Michael Close, a 2000 graduate of Stonehill College, was a standout two sport athlete with the baseball and ice hockey programs. He was a four-time All-Northeast-10 performer over the course of his record setting baseball career at Stonehill, earning first team honors as a sophomore and senior.
Close holds nearly every offensive record in Stonehill baseball history as the rightfielder was a career .379 hitter with a then New England Division II record 258 hits in a school-record 177 games played over his four seasons. He belted a school-record 63 doubles and 44 home runs for a record 210 runs batted in to go with a program-record 201 runs scored and 51 stolen bases. Close was named the NE-10 Freshman of the Year in 1997 and then followed that up with a sophomore season in which he hit .432 with a program-record 13 home runs and a then record 61 RBI. He hit .379 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI his junior season with a school-record 58 runs scored. Close capped his career by leading the baseball team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI. Stonehill won its second-straight NE-10 regular season championship and went on to win the NE-10 Tournament for the second time in program history.
During the winter months, Close was a defenseman on the Stonehill ice hockey team, playing 76 games over his career. The two-year captain finished his career with 57 points, including a career-best 23 points his junior season on 12 goals and 11 assists to lead Stonehill to its first winning season in five years with a 12-9-1 record. He capped his career with six goals and a career-high 14 assists for 20 points his senior season.
