pulled Shaw out of precaution.

X-rays that evening came back negative, but a hand

specialist the following Monday wouldn’t give Shaw

news he was hoping for:

Broken hamate, could be 3-6 weeks, if Shaw was

lucky.

It was the toughest blow that an Eagles team look-

ing to make a run at its fi rst playoff berth since 2010

could have faced. And yet, somehow, it was also BC’s

biggest blessing.

Of course, Gambino won’t ever admit that. Who

can blame him? Shaw was the 31st overall pick in the

2015 Major League Baseball Draft by the San Francisco

Giants. Despite missing 14 games because of that bro-

ken hamate, Shaw led the Eagles in home runs (11) and

RBIs (43) while batting .319 with a slugging percentage

of .611. Th is summer, as a 21-year-old playing for San

Francisco’s Single-A Affi liate, the Salem-Keizer Volca-

noes, Shaw hit .287/.360/.551, with 12 home runs and

30 RBIs in a mere 46 games. And when asked if it was

better for the program not to have Shaw clogging the

middle of his order, Gambino broke out in laughter.

“No, given the choice, I’d rather have Chris Shaw in

the lineup,” Gambino said in his offi ce last week.

But with Shaw forced to the pine, Gambino’s re-

cruiting prowess and coaching capabilities came alive.

And a plan in the works since he took over fi ve seasons

ago fi nally began to unfold.

It’s hard to add up the countless reasons why

Birdball struggles to keep up in the ACC. Given

BC’s stringent academic requirements, the

program rarely accepts junior college (JUCO) transfers.

It’s one of the only programs in the country in which

athletes must be interviewed by the admissions offi ce on

their offi cial visits, regardless of sport. Th ose rules don’t

apply to even the more academically notable colleges in

the conference, like defending champion Virginia.

Gambino can only grant 11.7 scholarships to fi ll up

his 35-man roster. Unlike football and men’s basketball,

these scholarships can be spread out across players. But

this also prevents Gambino from giving more than a

half scholarship to any one player. Th e money has to

be spread around to create a balanced unit.

Oh yeah, and then there’s the snow.

Balancing a proper schedule to give every team

ample space and time underneath the bubble over

Alumni Stadium is hard enough. But when the snow

piles on, like it did three seasons ago, it can collapse. In

2013, a lack of practice space left the Eagles unprepared

heading into a daunting ACC schedule, which resulted

in a 12-40 record. And it’ll still be a couple of years

before the new indoor practice facility is ready.

Even when practice time is over, Shea Field’s

natural grass is often unplayable. Gambino and the

ACC know this, frontloading BC’s schedule with

road games. Th e Eagles won’t take to the Pellagrini

Diamond until Mar. 15 against Holy Cross—they

won’t even open their ACC slate at home until Friday

Apr. 1 vs. Florida State.

But that’s assuming full cooperation from the

weather. Last year, BC was scheduled to begin at home

on Mar. 20. Because of last year’s record snowfall over

Boston, the Eagles were forced to move a series against

North Carolina State to nearby Northborough, Mass.,

and another against Duke to Newark, Del. Birdball

couldn’t even play at home until Apr. 8.

And still, BC was only a couple of wins away from

returning to the ACC Tournament and hosting a regional

on the path to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

How can that be?

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 20164 SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW BASEBALL THE HEIGHTSFEB. 25, 2016 5

ONE FINAL HURDLEMike Gambino’s recruiting plan has finally panned out. The only thing missing is a

trip to the postseason. This year is that year for Boston College baseball.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN

SPORTS EDITORC

orner infi elder Joe Cronin recalls coming

to BC four years ago as a shortstop. As a

freshman and sophomore, that’s where he

primarily played. But if you watched a practice, you’d

probably never guess that. As soon as Cronin would

settle in the 5.5 hole, Gambino would force him over to

third base. When he was done looking at him at third,

Gambino slid Cronin over to second. After he got his

reps over at second, he’d grab a new glove and go to fi rst.

Cronin didn’t like being shuffl ed around, at fi rst.

“I remember I’d say, ‘Well, Coach, I’m not a third

baseman, I’m not a second baseman, I’m a shortstop,”

Cronin said last week. “And he’d say, ‘Yeah, but, you

might be.’”

Cronin couldn’t be more grateful that Gambino

told him that.

It’s not a common practice to move infielders

around the diamond like that. Not only do high school

players learn to specialize in one sport, they often do at

a particular position. Barring injury, they’ll enter col-

lege and stay there. Th e idea is that, the more reps you

get at one spot, the better you develop. Even the most

advanced play becomes muscle memory.

Gambino doesn’t see it that way.

He started his baseball career in 1997 at BC as a

third baseman, but arm problems moved him over

to second. When Gambino signed with a farm team

in the Red Sox system following his senior season in

2000, he became a utility man. “Mostly because I wasn’t

good enough to beat out anyone else at any position,”

Gambino remembered, with a laugh.

He quickly realized, by moving around the infi eld,

that the four positions weren’t all that diff erent from

one another. In fact, Gambino discovered that learning

the intricacies of one spot made him better at the other

three. Figuring out where to place your feet on the bag

as a second baseman while turning a double play helps

you know as a shortstop where to feed the ball. Learning

how to make that 120-foot throw on a drag bunt from

third base will show you where to properly place your

feet at second or fi rst to get the out. By learning those

other positions, Gambino believes that an infi elder’s

defensive talent increases tenfold.

So, every day during fall practices, Gambino’s

infi elders will spend time at other positions. Th ey’ll

continually cycle around the diamond before slowly

cutting down their time as it gets closer to spring. Th e

results have made BC one of the nation’s better defen-

sive teams. Even Johnny Adams, one of the best fi elding

shortstops in the country and the man bestowed with

Gambino’s cherished No. 8 this season, believes he has

improved by playing elsewhere on the dirt.

No current player exhibits this more than Jake

Palomaki. Th e 5-foot-10 sophomore is built like a

second baseman, with quick feet but a below-average

arm. He was blocked at the position last year by four-

year starter Blake Butera. Instead of benching him for

lacking a position, Gambino taught Palomaki the art

of the hot corner. At third base, Palomaki developed

solidly while becoming an on-base machine at the top

of the order.

With Butera gone, Palomaki can return to second

base, taking everything he has learned from third to

help him at his natural position. According to Adams,

he has readjusted with ease. Th e two have created excel-

lent chemistry in the middle of the infi eld, and Gam-

bino is excited for his new double-play duo. After all, it

doesn’t take much to rotate around the diamond.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” Gambino

said.

His players certainly need that help when

they arrive at BC. It’s not through any

fault of their own. Little League and high

school ball is wildly diff erent from the college level, and

many players haven’t seen some of the plays that come

up in the heat of the ACC. Th e talent has always been

there, it’s just a matter of the execution.

Sometimes, that talent is even good enough to beat

a professional team. Almost, at least.

Gambino recalled BC’s exhibition game against the

Boston Red Sox. Th e Eagles gave the Sox as hard of a

fi ght as a college team could. In a dangerous situation

with runners on, his infi elders couldn’t connect on a

tailor-made double play, choosing a safe out at fi rst

instead. Th is put runners at second and third with one

out, instead of a runner at third with two out. Th e next

batter knocked in a run on an RBI groundout, before

the following one drove in two more with a single. Even

though that annual game may not count in the record

books, Gambino never lets his players forget it.

“I showed that to the boys, and they all blinked and

said ‘Oh my god, there it is,’” Gambino said. “And since

then, there’s been multiple times when that’s happened

and they always throw to the right base.”

Cronin’s personal development as a fi elder is a

testament to Gambino’s mission. Th e Eagles played

VCU on Opening Day and Cronin, a freshman, started

his fi rst career game at third. Th e Rams led BC 2-1

entering the bottom of the seventh, when they had a

runner at second and one man out. Landon Prentiss

rolled a slow ball up to Cronin at third, the type that a

more experienced fi elder would’ve eaten to allow the

runner to get on with a single while preventing the run

and keeping the double play intact.

Try telling a kid to hold the ball in his fi rst real

play at third.

He couldn’t set his feet and airmailed the throw

to fi rst, allowing a runner to score. VCU would add

another to put the game farther out of reach in what

became a 4-1 fi nal.

Weeks later, during the summer season, Cronin

texted Gambino saying he got a similar play. Th is one,

he patiently waited, set his feet, and nailed the man

at fi rst.

Th ose weren’t the types of plays that Gambino could

always practice with his guys. When Cronin came to

Chestnut Hill three years ago, Gambino needed to rely

on his freshmen to fi ll key roles in the starting lineup.

Keep in mind, jumping from high school to the college

game isn’t a smooth transition—even Shaw hit a measly

.165 in his freshman season. Because of that, Gambino

has had to spend his precious little practice time ham-

mering down the fundamentals. It’s a rut that he has

been desperate to get out of since he arrived in 2010.

So Gambino and his staff would have to sit down

his players after they screwed up in the fi eld. Instead of

telling them how to fi x it, they’d have to learn through

their own mistakes.

But those days are over for the Eagles. Th e roster

has turned over enough to a healthy amount of play-

ers in each grade—six seniors, seven juniors, nine

sophomores, and 11 freshmen—all of whom have been

recruited all the way through by Gambino’s staff . Th e

numbers are still swayed toward the underclassmen,

but with only three position players in the freshman

class—catcher Gian Martellini, infi elder Jake Alu, and

outfi elder Connor Bacon—and prepared starters at

each position, Gambino doesn’t feel any pressure to

throw any man out there before he’s ready. Even last

year, Gambino had to start freshmen in the fi eld, like

Palomaki and outfi elder Donovan Casey.

Now, Gambino has the time to work with his fresh-

men so that they can learn by messing up in practice

rather than in a game, when it actually matters. Th at

way, his team won’t just be old. It’ll stay old. Older guys

will be prepared from what they’ve been taught on the

sidelines. Newcomers will get the time to evolve. And

the cycle will keep rolling on.

“We were in kindergarten,” Gambino said, referring

to the previous several years. “Now, when most of our

team is past kindergarten, you can take the freshmen,

and develop them, and work on that stuff , and take the

older guys who are going to be on the fi eld more and

do higher-level stuff .”

Learning those other positions also helps

guys get into the lineup without being

restricted to a particular position. Th at

helps a batting order that had trouble when cen-

tered around Shaw last season. Pitchers could move

around Shaw, the lumbering man with the big bat in

the heart of the order. Th at put a strain on the men

behind him, especially Cronin, to be “the guy” in big

spots. When Shaw went down, Cronin felt even more

pressure to become a player he didn’t want to be.

Instead of the 5-foot-9 doubles man with a compact

swing, Cronin spent too much time watching Shaw

hit 500-foot bombs in batting practice. He knew he

had that type of home-run power—hell, he showed it

when he launched a ball over the Green Monster to

win the Beanpot over UMass last season. But it made

his swing too advanced, causing him to spiral into a

prolonged slump. By the time Gambino and Cronin

worked on it, it was too late—the Eagles were out

of playoff contention and Cronin went down with a

separated shoulder.

Th is time around, Cronin knows it’s not his respon-

sibility to be “the guy,” even though, by all accounts, a

senior captain probably should be. But playing in his

last season only helps him relax and realize he will do

better if he’s just along for the ride.

“I could have my worst season and we’ll still have

a great season,” Cronin said.

Why? Because there is no guy. Th e Eagles can keep

the line moving more than they ever could with Shaw.

When his hitters aren’t confi ned defensively, Gambino

can help them fi nd their way into the lineup. If his

plan works out the way it should, the Eagles’ order

should look dangerous from top to bottom. And it’ll

keep the pressure evenly on every player: No one will

be pitched around, but no one will be safe.

A quick look at the Opening Day box score

shows that. Th e top three—Palomaki, Adams, and

Strem—couldn’t manage a hit. But the bottom six

went 7-for-22 with all fi ve runs driven in for a 5-1

win over Northern Illinois. Th e big bat? Martellini,

the freshman who has found an early home at the

designated hitter slot.

BC’s Saturday starter, left-hander Jesse Adams,

harkened to Moneyball when thinking about how

excited he is about the lineup behind him. He believes

the Eagles have the same exact production as Shaw in

their order, just not with any one individual.

It’s not hard to see why. Th e Eagles return four

starting hitters—Strem, Palomaki, Casey, and Logan

Hoggarth—all of whom hit at least .289 last season.

Cronin, Adams, and catcher Nick Sciortino all have

had their own highlights at the plate, too—after all,

Adams was an All-Star in the Cape Cod League.

And, of course, Cronin won’t let anyone forget that

bomb at Fenway Park, which, as he remembers, was a

perfect representation of everything Gambino tries to

do when helping a hitter. In the weeks leading up to

the championship game, Gambino worked extensively

to simplify that swing. He kept telling Cronin to just

get the barrel down, don’t think, and let it fl y. Cronin

got that opportunity on a 1-0 pitch, a straight fastball,

middle-in, right in his wheelhouse. Just a quick stroke

to give the Eagles a lead they’d never relinquish.

“Yeah, there might’ve been a little jetstream up top

there, too,” Cronin said.

What’s forgotten, though, is that that

was the pivotal game in a 9-5 run

the Eagles had without Shaw. During

that time, BC stayed hot because of the strength of a

pitching staff that is now receiving praise from Base-ball America. Th at talent was magnifi ed in a three-

game series with a traditional powerhouse, Georgia

Tech. Staff ace Mike King tossed a 1-0 complete

game shutout in the Friday game, followed quickly by

former Eagle John Gorman’s dominant performance

in a 6-1 victory on ALS Awareness Day in honor of

former team captain, Pete Frates.

But none were more impressive than Jesse Adams,

this year’s Saturday starter. Th e crafty left-hander

consistently frustrated the Yellow Jackets in his fi rst

ACC start of the year, using his great high-arm slot

to trick batters while blowing past hitters early in

the count with a late hop on his fastball. When he

got them in a hole, Jesse would use a late-breaking

circle change. In a fl ash, Adams had rolled through 6

2/3 perfect innings. His only fl aw would be a double

by Matt Gonzalez, a friend of Adams since he was

15 years old. But it wouldn’t stop the Eagles in a

4-0 win that appeared to place them squarely in the

hunt for a return trip to the ACC Tournament in

Durham, N.C.

Th e good times didn’t last long.

BC entered North Carolina the weekend after

Georgia Tech and the Beanpot with every intention

of taking a stronghold of a postseason berth. But the

team, instead of keeping its composure, panicked.

With Palomaki on third, Butera on second, and

Strem on fi rst, the Eagles were down 1-0 in the top

of the ninth with two outs and Casey at the plate. Th e

freshman rolled a ball down the left side of the infi eld,

racing to fi rst. But a bang-bang play at fi rst didn’t turn

the Eagles’ way. A chance to ride that momentum and

take two-of-three from a tough divisional opponent

turned into a sweep. Th e following weekend, BC

was swept by Virginia Tech. All of the highs of those

great pitching performances were gone before Shaw

could even return to the lineup. Th ere was a lot to

blame, from injuries to key players to pressing and

trying to be perfect.

But what it taught the Eagles was invaluable. It

put the older guys in a position they had never been

before: competing for that playoff berth. Although it

didn’t turn out the way they planned, the experience

helped propel the younger guys into a new culture

in Chestnut Hill.

It’s one built on Gambino’s three core prin-

ciples: Character. Toughness. Class.

Character: It’s what wins. You recruit the

high-character guys, and have them buy into what

BC sells, both on and off the fi eld. You know, “cura

personalis,” the whole Jesuit thing. Gambino only

wants guys who love that idea that they’re going to

contribute to the community, not just to the team.

Toughness: Take the adversity head-on. Th ere are

a lot of reasons why BC can’t succeed. Cold, travel,

lack of facilities. But, in Gambino’s mind, that’s ex-

actly how his team can succeed.

Class: Take the character and represent it. A father

called Gambino to tell him that two of his players

spent 15 minutes talking to his 11-year-old son, even

signing autographs. What doesn’t matter is which

two players it was. Because, as Gambino believes,

if he has run his program properly, it could’ve been

any one of them.

The players he has recruited exemplify those

personality traits. He has the talent on the fi eld that

completes his vision: a strong pitching staff , sound

defensive skills, and a lineup balanced from top

to bottom. It’s the near-completion of a recruiting

cycle that should set the Eagles up to contend for

years to come.

But until his team returns to postseason play,

Gambino feels he has accomplished nothing.

“Are we better than we were and are we getting

better every year? Yes,” Gambino said, looking stern.

“Are we where we want to be? No.”

And there’s only one result that can make Gam-

bino satisfi ed.

“We want to be in Omaha.”

“I could have my worst

career year and we’ll still have a

great season.”

-Joe Cronin

JESSE ADAMS

JOE CRONIN

JOHNNY ADAMS

DREW HOO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

DANIELLA FASCIANO / HEIGHTS STAFF

MICHAEL SULLIVAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITORFormer Boston College baseball player Sonny Nictakis exemplifi ed every ideal qual-

ity that Mike Gambino looks for when he recruits. Despite battling cancer, Nictakis

never complained once in his fi ve years on the Heights. Th ere would be days when

Nictakis would wear a chemo pump on his body and be unable to sleep because of the

pain. Yet he’d never miss a day of practice. In his memory, Gambino and his players vote

on one player every season to wear Nictakis’ No. 8 jersey. Th is year, that honor goes

to shortstop Johnny Adams. When asked about why he was chosen, Adams couldn’t

think of a reason. But Gambino believes that only speaks more to his character.

“Th e fact that he wouldn’t answer why he’s wearing No. 8 is part of it,” Gambino

said.

Last year, corner infi elder Joe Cronin lost his stroke. Th e junior batted a mere .223—a

68-point drop from the previous season—with four home runs and 23 RBIs. Cronin at-

tributed that to trying to be “the guy” and pressing too much to try to be the power hitter

that he wasn’t. Mike Gambino simply blames him for taking too much batting practice

with Chris Shaw. Nevertheless, his teammates appreciated the leadership qualities Cronin

brings to the fi eld, electing him the team’s captain along with catcher Nick Sciortino.

Gambino believes that, with the captaincy, will come a rebound season.

“I’m telling you,” Gambino said, “Joe Cronin is going to have a great year.”

No one questions BC’s deepness in the lineup and its skill defensively. Th e Eagles have

a clear ace in Mike King and a lockdown closer in Justin Dunn. Where the team could see

trouble is in its rotation depth. Th at’s why left-handed starter Jesse Adams might be the

Eagles’ most important player in 2016. Adams started eight games and appeared in 19 to

the tune of a 3.05 ERA. He had a 2-3 record in 62 innings, striking out 70 batters while

only walking 26 and allowing a batting average of .205. If Adams can reclaim that magic

in his ACC starts, he’ll be a dominant force for the Eagles this season.

CRAFT

Y LE

FTY

COMEB

ACK C

APTAIN

NO. 8 FOR

SONNY

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 20166 SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW SARAH MANNELLY

How do you get on the campus

SnapStory?

It’s a question that every

member of the Boston College population has

asked, whether to her peers, God, or herself.

It’s a mystery that people have tried to solve

by dancing on tables, taking obscure study

breaks that also involve dancing on tables, or

attempting (and failing) to do something re-

motely musical. Best friend duos have planned

their toothbrushing time together to fi lm it

in front of a mirror. Students have prolonged

their nighttime studying to send from in a selfi e

in front of Gasson at obscenely late times, and

athletes have made sure to document their

walks to practice at obscenely early times.

Hardly anything seems to work.

So we’re left wondering, wracking our

brains with that daily question of what we

have to do or who we have to be to get on

that damn Story.

Th ere might be an answer to that second

question: be Sarah Mannelly.

I asked Mannelly how she ends up on the

BC SnapStory so often. She just looked up and

laughed shyly, saying that there was an ongoing

joke in the locker room that she actually ran it

and that’s how she got on so often: twice, three

times a day, which, to anyone wondering how

to get on once, is a ridiculous amount.

It’s unfortunate that SnapStories disap-

pear after 24 hours, because perhaps the best

way to get a grasp on Mannelly is to watch

those Stories. Th e extremely humble, slightly

soft-spoken Mannelly who sat down with me

was only a sliver of who she is. Th e rest is the

Mannelly who dances around the locker room,

leads silly team singalongs, and comes up with

stupidly funny jokes—that’s the Mannelly who

doesn’t just entertain the BC population for a

few seconds, but fuels her teammates’ daily

motivation, giving them both the energy and

drive they need to be a successful team and

program.

I knew Mannelly’s face when I came

to BC because I saw her almost every

day for two years during my freshman

and sophomore years of high school in New

Canaan, Conn. Say her name to anyone who

lives in my small town or works at New Canaan

High and he or she will know exactly who you’re

talking about. Forget that she was an outstand-

ing three-season athlete, which landed her

name in many local headlines. She simply had a

personality that made her well-known. She was

funny, loud, and liked by everyone. Mannelly

was the kind of person that you not only knew

of, but wanted to get to know better. Th ere are

certain hometown, high school legends, and

Sarah Mannelly was one of them.

I have one particularly vivid memory of

Mannelly, and it involves a cape, a tricycle,

and a microphone.

New Canaan High, per tradition, has a fall

pep rally that falls at the end of Spirit Week in

early October. It’s the last event of the week-

long spirit-fest, right before the Homecoming

football game. Th e goal is to get the student

body’s school pride to its highest point.

Th e key to a successful pep rally, however,

is not the students in the stands, or the sports

teams that perform dances for the rest of the

school, or the announcement of the Home-

coming King and Queen. What makes a good

pep rally are the emcees of the event: two

students, a boy and a girl, are selected every

year to be the hypemen for the day. Th ey alone

are responsible for bringing everyone together

by putting on a show.

So on a Friday in October 2011, Mannelly

tied on her cape, got on her tricycle, and rode

on into the school gymnasium with 1,200

students waiting for her grand entrance.

Captain Sarah Mannelly is all seriousness on the field, but she and

her team will be laughing their way to a championship trophy.

KEATON McAULIFFE

HEIGHTS EDITOR

Th is kind of ridiculousness wasn’t uncom-

mon for Mannelly—it was what everyone

knew her for. While her specifi c, individual

actions were always unexpected, her comedic

personality was not. Th ose who watched her

and her emcee counterpart that day knew they

were getting a show, but they didn’t know that

they would be getting one that out-did any of

the others in previous years. Mannelly said that

herself before she went onto the pep rally stage,

telling the NCHS Courant that she wanted to

force energy out of the entire student body in

a way no one else had done before. And she

did. To this day, when I remember the NCHS

pep rally emcees, my mind goes straight to

Mannelly.

What made her such a high

school legend is the same

thing that makes her a staple

on the lacrosse team. Athletic ability aside, she

brings a character to the team that serves as

motivation not just during games and on the

fi eld, but before and during practice, which

can be awful. Since lacrosse is a heavy run-

ning sport, it requires a lot of practice doing

laps—with that comes even more motivation.

Training can be brutal, practices can be brutal.

And the team’s mood before one of those

practices can defi nitely be brutal. Th is is where

Mannelly comes in.

Mannelly has created the team mental-

ity that any tough conditioning is just like a

run with your friends. Her mantra alleviates

that feeling of impending pain that comes

with knowing a hard workout is coming—it

becomes nothing more than a good time,

hanging out with your pals. She makes it seem

easy, maybe even enjoyable. It lightens the

mood before training and keeps the team in a

good mental place.

“You never dread coming to practice,” said

Kate Weeks, one of Mannelly’s best friends on

the team. “She’s basically the light of the locker

room. She just makes it better, she helps us

love it even more.”

Thanks to the SnapStory, we can see

glimpses of this, but Mannelly says that a lot

of the locker room shenanigans aren’t caught

on camera. Some of the best memories that

she has made with the team, she said, have

been the bus rides or airport trips. Th ese are

the times when the team lets loose, the “team

clown,” as head coach Acacia Walker likes to

call Mannelly, starting it all.

“I think everyone just feels comfortable

with one another, being able to be goofy and

whatnot,” Mannelly said. “Everyone’s very

funny and loud so I think seeing me do the

goofy things I do makes everyone else feel

comfortable to follow and be themselves and

laugh at everyone.”

Setting examples. Th at’s how Man-

nelly fulfi lls her leadership role on

the team, whether that means being

the fi rst to break the ice in the locker room by

cracking a joke, or performing on the fi eld in

the way that she did in the team’s fi nal game of

last year, against Loyola Maryland during the

second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

It was also the game that would leave Mannelly

with the most serious injury of her career.

Th e game wasn’t going well for the Eagles.

At the half, the women had scored just two

goals, and were down by six. After Loyola’s

fi nal goal before the end of the fi rst period, you

could tell that Mannelly was fed up.

But she wasn’t just fed up, she was fi red up.

She circled away from the Hounds’ celebration

at the Eagles’ net, took a moment to remove

her mouth guard, and then immediately

looked for her team. She never showed any

indication of defeat. Instead, her face read pure

determination. She was ready to go.

And so she did. Mannelly sprinted, cutting

between three defenders and crossing the goal,

angling the ball into the back of the net. Mo-

ments later, she was weaving in and out of the

Hounds once again, traversing the circle with

short, instinctive steps, and spinning to avoid

defenders. She found her opening and tricked

out the keeper by bouncing the ball into the

goal. In a matter of minutes, Mannelly scored

three goals to bring the Eagles’ back within

range of advancing to the next round of the

tournament.

Th e team lost that range, however, and it

lost Mannelly. Th e game went on to end with

Loyola advancing to the next round, 19-12,

and with Mannelly benched to end the season

with a torn ACL.

“Before she got hurt, we were on the road

up because she showed us that we weren’t

done with that game,” Weeks said. “We were

in it because Sarah Mannelly was geared up

and ready to go.”

But regardless of either outcome, the game

sticks out in Weeks’ mind as one of Mannelly’s

most admirable. Despite the eventual loss, it

was Mannelly who made the team get back

on track in the second half, because seeing

her turn it up a notch inspired the rest of the

team to do the same. Even when she was forced

to the sidelines, she tried to keep morale and

incentive high.

And if Mannelly is geared up and ready to

go, the rest of the team is, too. While Man-

nelly was sidelined with an injury that had the

potential to take her out for months, Weeks

remembers her trying to keep her teammates’

heads in the game. She never cried, never

showed pain, and instead kept telling her team

it had to still be in it to win it, just like she was

still in it herself.

Th is is why Weeks calls Mannelly relent-

less.

Even in practice, Mannelly keeps up the

same energy and shows the same strength.

She’ll have two turnovers, Weeks said, and

then she’ll immediately follow those up with

three “phenomenal” plays. She doesn’t let

mistakes get to her. Instead, she simply acts

by another mantra of hers: just let it go. If she

messes up, her teammates see her make up

for it immediately. Mannelly is able to turn her

game around as if the mistake never happened.

She doesn’t quit.

“It’s because of what she does that makes

everyone else want to do the same,” Weeks

said. “It makes us play up to her level and get

to that extra gear.”

If Mannelly fi ghts, then the rest of the team

wants to fi ght, too. Her relentlessness inspires

FUNNY BUSINESS

the whole team to do and be the same.

And that’s exactly what she wants.

Because as much as Mannelly

is relentless, she’s also selfl ess,

Walker said.

Walker has witnessed this fi rsthand many

times in her career with Mannelly. She recalled

a specifi c play, in last year’s game against UNC.

One of Mannelly’s teammates, a steady player

according to Walker, had a couple of turnovers

in the game. After one of them, Mannelly took

notice and took action.

Walker described how she watched Mannel-

ly chase down the North Carolina girl who had

forced the BC turnover. She ran a full fi eld-length

of 100 yards back to the defensive end, checked

the UNC player, and forced a turnover of her

own to regain possession. She then sprinted back

down the fi eld, avoiding every UNC defender

to rapidly cover the distance between herself

and the UNC goal. But instead of going for the

points, Mannelly found her teammate who had

turned it over. Mannelly gave the ball right back

to her and she scored.

Walker calls this her favorite play of all

time. It’s for reasons like this, she says, that

Mannelly’s teammates love her.

“She has the team goals in mind before any

individual success,” Walker said. “She would

any day rather make somebody else look good

than make herself look good.”

Plays like this one solidify Mannelly’s

leadership and justify her role as a captain. Th e

combination of relentlessness and selfl essness

makes for a leader who goes out of her way to

elevate her team. She raises herself to a higher

standard in the process. Th is is what makes

Mannelly such a good player: she focuses on

her teammates and their success more than

her own.

“Her teammates love her,” Walker said.

“And they play hard for her.”

She even devoted her Tewaaraton Award

fi nalist achievement to her team, defl ecting

the personal successes that got her to be the

fi rst Eagle nominated for women’s lacrosse’s

highest honor.

“It was an honor to be represented and

have my name on it,” Mannelly said. “But I

think ultimately it was just a testament to the

team’s season and the success that we had. I

think we’re all happy to share that honor.”

And she may get to share the honor again

this year since she, along with teammates

Caroline Margolis and Kenzie Kent, is on the

Tewaaraton Award watchlist for this upcom-

ing season.

In which case, keep an eye out for Mannelly

on the BC SnapStory. In between her pre-prac-

tice locker room entertainment and her runs

with friends, she may just have her teammates

help her hold up a trophy or two.

“She’s basically the light of

the locker room.”

-Kate Weeks

181CAREER POINTS

1STEAGLE TO

BE NAMED A

TEWAARATON

FINALIST

2TIME

US LACROSSE

ALL-AMERICAN

50GOALS ON THE

2015 SEASON;

TIED FOR

TEAM-HIGH

NO. 6

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016 7SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW CAROLINE MARGOLIS

In 2007, something didn’t feel right

for Caroline Margolis.

Th e North Carolina native was

in the seventh grade at the time. She had

two brothers and one sister, and they were

all competitive. So Margolis funneled that

familial nature into soccer.

But by the time eighth grade rolled

around that fall, soccer didn’t hold the

same charm anymore. Something about

it just wasn’t clicking, and she was pretty

tired of playing it. So when her best friend

approached her and asked about lacrosse,

Margolis decided to give it a try. It wasn’t

the thrill of the sport that initially tempted

her, but the opportunity to play with friends.

She joined her best friend’s team and began

her lacrosse career.

Lacrosse ran in the Margolis family, as

Margolis’ older sister Hillary started play-

ing the sport in middle school. According

to Hillary, it wasn’t smooth sailing from

the get-go. Her fi rst memory of Margolis

and lacrosse is at the beach, when the two

of them bought plastic sticks so that they

could practice. Th en, neither showed any

signs of brilliance.

Even so, no one ever doubted that Mar-

golis would become a good lacrosse player.

Not just good, but Division I good. Th ere

was never any question, because she gave

110 percent at everything she did.

She was competitive and driven, a natu-

rally gifted athlete who would never stop

striving to improve. And when Margolis

mastered the basic skills, she began to excel,

both at the high school and travel levels.

Eventually, she would become one of the

ACC’s most versatile and driven players,

making her mark on the conference and

gathering accolades throughout her fi rst

three years in college.

Th e only thing left was a national cham-

pionship.

In high school, Margolis continued to

balance schoolwork and sports as she

played fi eld hockey and lacrosse—as

a midfi elder—for her high school team. She

served as lacrosse captain for her junior and

senior seasons, capturing the state title in 2012.

As a sophomore, Margolis joined the travel

club Carolina Fever to hone her skills in a more

competitive environment. Margolis’ coach at

the time, Katy O’Mara, was impressed with

her from the start.

O’Mara praised Margolis’ drive, determi-

nation, and focus. She considers her the best

player she has ever worked with at handling

constructive criticism. Indeed, according to

O’Mara, Margolis sought it out. She priori-

tized lacrosse and strove to improve, always

seeking advice on areas she could develop in

order to transform into a truly elite lacrosse

player.

Hillary says she realized that Margolis

would be playing college lacrosse about half-

way through high school, after the two sisters

had attended recruiting camps and discussed

the possibility of playing at a higher level with

coaches and their family. Caroline worked

hard and did everything possible to maximize

her exposure to college coaches, including

playing at tournaments and showcases, as

well as working at lacrosse camps and teach-

ing younger players the game. Th ough both

sisters played lacrosse, Margolis was much

more serious about taking it to the next level,

according to Hillary.

Th is determination paid off when she com-

mitted to play at BC. Her arrival in Chestnut

Hill in 2012 coincided with a turning point

for the school’s lacrosse program. For more

than 10 years, BC had either fi nished with a

losing record or hovered right around .500.

Th e Eagles were trying to make the transition

into an ACC powerhouse led by a new coach,

Acacia Walker, and a promising group of un-

derclassmen. Walker played college lacrosse

at Maryland and coached at Northwestern

during the Wildcats’ three consecutive na-

tional titles. When she accepted the job at BC,

Walker aimed to cultivate a winning program

just like she did at Northwestern. O’Mara said

Margolis was excited about the change and

enthusiastic to rise to the challenge of Division

I college lacrosse.

Beginning with her freshman campaign

in spring 2013, Margolis made her mark.

Over the course of the season, she scored six

goals, including her fi rst two collegiate goals

in an ACC victory over Virginia Tech. Her two

assists both came in a win against Canisius

College. The Eagles went 12-8 in 2013—a

respectable record, but better times were just

ahead for the team.

Over the next two years, BC became a

dominant member of the ACC while Margolis

stepped up and assumed a leadership role for

the team. 2014’s 16-5 record marked a key

transition for the Eagles, as they became a

legitimate conference threat. Th at season saw

key regular-season victories against Notre

Dame and Duke, among others. Margolis

added two goals in the victory over the Fight-

ing Irish. Th e Eagles also suff ered close losses

to historically dominant teams, like Syracuse,

Maryland, and North Carolina, all by two goals

or fewer. Th e season ended in May when the

Orange defeated BC in a close NCAA quarter-

fi nal game, 11-9—the same score as the team’s

regular-season matchup.

Th e 15-4 2015 season was paced by vic-

tories over Syracuse, Louisville, and UNC.

Margolis contributed one goal in the thrilling

10-9 victory over the Orange, three goals in

the overtime 16-15 win against the Cardinals,

and one goal in BC’s 10-9 overtime victory

against her home state’s Tar Heels. Th ough

the Eagles continued to emerge as one of the

ACC’s most competitive teams, they exited

the NCAA Tournament earlier than in 2014

with a crushing second-round loss to Loyola JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

TROPHYDREAMS

University Maryland.

BC’s goal for the past few years was simple:

bring the hardware home to Chestnut Hill

with a national championship victory. Th e

talent is there, and the drive is there, and the

heart is there, but it just hasn’t happened yet

for Walker’s Eagles. Now, Margolis is bringing

her skill and competitiveness to the fi eld every

game to ensure that this is the year for BC to

fi nally win it all.

“Knowing Caroline,” O’Mara said in an

email, “I would have to guess she wants noth-

ing more than for her team to be the last one

standing come May.”

Walker is full of praise for Mar-

golis. She complimented her

versatility on the fi eld and

far-reaching impact for the team.

Margolis will rise to any challenge Walker

gives her. She excels at the tasks she is given,

whether it’s playing shutdown defense, con-

trolling the middle of the fi eld, or pacing the

off ense with assists and goals.

Th e stat sheet certainly supports this. As a

midfi elder, Margolis has to be all over the fi eld

and prepared to run for 60 minutes straight. As

a result, she makes an impact both off ensively

and defensively for the Eagles. Her lacrosse

IQ—according to Walker, it’s “off the charts,”

and Margolis herself feels it is her biggest

strength—has created a multitude of scoring

opportunities for the past three years. Earlier

this season, she notched her 100th career

point as an Eagle during a 19-6 victory over

Holy Cross. She earned the record after her

fi rst of three points in the decisive win over

the Crusaders.

So with a naturally competitive approach

to the sport, a high lacrosse IQ, and consider-

able talent, it’s a no-brainer that Margolis is

serving as one of BC’s captains this year. Every-

one who knows her agrees that she’s a natural

leader. She brings her competitive nature to

the fi eld every day—regardless of whether it’s

just a regular practice or an all-important game

against Syracuse—and she always has.

The example Margolis set for other

Carolina Fever players still resonates to this

day. O’Mara said that current players in the

program still talk about her, four years after

she graduated from the team.

“[Th e players] still look up to her,” she

said. “She set an example for us. Without

ever being asked to be a standard-bearer, she

always was.”

2016 is Margolis’ last chance to bring a

NCAA Championship trophy home to BC.

She’s had an incredible career with the Eagles.

Leading the team to victory in the national

championship will ensure that she’ll be im-

mortalized here on the Heights, just like she

is in the Carolina Fever program.

And she wants it bad.

This year, an Inside Lacrosse pre-

season poll ranked Margolis as

a Second Team All-American.

Th is is just the latest in a long list of accolades

she has accumulated throughout her lacrosse

career. In high school she was twice named

All-American, to go along with the numerous

awards given by her athletic conference as well

as newspapers. In addition, the Intercollegiate

Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association voted

her as a Second Team Northeast Region player

last year. If these accolades aren’t enough, Mar-

golis and teammate Sarah Mannelly are on the

Tewaaraton Award watch list for 2016.

Th e awards may be nice, but Hillary says

they are not all-important to her sister.

“I think Caroline is mainly a self-motiva-

tor,” she said. “She won’t settle for anything less

than her personal best.”

But there is one award that would excite

anyone, and Margolis is no exception. Th e

thought of winning the national championship

is her biggest motivation this season, and it

pushes her to perform her very best in every

practice and game.

Back in 2007, when Margolis fi rst started

playing lacrosse, it was far-fetched to think

that one day she would be a national cham-

pion. She took up the sport at the request of

her best friend. Th e beginning of her lacrosse

career—passing on the beach with her sis-

ter—didn’t show any particular promise. But

in the years since, Margolis has excelled. She

has passed through Ravenscroft and Carolina

Fever to leave an admirable legacy behind in

North Carolina. She has made her impact

on the Eagles. Now, as a senior, she has a few

goals in mind. She wants that rematch with

Syracuse. She defi nitely wants a rematch with

North Carolina.

She wants a national championship.

Caroline Margolis is versatile and

dangerous. All she’s missing is a trophy.

ANNABEL STEELE

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS ARCHIVE

624163

2264

Career goals

Career assists

Career ground

balls

Career caused

turnovers

Career draw

controls

GRACE TOURVILLE / THE OBSERVER

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 20168 SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW SOFTBALL

I see us going to Regionals.Tatiana Cortez’ words garnered the nods of her two

teammates, Annie Murphy and Allyson Frei, and head coach Ashley Obrest. Th ese four members of Boston College softball believed this prediction to its very core, and it was going to be the driving force behind the season. Frei echoed the statement, saying that the tough schedule of the season would better prepare them for what lies ahead in postseason play. Th ey spoke succinctly, both displaying determination in the matter-of-factness of their words.

Th e way they all looked, sitting at the table and talking about it, it was like they were staring down Virginia Tech and Florida State right then and there. Th ey might as well have been wearing their uniforms.

Th is season, there would be no disappointing 6-16 conference record. No dismal bubble was going to bring the team down this time (even though sometimes, it really does come down).

Th is season, there are a few tournaments to win.But fi rst, it’s important to know where these Eagles are com-

ing from.

BC softball’s most recent bid for NCAA Regionals was in 2003, when the Eagles still played ball against Big East teams. Th e seasons when the team clinched a spot

in Regionals saw it winning more than 35 games and dominating conference play.

Once 2006 came around and the fi rst season in the ACC com-menced, BC was expected to perform at a new level. Th ere have been seven losing seasons since the switch to the ACC, with the worst and most recent in 2013, when the Eagles went 14-38. Th at was the same year that the bubble, which covers Alumni Stadium for spring sports to practice, collapsed under the weight of the snow piled on the top. With no place to continue their training, the Eagles had to travel to neighboring areas, often practicing late into the night and travelling back to campus even later. It’s no surprise that the program faltered under those circumstances.

BC’s most recent season ended with a 27-24 record, along with the aforementioned 6-16 conference performance. There was no regionals in sight—the Eagles would lose their fi nal game in the ACC Quarterfi nals against Florida State, a team that went 20-3 in the conference and put up a good fight in the NCAA Super Regional round.

Obrest, with the rest of the team behind her, wants this year to be different. With five new Eagles joining the team, a tough sched-ule early on in the sea-son, and revitalized hitting, she wants to take the girls to where they have never gone be-fore—at least not in the ACC. She believes she has the tools to do so.

There are fi ve freshmen donning uniforms for BC this season, and,

when added to the six sophomores already on the team, the 18-player roster is heavily stacked to the

The Eagles want to make it to Regionals. Fresh blood, a challenging schedule, and more consistent hitting will make it happen.

BABY STEPS

SHANNON KELLY

HEIGHTS EDITORyounger side. Th e most impressive of the new recruits include Carly Severini and Loren “Lexie” DiEmmanuele. Severini is a power hitter who has already earned her fi rst double in collegiate play and demonstrates the potential to put runs on the board. DiEmmanuele, with a .355 batting average over her fi rst 10 games, displays the type of consistent hitting that Obrest needs. Th e fi ve steals she has earned show a speed that the team needs to make hits count, as well as a deft understanding of being a part of an aggressive off ense.

But the infl ux of new additions also proves a paradox. Last season, 12 of the 17 players on the roster were freshmen and sophomores, and Obrest explained that the source of the last year’s problems was youth. Her concern about the lack of experience in last season’s freshmen, however, does not seem to carry over into this one, and looks upon the youngest on the team as extra options when in a bind. Th e fact that DiEmmanuele has started in nine of her 10 appearances shows that she may not be an extra option, but rather, an already integral part of the team.

BC softball of 2015 saw a .250 batting average, and its combined opponents’ average was .262. By comparison, Florida State, the ACC’s best in regular-season play, had an average of .289.

Th e diff erence is huge. In it lies a 49-14 season, an automatic bid to the fi rst round of the College World Series, a trip to Regionals.

Obrest knew going into the season that the hitting would have to change. Last season, the team was plagued by failure to use hitting to its advantage, particularly when a player couldn’t come up with the hit needed to bring a runner in. Th e failure to use situational hitting left runs unscored and games lost.

Ten games, including the ACC Quarterfi nal against Florida State, came down to a one- or two-run defi cit to tie it up. Obrest wanted to not only fi x the situational hitting, but also up the consistency of the hitters. She has combatted this by putting the team through more live hitting and instilling a positive outlook for when at-bats have not come as easily.

“Hitting’s contagious, too, so even if kids are stringing their good at-bats but not necessarily getting on base it gives the next person some confi dence,” Obrest said.

Th e freshmen also have Murphy and Cortez to look up to, two of the strongest hitters on the team from last season. Murphy led the team with .310, and Cortez was right behind her with .304. If you want to learn about consistency, just look to them. Th ey combined for 66 RBIs, so they know how to keep players from getting stranded on second or third. Th ey make

runs happen.

Th ough Cortez has struggled so far this season—her average is one of the lowest at .130—Murphy has picked right back up with .310, contribut-ing heavily to the Eagles’ uptick in their average, with the team’s collective batting average at .255. Th e biggest contributors are freshman Allyson Moore, who has an average of .400, and sophomore Chloe Sharabba with an average of .379. To have the best bats come from younger players confi rms Obrest’s idea that this season, there is no problem with youth. Th ese players have already developed enough in preseason to be prolifi c contributions to the team.

The Eagles have already played 10 games in two tournaments to start the season, and their 4-6 record so far is unconvinc-ing. Frei, who was especially looking forward to matchups

with Maryland and University of Oregon, faced a 9-1 victory against the former and a 4-0 loss against the latter. Despite playing in the Big Ten, Maryland is fairly comparable to BC, so the win displays a preparedness to dominate for in-conference games.

Oregon, on the other hand, fi nds itself in the Pac-12, the most domi-nant conference in the Women’s College World Series, with 24 of the 33 total World Series won by a member of the Pac-12. Th e last four World Series, however, have been dominated by SEC teams, which displays a downturn for Pac-12 teams. BC’s loss against Oregon was not by a large margin, so it has the potential to play up to snuff against teams in the NCAA Tournament.

With their home fi eld too wet to play on, the Eagles will have to travel for the fi rst part of the season. Th eir home opener won’t happen until Mar. 23, over a month into the season. It’s a long time to be missing home-fi eld advantage and to lack the comfort of familiarity on the diamond. Th e fi rst ACC games, against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, come one after the other. Before that, BC will get used to playing teams in the SEC, including Auburn, which made it to the College World Series last season.

Frontloading a schedule with heavy-hitting opponents is an interesting strategy. With scheduling as the one thing she can control, Obrest believes that the move will force the girls into better habits, and by seeing the level of play that dominant squads present, will up their own game. Based on the smattering that the Eagles have already faced so far, this may backfi re on them. But once they slip into ACC play, Obrest may get the reaction she was hoping for.

Murphy said it best: “Our schedule’s tough, but I think this team this year is tough, too.”

The path to Regionals is a long one,

and the beginning step has two roads. Th e Eagles

can either win the ACC Tournament so that they

receive an automatic bid, or they can be selected by

committee. From there, there are two rounds until Regional finals, during which they will face tough opponents, most likely including Fordham and James Madison.

Competition like that should be taken seriously. But

this year, BC isn’t a team that’s going to take

things lying down. After a 12-year drought, the Eagles

want to get to Regionals. Why not the World Series? Why not

win the whole damn thing?Th ey say the journey of 1,000

miles begins with a single step. Baby steps.

EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

The Heights Spring Sports Preview

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