Matt Curley Named Patriot League Player of the Week
Patriot League Baseball Player of the Week (Feb. 22-28)
Matthew Curley, Navy Sr., IF, Boston, Mass.
Curley posted a .500 batting average during a 3-1 week for the Mids, notching
multiple hits, runs and RBIs in each of the victories. He started off by
going 3-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs scored in a 12-10 victory over
Maryland-Eastern Shore in the home opener on?Wednesday. Curley had two
big games as Navy won two of three against service academy rival Air Force
over the weekend. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs in
a 17-5 victory on Friday, and batted a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs and
two RBIs in a 10-9, 11-inning triumph on Sunday. The hit total was a career
high, and Curley reached base safely in all six plate appearances in the
game. Curley wins his first Player of the Week award.
Maitland part of Texas team in World Series
June 2009 - SSBC members have a rooting interest in this year’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Texas reserve outfielder, freshman Tim Maitland, played in SSBC’s popular “Rookie League” years ago. His older brother, Ben, was a SSBC member and a Seadog before going on to star for Auburn. He played minor league baseball two years for the Forth Worth Cats. The Maitland family moved to the Dallas area several years ago.
Tim has played in 58 games, starting three, the 48-14-1 Longhorns this season. Texas has reached the semifinals of this years College World Series and awaits the North Carolina-Arizona State winner to play this Friday.
LOCKE LEADING MINORS IN RUNS BATTED IN
June 1, 2009
Weymouth’s Drew Locke (former Boston College and B.C. High star) is leading the minor leagues in runs batted in this season with 54 for the Houston Astros’ Double A affiliate, Corpus Christi Hooks. The former South Atlantic all-star outfielder is batting .374 (65-for-174) through 44 games with 10 home runs.
Locke, batting third in the Hooks’ order, recently enjoyed a banner game going 3-for-4 with one homer, two doubles, three runs scored and 6 RBI on a 19-10 loss to the Arkansas Travelers.
Locke first joined SSBC when he was eight years old and five years later he started playing for the Seadogs on a yearly basis through 16. Drew worked out and instructed members at SSBC this past winter.
FREIMAN BREAKS DUKE’S HOME RUN RECORD
May 27, 2009
Former Seadogs player Nate Freiman, senior first baseman, recently became Duke University’s all-time home run hitter with his 43rd career 4-bagger. The 6-8, 245 pound first baseman from Wellesley powered Duke to a 10-4 win against No. 13 Clemson last week in the ACC Tournament. It was Freiman’s 20th homer of the season.
FORMER SEADOGS FREIMAN AND GILLHEENEY NAMED 2ND TEAM, ALL-ACC
May 27, 2009
Duke senior first baseman Nate Freiman (Wellesley) and North Carolina State junior pitcher Jimmy Gillheeney (Johnston, RI) both earned second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors by a vote of the 12 ACC head coaches.
Freiman tied for the ACC lead in home runs with 20, he finished third in total bases (154), fourth in runs batted in (62), fifth in slugging percentage (.703) and 17th in batting (.352).
Southpaw hurler Gillheeney, an All-America closer in 2008, moved back into the starting rotation this season and he became the ace of the Wolfpack staff. He finished with a deceiving 6-5 record and had the eighth-best earned run average (3.86). He pitched into the sixth inning in 12 of his 13 starts.
KOWALSKI FOR BOSTON COLLEGE
May 27, 2009
Six-year Seadogs veteran player Chris Kowalski (Roxbury Latin/Dorchester) is pitching for Boston College (33-24) in the 2009 NCAA, Division 1 Baseball Championship. The 6-6, 233 pound right-hander, sporting a 3-1 record this season, is the set-up man for B.C. closer Mike Belfiore. Kolwalski is second on the team in appearances this season with 26. The Eagles open play this Friday against Texas State (41-15) in Texas. B.C. received an At-Large berth and is playing in the national championship series for the first time in 42 years.
HILLYER NAMED SAC PITCHER OF THE YEAR
April 24, 2009
Tusculum College (TN) senior pitcher C.J. Hillyer (Abington) has been named the 2009 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Pitcher of the Year. Hillyer is 7-1 with a 2.20 ERA for the 34-14 Pioneers, top seed in the ongoing SAC Tournament, this season. Hillyer was an All-SAC, first team selection for the second year in a row. Tusculum is ranked No. 12 nationally in Division II baseball.
AIZENSTADT NAMED NEWMAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
April 28, 2009
Babson College sophomore Andrew Aizenstadt (Norwell) made
two appearances during his club’s 2009 NEWMAC Tournament Championship
run, going 1-0 with a save and posting a 0.00 ERA, yielding only one walk
and fanning eight in 8 2/3 innings. He went seven innings and allowed three
unearned runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out seven in a 5-4 victory
over MIT in the Beavers' first game last Thursday. Aizenstadt came on to
pitch 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and fanning one,
to earn a save in Babson's Championship Game victory versus MIT on last Sunday.
He now sports a 6-1 record with one save and a 2.18 ERA this season.
HELP SUPPORT FORMER SEADOGS PLAYER NATE FREIMAN
Young Nate Freiman
April 22, 2009
Former Seadogs player Nate Freiman, senior first baseman at Duke University, has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Lowe’s Senior Class Baseball Award to honor student-athletes excelling in four areas that define a student-athlete: classroom, community, character and competition.
The 6-8, 245 pound first baseman hails from Wellesley who has a 3.84 grade point average as a History major and Math minor. On the diamond, Nate is batting .375 with 11 homers and 44 RBI. He is among the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top five in five categories: home runs (T-2nd), RBI (3rd) total bases (5th), on base percentage (5th) and slugging percentage (5th).
Fans can help Freiman by voting for him online at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/baseball_2009/ or by texting Freiman’s code (BSB5) to the number, 839863. Fans may vote daily from one computer. The original Lowe’s Senior Award list had 30 players.
LOCKE OFF TO FAST START
April 22, 2009
Weymouth’s Drew Locke (former Boston College and B.C. High star), picked during the off-season in Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft by the Houston Astros from the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 14th pick in the Triple A selection, is off to a quick start for the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA – Astros). The outfielder is batting .333 with a double, homer and 7 RBI.
Locke first joined SSBC when he was eight years old and five years later he started playing for the Seadogs on a yearly basis through 16. Drew is back working out and instructing members at SSBC this winter.
RAINVILLE UNSCORED UPON IN FIRST TWO GAMES
April 22, 2009
Jay Rainville, the 6-3, 230-pound workhorse from Warwick, who was a the 2004 Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year at Bishop Hendricken, is unscored upon through two games started this season for the Minnesota Twins’ top Triple A affiliate, New Britain Rock Cats. He is 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA having fanned seven in seven innings pitched. Rainville was a first-round, sandwich pick of the Twins in 2004.
GILLHEENEY ACE OF NC STATE STAFF
April 22, 2009
NCBWA pre-season All-America, second team pitcher Jimmy Gillheeny has firmly established himself as the ace of North Carolina State’s pitching staff, posting a team-leading 5-1 record and team-low 3.27 earned run average for the 19-17 Wolfpack. The junior southpaw is a former Seadogs pitcher from Johnston (RI) who starred at Bishop Hendricken.
O'BRIEN ACE OF MGC PITCHING STAFF
Blaine O'Brien
April 1, 2009
Freshman right-handed pitcher Blaine O’Brien (Scituate) has become the ace of Middle Georgia College’s pitching staff, posting a 5-0 record in seven starts on the mound this season. Opponents are batting only .247 against the 6’ 7” hurler who has fanned 34 in 41 1/3 innings pitched. MGC is ranked No. 15 in the nation according to NJCAA and 26th Perfect game.
FREIMAN HAS MONSTER GAME
April 1, 2009
Former Seadogs player Nate Freiman, senior first baseman at Duke University, smashed a career-best three home runs March 29 in a 12-8 loss to Wake Forest. The 6-8, 245 pound Freiman , of Wellesley, added a single for a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate and drove in five runs.
Freiman leads Duke (18-9) and the Atlantic Coast Conference in home runs with nine. He’s batting .352 with team-high 8 doubles, 32 RBI, 72 total bases and .736 slugging percentage.
FRESHMAN JOSH BAND STARTING 2B AT ROLLINS COLLEGE
2007 Select Six MVP Josh Band
April 1, 2009
Freshman Josh Brand has earned himself the starting second base position at Rollins College, the well known baseball school in Winter Park, Florida. The left-handed hitter from Peabody played one season as a 16-year-old for the Seadogs.
This season he’s hitting .265 with five doubles, one home run and 12 runs batted in for 20-13 Rollins. A member of the Sunshine State Conference, Rollins has defeated four Division I clubs in 2009 – No. 16 ranked Ohio State, Maine, Pennsylvania and Georgetown.
CURLEY DELIVERS GAME-WINNING DOUBLE FOR NAVY
April 1, 2009
Junior second baseman Matt Curley delivered a go-ahead double for the Naval Academy in last week’s 5-4 win against Lafayette. Curley is batting .269 this season for the 9-15-1 Midshipmen.
Where are they now?
March 31, 2009
(Former SSBC members or Seadogs)
Rich Hill LHP Milton, MA Milton High U. of Michigan Baltimore Orioles
Coming off a injury-plagued season due to a bad back, southpaw pitcher Rich Hill was traded during the off-season from the Chicago Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles, where Hill is battling for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation. Last year, Hill was 1-0 with a 4.12 ERA and his career numbers are 18-17, 4.37 ERA.
Jason Delaney 1B Hanson, MA B.C. High Boston College Indianapolis
Indians
Last year between Double A Altoona and Triple A Indianapolis, the top affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jason Delaney was tied for ninth in the minor leagues for most walks with 85. The 6-3, 215-pounder batted .284 with 7 home runs and 51 RBI.
Andrew Locke 1B Weymouth, MA B.C. High Boston College Round Rock Express
Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 19th round of the 2005 amateur draft, Andrew Locke was picked by the Houston Astros this past off-season by Houston Astros in the Rule 5 Triple A draft. Last season playing for the Empire 66ers, Locke batted .311 with 11 home runs and 85 RBI. This spring he’s playing for Round Rock Express, the Astros’ top Triple A affiliate.
Jay Rainville RHP Warwick, RI Bishop Hendricken New Britain Rock Cats
The 6-3, 230-pound workhorse returns to his native New England playing for the Minnesota Twins’ top Triple A affiliate, New Britain Rock Cats. In four minor leagues seasons, the former Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year has a 34-28 record with a 3.86 ERA. In 457.1 innings pitched, the powerful righty has 356 strikeouts.
Capeless picks Up Where He Left Off at Georgetown
WASHINGTON, DC (March 17, 2009)
Red-shirt sophomore first baseman Dan Capeless (Centerville/B.C. High), a former Seadogs player, hasn’t missed a beat this season for the 4-9 Hoyas. Last year, the 6-1, 204-pounder started 47 games and led the club in hits (53), doubles (13), walks (33) and on base percentage (.425%). He batted .306 and was also second in runs scored (34), home runs (7), total bases (87) and at bats (173). This season he’s off to another great start, batting .320 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Canton’s Mike Calitri hired by
Tampa Bay Rays as high-tech scouting
director
HINGHAM (March 5, 2009) – Advanced baseball scouting has gone high-tech, much to the benefit of former South Shore Baseball Club (SSBC) member and instructor, as well as /Seadogs/AAU/ /player, Mike Calitri, who has been hired to head the Tampa Bay Rays special department.
Calitri, 30, is a Canton native who was an All-Scholastic shortstop
for Xaverian before developing into a 3-year varsity first/third
baseman at Clemson University, where he batted .291 during his college
career.
Calitri’s responsibilities include analyzing data and preparing
reports to provide Rays manager Joe Maddon and his staff with more
extensive information -- trends, statistics and tendencies.
Mike, who started going to SSBC at the age of seven, played minor
league baseball for several years and he most recently worked at
Vanderbilt.
“When an advanced scout goes in there, he’s seeing it for three,
four
days,” Maddon was quoted in the St. Petersburg Times. “The data
we’re
going to accumulate goes over a longer period time, which would
indicate it’s more correct and not as much one man’s subjective
opinion. We feel as though this may be the next level of advance
scouting.”
See Calitri's SSBC Alumni Profile from 2000
Kowalski Winning Pitcher in BC Opener
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (February 26, 2009) Six-year Seadogs veteran player Chris Kowalski, junior relief pitcher at Boston College, was the Eagles’ winning pitcher in last week’s 2009 season-opening 8-7 victory against Stetson. Last year, Kowalski appeared in 23 games, second-highest for a B.C. hurler. The 6-6, 233 pound right-hander is the set-up man for B.C. closer Mike Belfiore.
Kowalski tossed 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief against the Red Sox on Wednesday.
McGeary profiled in Baseball America
February 18, 2009
Former multi-year Seadogs player and SSBC summer camp instructor, left-handed pitcher Jack McGeary (Roxbury Latin), recently was the subject of a profile story, “Schooling the GCL,” in Baseball America magazine. The 19-year-old McGeary led the Gulf Coast League in strikeouts last season with 64 in 60 innings pitched for the Washington Nationals rookie-level team. He was 2-2 on the mound with a 4.07 ERA before moving on to strike out five in a four-inning stint for the short-seasoned Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League.
The 6-3 southpaw hurler was a sixth-round selection by the Nationals in
the 2007 amateur draft. He lasted that long because he was committed to attending
Stanford University, where he is now a sophomore after signing a $1.8 million
dollar deal – a record for a sixth-round pick – that allows him
to attend Stanford and pitch professionally in the Nationals minor league
system during summers. Part of the deal is that the Nationals are paying
three years of McGeary’s schooling at Stanford.
Chase Battling for Starting Spot at Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, IN (February 16, 2009) Cohasset middle infielder Tommy Chase, who grew up at SSBC and was a career Seadog, is battling for the starting second base position at Notre Dame, where the talented freshman led all batters with a .375 in the 2008 Blue & Gold World Series.
Chase is projected as a top-of-the-order batter and, if he doesn’t start at second base, figures to see ample playing time there and third base for the Irish. An honor society student at Boston College High, his father, Mark, graduated from Notre Dame in 1978, while his mother, Laura, played basketball at the U. of Alabama.
Notre Dame, rated No. 27 in Collegiate Baseball’s pre-season poll and No. 3 in the Big East, pens the season February 20 against Ohio State.
Aizenstadt and Bizinkauskas Pitching in at Babson
WELLESLEY, MA (February 16, 2009) Babson College will be relying on right-handed pitchers Andrew Aizenstadt (Norwell) and Peter Bizinkauskas (Duxbury) this season. Aisenstadt, a sophomore and a longtime Seadog, was All-NEWMAC first team and Rookie of the Year last season when he was 5-1 with a sparkling 2.82 ERA. Bizinkauskas, a SSBC member as a kid is a senior, had a 2-0 record last year with a 4.32 and is unbeaten at Babson with a career record of 5-0 with a 3.43 ERA. Other former Seadogs on the Babson roster include sophomore second baseman Jonathan Marcus (Brookline) and freshman pitcher/outfielder Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach).
Rich Hill Traded to Orioles
HINGHAM (February 4, 2009) The Baltimore Orioles acquired Milton pitcher Rich Hill from the Chicago Cubs in a trade for a player to be named later. The former SSBC member, from Milton, started for the Cubs in Game 3 of the 2007 National League Divisional Series.
Hill was 1-0 with a 4.12 ERA last year for the Cubs before being optioned to the minors in May. The 28-year-old hurler suffered control problems last year. In four seasons with the Cubs, Rich was 18-17 with a 4.37 ERA in 64 appearances, including 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 32 career-high starts in 2007.
Originally drafted in 2001 by the Anaheim Angels in the 7th round, Hill remained at the University of Michigan and signed with the Cubs after being picked by Chicago in the fourth round of the 2002 amateur draft.
Hill was a member of the SSBC as a youngster and did pitching lessons with veteran coach Vin Hillyer. He pitched for Milton HS and Milton Legion and comes from a proud baseball family. His older brothers Lloyd and Larry are both members of the Boston Park League Hall of Fame.
Freiman on Brooks Wallace Award Watch as Nation’s Premier Player
HINGHAM (February 2, 2009) Former Seadogs player Nate Freiman, a senior first baseman at Duke University, has been added to the watch list for the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award, annually given to the nation’s premier collegiate baseball player.
The 6-8, 245 pound Freiman starred at Wellesley High. He is a three-time member of the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team and was also named to the Jewish All-American Baseball Team. Last season, Nate led Duke in batting (.381), home runs (11), RBI (46) and slugging percentage (.671) in 39 games played.
Nate was a Seadog stalwart for a number of seasons. "He sure spent a lot of time around the club as a young kid," Coach Niles commented. "He just loved it. He's a Seadog Hall of Famer if only we had one."
Freiman, who played last summer for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod League, was picked by the Texas Rangers in the 28th round of last year’s Major League Baseball amateur draft.
Gillheeney named pre-season All-America pitcher at NC State
HINGHAM (February 2, 2009) Another former Seadog, pitcher Jimmy Gillheeney, now a junior closer at North Carolina State, has been named to the National College Baseball Writers Association’s preseason All-America second-team.
Gilheeney, a junior from Johnston (RI) who starred at Bishop Hendricken, last season had a 2-0 record with a 1.12 ERA and 10 saves in 11 opportunities. In 21 appearances, the southpaw pitched 32 innings in 21 appearances, and fanned 42.
"Jimmy played for Coach Rick DelVecchio as a 16 year old Seadog. He was part of that Rhode Island tradition we've had for a number of years. Good kid with a good arm. His brother Gary also gave us a good summer with the Seadogs, " chimed Niles.
Abington’s C.J. Hillyer preseason All-South Atlantic Conference second team pick for Tusculum College
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HINGHAM
(February 2, 2009) – Tusculum College senior pitcher C.J. Hillyer,
former South Shore Baseball Club member/coach and Seadogs/AAU player, from
Abington, has been named to the preseason All-South Atlantic Conference second
team.
The 6-3, 245-pound southpaw Hillyer was red-shirted last season (Tommy John surgery) but, in 2007, he earned All-Region honors from the ABCA and Daktronics, posting a 9-1 record with a 2.56 ERA for the Pioneers.
"C.J. has been with us right from the beginning, from the Rookie League
straight through all his Seadog years," stated SSBC President Frank
Niles. "He's got a great future in this game, hopefully in pro ball as a
pitcher. If not, or when the time comes, he will be a tremendous coach."
Tusculum, the oldest college in Tennessee, was picked as the 2009 SAC favorite in a poll of league coaches. Tusculum, ranked No. 22 in the country according to the 2009 Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II Preseason Poll, finished 41-15 last year and won the 2008 Food Lion SAC Tournament. The Pioneers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and fourth time in the last six years.
Weymouth’s Drew Locke selected by Houston Astros in MLB’s Rule
5 Draft
HINGHAM (January 26, 2009) – Former Boston College baseball star, right fielder-first baseman Drew Locke, an off-season instructor at the South Shore Baseball Club, where he’s been a member since he was 8 years old, recently was selected by the Houston Astros from the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 14th pick in the Triple A part of Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft.
Locke, originally drafted in 2005 by the Dodgers in the 19th round, batted .311 for Inland Empire last season in the CAL, belting 37 doubles, four triples and 11 home runs with 85 RBI. Because the 6-1, 205 pound Locke was selected in the Rule 5 Draft, he is guaranteed to play this season, at the very least, for Houston’s Triple A team, Round Rock Express, in the Pacific Coast League.
Locke, of Weymouth, first joined SSBC when he was seven years old and five years later he started playing for the Seadogs on a yearly basis through 16. Drew returned this winter to SSBC as an off-season instructor, as well as to continue working out in preparation for spring training camp.
“I don’t think I’d be where I am today without the South
Shore Baseball Club,” Locke said. “I used to go there all the
time and hit as a kid. I go back there between seasons to work as an instructor
and to keep hitting. We don’t have the best weather around here and
any chance to hit is a big plus. Playing for the Seadogs really helped when
I first tried out for B.C. High because of the experience I gained playing
AAU ball. I met so many of my friends today, ones that will be lifelong friends,
playing ball for the Seadogs.”
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