Baseball Looks for Success in 2015, Opens Season on Sunday

PAXTON, Mass.—After averaging 22 wins per-season for four-straight years from 2010-13, the Anna Maria College baseball team will look to rebound from a weather-challenged 2014 season.

The four-year streak included a program-record 26 wins in 2011 and three-straight ECAC Tournament appearances, including a coveted ECAC Championship title in that historic 2011 season. With much of the team returning from last year and a very strong incoming freshman class, the team looks poised to return to their roots and make a run in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) this spring. 

Head coach Dave McNamara enters his ninth season at the helm of the program. This season, McNamara has three assistant coaches under him: Padraig Gilman, a 2013 Anna Maria graduate who returns for his second season in the AMCAT dugout; Shawn Secondini, a 2012 AMCAT alumni, and Derek DuBois, a 2014 graduate of nearby Clark University, begin their first seasons on the staff at Anna Maria.

Leading the way for the AMCATS in 2015 is senior Corey Andrade (Mashpee, Mass.) Andrade has a slew of accolades under his belt already, including Worcester Area All-Star and GNAC Academic All-Conference titles. Over his career, he holds a.325 batting average, and a .462 on-base percentage with ten doubles. 

Sophomore Corey McNair (Shewsbury, Mass.) will look to build off his team-leading RBI total from 2014 and last year's starters David Julian (Sterling, Mass.), a sophomore, Jonathan Roy (Worcester, Mass.), a sophomore, and Matthew Leahey (Rutland, Mass.), a junior, also return to their positions in 2015.

Adding more depth and versatility in the outfield and infield for 2015 are sophomores Joseph Fahey (Auburn, Mass.) and Shawn Callahan (Woburn, Mass.) and junior Matt Kozlowski (Seymour, Conn.).

On the mound, the team returns sophomore Andrew Sawyer (Dracut, Mass.) sophomore Camden Frederick (Worcester, Mass.) and Leahey.

As rookies, Sawyer pitched 29 innings and earned GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors, while Frederick pitched in 24 innings with a team-leading 14 appearances. Leahey excelled in the Central New England Baseball Association (CNEBA) last summer, totaling a 1.78 earned-run average with 31 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched.

Sophomores Zach Parker (Manchester, N.H.) and Brendan Matthews (Worcester, Mass.) will also boost the pitching staff while senior Michael Kilcoyne (Worcester, Mass.) will add experience and leadership behind the plate.

Freshmen Nate Frederick (Worcester, Mass.) and Tanner Jakola (Leominster, Mass.) highlight the incoming class. Frederick was the Central Massachusetts homerun leader and led St. Peter Marian High School on the mound with a 1.08 ERA. His team advanced to the Division 1 District Finals. Jakola paced Leominster HS to the Division 1 State Championship title, tallying seven wins with a 2.29 ERA.

Other newcomers joining the AMCAT program this season include freshman Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.), who compiled a .446 batting average at Oxford HS, and an athletic and versatile catcher in freshman Jourdon Wydra (Bristol, Conn.).

The team also welcomes New York All-State selection Nate Gray (Kingston, N.Y.) to the team, along with Rhode Island Division II All-Star Brent Millard (Bristol, R.I.). Other big additions include Trevor Brown (Gardner, Mass.), a two-time Mid Wach-C All-Star with a .435 batting average as a junior, and his twin brother Camden Brown (Gardner, Mass.), who was also a two-time Mid Wach-C All-Star. Camden Brown totaled a .440 batting average and also saw time on the mound, owning a 1.85 ERA.

The AMCATS will also welcome veteran football players to the baseball team this season in seniors Mike Kennedy (Naugatuck, Conn.) and William Bishop (Uxbridge, Mass.). Both are expected to be great additions to the team in 2015.

In addition to working hard in preseason practices, the team has also been working hard in the classroom this season, as Andrade, Julian, Kilcoyne, Roy, Jakola, and Gray were all named to the College's Dean's List in the fall semester.

Anna Maria will travel to Central Florida next week for their annual spring break trip. The team will again participate in the RussMat Central Florida Invitational and will take on Trine and Aurora before playing regional competition against Neumann, Kings (Pa.), and Curry. The AMCATS will play eight games in total.

Back in New England, the team will play a doubleheader at Newbury on March 15 and will play single games at Fitchburg State and Daniel Webster on the 16th and 18th before hosting UMaine-Presque Isle for a four-game series on March 21 and 22. All four of those games will be played at the New England Baseball Complex - Northborough, Mass. 

The program will open GNAC play on the road this season, traveling to Lasell on Saturday, March 28 for a doubleheader.