"Stonehill baseball team searching for consistency"
By Jim
Fenton
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
The Stonehill College baseball team returned home from Florida with a 2-5 record, then went on a five-game winning streak.
That was followed by a four-game losing streak before the Skyhawks won four of their next six games.
“We’ve been a little streaky,’’ said Stonehill coach Patrick Boen. “We lost a couple of close games in Florida, then we played well right away when we came home and then we lost four straight to Merrimack.’’
The Skyhawks (11-11, 6-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference) are hoping to get some consistency going in their final 20 games in order to grab one of the six spots in the NE-10 tournament in May.
Stonehill returns to action on Saturday at noon by hosting Assumption College in a doubleheader.
The Skyhawks are batting .294 in the wooden-bat NE-10, but their lack of timely hitting has cost Stonehill some games.
“Our average is pretty good for a wooden-bat league,’’ said Boen, “but, unfortunately, we’re just not getting the key hits when we need them. Every game is a close game in our league, so you need those key hits.’’
Leading the offense is first baseman Angelo Bruno with seven home runs, 21 RBI and a .346 average.
Bruno was named the NE-10 player of the week after going 6-for-15
with three homers and seven RBI in four games.
Rich McHugh of Pembroke has the top average (.407 with five doubles and 11 RBI). McHugh, a Thayer Academy graduate and a transfer from Southern Connecticut, is a catcher and DH.
Leadoff batter and second baseman Mitch Davis (.353 with 14 RBI), right fielder Shane Franz (.314) and shortstop Brendan Shepard (.300) join Bruno and McHugh as the top hitters.
The remainder of the lineup includes third baseman Scott Hackett, catcher-DH Ryan Healey, left fielder Matt Skane and center fielders Michael Magnussen of Carver, a Coyle-Cassidy graduate who is hitting .290 in 12 games, and Rob Von Stein.
Junior Alex McCormack, a Cardinal Spellman High graduate, leads the pitching staff with a 1.73 earned run average in four games, including three starts. McCormack (2-2) has 25 strikeouts and no walks in 26 innings and has allowed just three extra-base hits.
“He’s really made the most of his first time in a starting role,’’ said Boen. “To have no walks in 26 innings is something. He’s just throwing strikes and challenging hitters.’’
Bryan Galligan of Brockton, a transfer from Franklin Pierce, is 1-0 in four starts.
“He throws hard and has a good breaking ball,’’ said Boen. “He had a year off after not pitching last year, and he’s starting to get back into some consistency.’’
The other starters include Matt Olsen and Eric Haughn of Pembroke, who each have a win, and Michael White, who is 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA.
Shepard doubles as Stonehill’s closer and is 2-0 in five appearances, allowing no runs and two hits in six innings. The bullpen also includes Michael Von Stein (1-1), Joe Santa Barbara, Dan Corrigan and Shane Penzone.
“Overall, the pitching has been pretty good for us,’’ said Boen.
The additions of New Haven and Adelphi the past two seasons has made the already-tough NE-10 a more difficult conference.
“The league is very powerful,’’ said Boen. “It’s one of the top Div. 2 conferences in the country.’’
