The Heights Spring Sports Preview

The Heights spring sports Preview 2016 C2 & 3, BIRDBALL’S BEST BATTERY MATES READY TO LEAD C8, BC SOFTBALL’S ROAD TO REGIONALS

C6 & 7 MANNELLY AND MARGOLIS AIM TO BRING A TITLE TO BC

C4-5, HOW MIKE GAMBINO’S RECRUITING PLAN FOR BC BASEBALL IS FINALLY WORKING

2 THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW KING AND DUNN

FROM START TO FINISH The 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?

RILEY OVEREND

ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR

s 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 find 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 goto 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 first base for the rest of the game. The complete game exhausted King for 102 pitches, and every ounce of effort he had to keep a lethal Tar Heel offense off the scoreboard on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff.

Even though BC lost 1-0—a fitting microcosm for King’s season, during 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.

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efore each game, Dunn, a Freeport, N.Y., native, listens to Jay-Z as he starts his warm-up routine. The Brooklyn 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-field 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? The 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 offspeed 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 filthy 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 first winning season since 2010 and a return trip to the postseason in May.

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f 2015 was King’s breakout season, then his Apr. 17 start against Georgia Tech was certainly his standout gem.

King was a first-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. The Rhode Island native faced the minimum

number of batters and retired the last 17 hitters who stepped up to the plate. The 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 backwards—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 affect 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.

They both knew what was coming.

When King and Sciortino are clicking like that, they know something 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.

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ot everybody can close.

These 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 consequences 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 difference 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 flame-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 final game of a series with ACC foe Virginia Tech, who had silenced the maroon and gold lineup in the first 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. The Hokies’ first batter walked on five pitches, placing the tying runner on first base with Virginia Tech’s cleanup hitter, Brendon Hayden, set to step into the box. After Dunn missed with a first-pitch ball, he had to return to the zone and challenge the Hokie slugger. Hayden made him pay.

The payoff pitch was hammered over the right field 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. Three consecutive 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 briefly 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 innings 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

JUSTIN DUNN

DREW HOO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

46

Strikeouts in only 47.1 innings pitched last year

5

Saves in 2015, T-7th on BC’s single-season record list

9

Innings pitched without allowing a run over a 6-game stretch last April

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MPH, rumored top speed of his fastball during the Cape Cod Summer League

into the closer’s role without some of the mental toughness the job requires. Now, after an offseason of growth under Foster, Gambino 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. Then 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, ‘Those 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.’

There’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’ confidence in his abilities that has translated into Dunn’s own self-assurance on the field.

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

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o far in 2016, King and Dunn have already showed—albeit briefly—flashes 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, giving up only one hit en route to a 5-1 win. The next day, Dunn closed out the second game of the series with a strikeout. In the team’s first 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 accomplish 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 Mart i n e z co mp a r i sons?

King, for one, s e e s the similarities clear as day : “Oh, big time.”

But Gambino?

“When Pedro was Pedro, all three of his pitches were arguably the best—he had the best fastball, the best cur veball, and the best changeup in the big leagues,” he said. “I love Justin, but he’s not there yet.”

Yet.

MIKE KING

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Walks allowed, T-1st in the ACC

2.99

Career ERA, 2nd all-time in school history

53

Hits allowed last season, T-4th in ACC

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Hits allowed in a complete game shutout of Georgia Tech last April

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016 3

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW NICK SCIORTINO

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

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ut of all the bad things that happened for Boston College baseball on April 10, 2015, Nick Sciortino’s error was probably the least memorable.

After suffering under the weight of 110.6 inches of snow, Shea Field had finally 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, allowing Pinder to move on to third.

That was the error Nick Sciortino made in 2015. The 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 Gorman for the second game. The 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.

That is, until Sciortino spotted Eli White taking a hefty lead off second. The 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 fired 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 127foot throw again. Sciortino did. Two down.

Gorman still hadn’t quite settled in, surrendering a walk to the third man in the order. The 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 first to end the inning.

By averting the potential crisis in the first, Sciortino helped his starter get through 5 1/3 on a day he didn’t nearly have his best stuff. That lift was just enough for BC’s offense, which rallied in the absence of Shaw to put up eight runs and even the series. Even though the only offensive 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 second that got away, he made all of the other 380, giving him a .997 fielding percentage.

That was the best of any ACC fielder with at least 200 opportunities last season.

But he didn’t start out as one of the top defensive catchers in the conference. At this point, Sciortino can still say he has spent the majority of his life at shortstop.

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ciortino started in Little League as any kid does in baseball, bouncing around the diamond to different positions along the way. When he was 11, he saw his first regular time behind the plate for a travel team.

Yet long before the experience

proved enough for Sciortino to learn the finer 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 first couple years at high school, he stuck to the infield, 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 baseman 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 baseball as a middle infielder,” 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 sophomore year in high school. That’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 first met him. And Sciortino made an early impression.

“I loved him even back then,” Gambino said.

A former infielder at BC and in the minor leagues, Gambino had noticed Sciortino’s lack of speed at the infield 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. They liked it. With Sciortino’s high-school mind and muscle memory firmly attuned to the role of an infielder, though, the results of his catching reprisal weren’t quite what either guy had in mind.

“He stunk,” Gambino said last week, laughing 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, confident kid, Sciortino laughed along with him. Gambino wasn’t finished, though. It took a little explaining about where he was coming from, but Gambino eventually left it with Sciortino to keep working on it, and he’d be back to check out his progress in

.997 Fielding percentage in 2015

June after Sciortino’s high school season.

And then, he still stunk. But ...

“He was so much better,” Gambino recalled.

Sufficiently better that the coach asked him what he thought about fully committing to the change. Sciortino said he was ready, and Gambino recruited him to BC as a catcher.

That’s where the real learning began.

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hen 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 wearing 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 offensive category—he just had to learn how to catch.

“There are so many things that I thought I knew, but I was five steps behind,” Sciortino said.

While Gambino had to focus on filling 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 Gambino in 2010.

The two started from scratch, first re-teaching 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 figure out much of it on the fly—in BC’s third game of the year, senior Nate LaPointe suffered a careerending 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 five years, he isn’t afraid to play less experienced guys he feels will benefit in the long-term.

That doesn’t mean it always worked perfectly. Sciortino hit just .179 during that first 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.

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nce Sciortino had the basics down, the coaches were able to push him further, getting more specific 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. Then, they

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had to look the runner back at second, and throw out the batter-runner out at first.

“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 comfortable 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 information, 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 Sciortino, gained either through watching them in practice or in the hours of film-watching and meetings he takes part in prior to and during a series. Now, for the first 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 ingame 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 first 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 prowess without the sacrifice 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 influence his peers, especially with that big crop of freshman 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. Wherever we play, they’re going to have that same feeling, so kind of slow them down a little bit.”

There’s no one better to help get everyone caught up.

Runners thrown out at Cape Cod, leading the league

4 THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW BASEBALL

FEB. 25, 2016 THE HEIGHTS 5

ONE FINAL HURDLE Mike 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 EDITOR

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ike Gambino still isn’t so sure how it happened.

Chris Shaw, arguably the best Boston College baseball player the program has ever seen, had been complaining for a couple of days about the fleshy part of his right hand, around the wrist. He hadn’t gotten hit by a pitch. No one had banged into him in the outfield. And he certainly had behaved himself enough off the field to avoid any foolish actions.

In the opener of a three-game series against Clemson last season, whatever pain Shaw had been feeling finally came to its breaking point. The right fielder, known more for his clout at the plate than his deftness roaming the plains of Shea Field, crashed into the wall while snagging a fly ball off the bat of a Tiger. Not long after, in the eighth inning of another blowout by a superior 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 looking to make a run at its first 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 broken hamate, Shaw led the Eagles in home runs (11) and RBIs (43) while batting .319 with a slugging percentage of .611. This summer, as a 21-year-old playing for San Francisco’s Single-A Affiliate, the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, 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 office last week.

But with Shaw forced to the pine, Gambino’s recruiting prowess and coaching capabilities came alive.

And a plan in the works since he took over five seasons

ago finally began to unfold.

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t’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 office on their official visits, regardless of sport. Those 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 fill 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. The 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. The 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?

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JESSE ADAMS

AMELIE TRIEU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

No one questions BC’s deepness in the lineup and its skill defensively. The 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. That’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.

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orner infielder 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 first.

Cronin didn’t like being shuffled around, at first.

“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 college and stay there. The 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.

many players haven’t seen some of the plays that come up in the heat of the ACC. The 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. The Eagles gave the Sox as hard of a fight as a college team could. In a dangerous situation with runners on, his infielders couldn’t connect on a tailor-made double play, choosing a safe out at first instead. This put runners at second and third with one out, instead of a runner at third with two out. The 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 fielder is a testament to Gambino’s mission. The Eagles played VCU on Opening Day and Cronin, a freshman, started his first career game at third. The Rams led BC 2-1

“I could have my worst career year and we’ll still have a great season.”

-Joe Cronin 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 infield, that the four positions weren’t all that different 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 first to get the out. By learning those other positions, Gambino believes that an infielder’s defensive talent increases tenfold.

So, every day during fall practices, Gambino’s infielders will spend time at other positions. They’ll continually cycle around the diamond before slowly cutting down their time as it gets closer to spring. The results have made BC one of the nation’s better defensive teams. Even Johnny Adams, one of the best fielding 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. The 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 fouryear 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. The two have created excellent chemistry in the middle of the infield, and Gambino 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.

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is 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 different from the college level, and

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 fielder 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 first real play at third.

He couldn’t set his feet and airmailed the throw to first, allowing a runner to score. VCU would add another to put the game farther out of reach in what became a 4-1 final.

Weeks later, during the summer season, Cronin texted Gambino saying he got a similar play. This one, he patiently waited, set his feet, and nailed the man at first.

Those 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 fill 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 hammering 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 field. Instead of telling them how to fix it, they’d have to learn through their own mistakes.

But those days are over for the Eagles. The roster has turned over enough to a healthy amount of players 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. The numbers are still swayed toward the underclassmen, but with only three position players in the freshman class—catcher Gian Martellini, infielder Jake Alu, and outfielder 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 field, like Palomaki and outfielder Donovan Casey.

Now, Gambino has the time to work with his freshmen so that they can learn by messing up in practice rather than in a game, when it actually matters. That 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

DREW HOO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

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 field more and do higher-level stuff.”

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earning those other positions also helps guys get into the lineup without being restricted to a particular position. That helps a batting order that had trouble when centered around Shaw last season. Pitchers could move around Shaw, the lumbering man with the big bat in the heart of the order. That 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.

This time around, Cronin knows it’s not his responsibility 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. The Eagles can keep the line moving more than they ever could with Shaw.

When his hitters aren’t confined defensively, Gambino can help them find 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. The top three—Palomaki, Adams, and Strem—couldn’t manage a hit. But the bottom six went 7-for-22 with all five runs driven in for a 5-1 win over Northern Illinois. The 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. The 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 fly. 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.

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hat’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 Baseball America. That talent was magnified 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. The crafty left-hander consistently frustrated the Yellow Jackets in his first 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 flash, Adams had rolled through 6 2/3 perfect innings. His only flaw 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. The 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 first, the Eagles were down 1-0 in the top of the ninth with two outs and Casey at the plate. The freshman rolled a ball down the left side of the infield, racing to first. But a bang-bang play at first 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. The 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. There 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.

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t’s one built on Gambino’s three core principles: 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 field. 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. There are a lot of reasons why BC can’t succeed. Cold, travel, lack of facilities. But, in Gambino’s mind, that’s exactly 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 field 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 Gambino satisfied.

“We want to be in Omaha.”

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DANIELLA FASCIANO / HEIGHTS STAFF

Last year, corner infielder Joe Cronin lost his stroke. The junior batted a mere .223—a 68-point drop from the previous season—with four home runs and 23 RBIs. Cronin attributed 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 field, 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.”

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MICHAEL SULLIVAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Former Boston College baseball player Sonny Nictakis exemplified every ideal quality that Mike Gambino looks for when he recruits. Despite battling cancer, Nictakis never complained once in his five years on the Heights. There 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. This 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.

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

6 THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW SARAH MANNELLY

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1ST EAGLE TO BE NAMED A TEWAARATON FINALIST

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2 TIME US LACROSSE ALL-AMERICAN

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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

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ow 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 remotely musical. Best friend duos have planned their toothbrushing time together to film it in front of a mirror. Students have prolonged their nighttime studying to send from in a selfie 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.

There 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 disappear after 24 hours, because perhaps the best way to get a grasp on Mannelly is to watch those Stories. The extremely humble, slightly soft-spoken Mannelly who sat down with me was only a sliver of who she is. The 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.

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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 outstanding 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. There 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 weeklong spirit-fest, right before the Homecoming football game. The goal is to get the student body’s school pride to its highest point.

The 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 Homecoming 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. They 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.

“She’s basically the light of the locker room.”

-Kate Weeks JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

This kind of ridiculousness wasn’t uncommon for Mannelly—it was what everyone knew her for. While her specific, individual actions were always unexpected, her comedic personality was not. Those 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.

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hat 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 field, but before and during practice, which can be awful. Since lacrosse is a heavy running 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 definitely be brutal. This is where Mannelly comes in.

Mannelly has created the team mentality 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. These 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.”

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etting examples. That’s how Mannelly fulfills her leadership role on the team, whether that means being the first to break the ice in the locker room by cracking a joke, or performing on the field in the way that she did in the team’s final 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.

The 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 final goal before the end of the first period, you could tell that Mannelly was fed up.

But she wasn’t just fed up, she was fired 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. Moments 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.

The team lost that range, however, and it lost Mannelly. The 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 Mannelly 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.

This is why Weeks calls Mannelly relentless.

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 fights, then the rest of the team wants to fight, too. Her relentlessness inspires

GOALS ON THE 2015 SEASON; TIED FOR TEAM-HIGH

the whole team to do and be the same.

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nd that’s exactly what she wants.

Because as much as Mannelly is relentless, she’s also selfless,

Walker said.

Walker has witnessed this firsthand many times in her career with Mannelly. She recalled a specific 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 Mannelly chase down the North Carolina girl who had forced the BC turnover. She ran a full field-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 field, 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. The combination of relentlessness and selflessness makes for a leader who goes out of her way to elevate her team. She raises herself to a higher standard in the process. This 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 finalist achievement to her team, deflecting the personal successes that got her to be the first 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 upcoming season.

In which case, keep an eye out for Mannelly on the BC SnapStory. In between her pre-practice locker room entertainment and her runs with friends, she may just have her teammates help her hold up a trophy or two.

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW CAROLINE MARGOLIS

THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016 7

TROPHY DREAMS Caroline Margolis is versatile and dangerous. All she’s missing is a trophy.

ANNABEL STEELE ASST. SPORTS EDITOR GRAHAM BECK / HEIGHTS ARCHIVE

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Career ground balls

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Career caused turnovers

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Career draw controls

GRACE TOURVILLE / THE OBSERVER

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n 2007, something didn’t feel right for Caroline Margolis.

The 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 playing the sport in middle school. According to Hillary, it wasn’t smooth sailing from the get-go. Her first memory of Margolis and lacrosse is at the beach, when the two of them bought plastic sticks so that they could practice. Then, neither showed any signs of brilliance.

Even so, no one ever doubted that Margolis would become a good lacrosse player.

Not just good, but Division I good. There was never any question, because she gave 110 percent at everything she did.

She was competitive and driven, a naturally 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 first three years in college.

The only thing left was a national championship.

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n high school, Margolis continued to balance schoolwork and sports as she played field hockey and lacrosse—as a midfielder—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, determination, 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 prioritized 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 halfway 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 teaching younger players the game. Though both sisters played lacrosse, Margolis was much more serious about taking it to the next level, according to Hillary.

This determination paid off when she committed 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 finished with a losing record or hovered right around .500.

The Eagles were trying to make the transition into an ACC powerhouse led by a new coach, Acacia Walker, and a promising group of underclassmen. Walker played college lacrosse

at Maryland and coached at Northwestern during the Wildcats’ three consecutive national 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 first 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. That season saw key regular-season victories against Notre Dame and Duke, among others. Margolis added two goals in the victory over the Fighting Irish. The Eagles also suffered close losses to historically dominant teams, like Syracuse, Maryland, and North Carolina, all by two goals or fewer. The season ended in May when the Orange defeated BC in a close NCAA quarterfinal game, 11-9—the same score as the team’s regular-season matchup.

The 15-4 2015 season was paced by victories 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. Though 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

University Maryland.

BC’s goal for the past few years was simple: bring the hardware home to Chestnut Hill with a national championship victory. The 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 field every game to ensure that this is the year for BC to finally win it all.

“Knowing Caroline,” O’Mara said in an email, “I would have to guess she wants nothing more than for her team to be the last one standing come May.”

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alker is full of praise for Margolis. She complimented her versatility on the field 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, controlling the middle of the field, or pacing the offense with assists and goals.

The stat sheet certainly supports this. As a midfielder, Margolis has to be all over the field and prepared to run for 60 minutes straight. As a result, she makes an impact both offensively 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 first of three points in the decisive win over the Crusaders.

So with a naturally competitive approach to the sport, a high lacrosse IQ, and considerable talent, it’s a no-brainer that Margolis is serving as one of BC’s captains this year. Everyone who knows her agrees that she’s a natural leader. She brings her competitive nature to the field 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. “[The 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 immortalized here on the Heights, just like she is in the Carolina Fever program.

And she wants it bad.

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his year, an Inside Lacrosse preseason poll ranked Margolis as a Second Team All-American.

This 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, Margolis and teammate Sarah Mannelly are on the Tewaaraton Award watch list for 2016.

The awards may be nice, but Hillary says they are not all-important to her sister.

“I think Caroline is mainly a self-motivator,” 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. The 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 first started playing lacrosse, it was far-fetched to think that one day she would be a national champion. She took up the sport at the request of her best friend. The beginning of her lacrosse career—passing on the beach with her sister—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 definitely wants a rematch with North Carolina.

She wants a national championship.

JOHN QUACKENBOS / BC ATHLETICS

8 THE HEIGHTS FEB. 25, 2016

SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW SOFTBALL

BABY STEPS EMILY FAHEY / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

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

SHANNON KELLY HEIGHTS EDITOR

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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. These 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. They spoke succinctly, both displaying determination in the matter-of-factness of their words.

The 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. They might as well have been wearing their uniforms.

This 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).

This season, there are a few tournaments to win.

But first, it’s important to know where these Eagles are coming from.

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C softball’s most recent bid for NCAA Regionals was in 2003, when the Eagles still played ball against Big East teams. The 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 first season in the ACC commenced, BC was expected to perform at a new level. There 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. That 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 final game in the ACC Quarterfinals 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 schedule early on in the season, and revitalized hitting, she wants to take the girls to where they have never gone before—at least not in the ACC. She believes she has the tools to do so.

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here are five 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

younger side. The most impressive of the new recruits include Carly Severini and Loren “Lexie” DiEmmanuele. Severini is a power hitter who has already earned her first double in collegiate play and demonstrates the potential to put runs on the board. DiEmmanuele, with a .355 batting average over her first 10 games, displays the type of consistent hitting that Obrest needs. The five 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 offense.

But the influx 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. The 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.

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C 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.

The difference is huge. In it lies a 49-14 season, an automatic bid to the first 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. The failure to use situational hitting left runs unscored and games lost.

Ten games, including the ACC Quarterfinal against Florida State, came down to a one- or two-run deficit to tie it up. Obrest wanted to not only fix 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 confidence,” Obrest said.

The 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. They combined for 66 RBIs, so they know how to keep players from getting stranded on second or third. They make runs happen.

Though Cortez has struggled so far this season—her average is one of the lowest at .130—Murphy has picked right back up with .310, contributing heavily to the Eagles’ uptick in their average, with the team’s collective batting average at .255. The 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 confirms Obrest’s idea that this season, there is no problem with youth.

These players have already developed enough in preseason to be prolific contributions to the team.

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he Eagles have already played 10 games in two tournaments to start the season, and their 4-6 record so far is unconvincing. 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, finds itself in the Pac-12, the most dominant conference in the Women’s College World Series, with 24 of the 33 total World Series won by a member of the Pac-12. The 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 field too wet to play on, the Eagles will have to travel for the first part of the season. Their home opener won’t happen until Mar. 23, over a month into the season. It’s a long time to be missing home-field advantage and to lack the comfort of familiarity on the diamond. The first 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 backfire 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.”

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he path to Regionals is a long one, and the beginning step has two roads. The 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?

They say the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.

Baby steps.