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There's No Crying in Baseball McPhee's fresh faces expected to be contenders. Again. By Paul Perillo The America East Conference underwent a major facelift last year. Northeastern welcomes many new bodies to its baseball roster this year. But even with these significant cosmetic changes, one part of the picture seems clear: The Huskies will remain formidable opponents.
The NU baseball team, under the direction of Neil McPhee, who enters his sixteenth season as head coach, will likely be a front-runner for the conference title again this season. One contributing factor: Their chief rival the last several years, Delaware, will no longer be standing in the way. Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra, and Towson have all left the conference, and three State Universities of New York—Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook—have taken their places alongside perennial conference foes Hartford, Maine, and Vermont. Even before the Huskies travel to Bradenton, Florida, for their opening round of games March 16 to 23, McPhee, BB’68, firmly believes his team will be right in the mix. “Our theme for this season is, we have a lot of new faces,” McPhee says. “There are a lot of guys I haven’t seen play. But the overall talent level—and the level of competition for starting jobs—has risen from past years.” Among the newcomers are a pair of transfers McPhee expects to help immediately. Outfielder Jeff Heriot, who arrives from UMass, projects to be a run producer who fits nicely in the middle of the lineup. Nebraska native Justin Hedrick, who comes from Hastings College, has the potential to jump to the top of the rotation as a right-handed power pitcher. McPhee is also high on a pair of freshman pitchers—right-hander Devin Monds, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound fireballer, and Matt Piryk, another righty with excellent command of the strike zone. Perhaps the jewel of McPhee’s recruiting class is Eric Hagstrom, a shortstop out of Los Angeles named a “draft and follow-up” prospect by Baseball America. He’s a multi-talented player with an excellent glove and a great stroke at the plate. Hagstrom will likely start at second base, because one of McPhee’s top returners is another shortstop—Omar Pena, younger brother of Carlos. The elder Pena (now a member of the Oakland Athletics after a six-player trade in January) enjoyed an outstanding Northeastern career before being drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round four years ago. Carlos got a taste of big-league success last September, drilling three home runs during an end-of-season appearance in the majors. The younger Pena is also a blossoming superstar. “He’s a five-tool player,” McPhee says. “He’s right at that time where a player matures. He looked very good in the fall and could be on the verge of a breakout year.” The third Pena brother, outfielder Pedro, has left the NU program to try his luck at Old Dominion, where McPhee believes he’ll get the opportunity to improve his game. Omar Pena isn’t the only quality returner McPhee will lean on. Catcher Luke Carlin spent the summer playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League; scouts told McPhee he was the circuit’s best catcher. Although Carlin’s stats indicate he’s an average hitter, McPhee says his numbers invariably improve when the game is on the line. Leftfielder Ben Beck and centerfielder Brad Czarnowski also return as key players. Czarnowski, who can fly, should be a tablesetter at the top of the lineup. Beck, who provides power, is capable of hitting the long ball in bunches, as his nine-homer week late last season indicates. For the mound, McPhee can call on three sturdy right-handers with experience: Jordan Thomson, Ken Henry, and Matt Cavallaro. “Thomson is a guy who knows how to pitch,” McPhee says. “Henry is very workmanlike and very competitive. Cavallaro has the best arm on the team. When he’s on and in command, he’s capable of being one of the best in the conference.” McPhee also praises his captain, Brendan Ryan, who chips in both on the mound, as another quality righty, and in the outfield. The coach believes Ryan is a perfect captain, with natural leadership skills and a team-oriented attitude. So the future looks bright. “From a conference standpoint, it’s disappointing to lose a team like Delaware, who we had a really nice rivalry with,” McPhee says. “The silver lining is, one of the league’s best programs is no longer in our way. I still wish they were here. But our chances no doubt are improved without them.” The players have changed; the opponents have changed. But you can bet on baseball’s staying one of Northeastern’s biggest sports success stories. Williams Likes Her Jumping-Off Point Sherman Hart has taken the Northeastern track program to significant heights in his three-plus years coaching both the men’s and the women’s teams. Though both have won several titles, the one thing he’s yet to accomplish is winning both titles in the same year. Hart believes this could be the year for pulling off the sweep.
That’s because the women’s team, after a year spent replenishing its talent base, is as deep as it’s been in years. The Huskies can count on points in virtually every event, including the pole vault, where freshmen Courtney MacLaren and Jenn Curato performed well in the early part of the indoor season. But the key to the team’s success is captain Theresa Williams, a senior out of Dorchester, Massachusetts, who is typically NU’s top point-getter. “She’s a significant part of our squad,” Hart says. “She’s one of the best triple-jumpers in New England; she just missed qualifying for the nationals last year. But what she really brings to our team is leadership. She’s someone the team really looks up to.” Williams arrived at NU over three years ago, in spite of her original desire to leave the state for college. Older brother Kevin ended up selling her on Northeastern. Kevin, a standout Husky running back from 1991 to 1994, was well-versed on the school’s credentials. “I was a little young when Kevin was playing, so I don’t remember much about his career,” Williams says. “But he’s probably the main reason I came here. He was such an inspiration to me. I’m very glad he had that talk with me, because I’ve been extremely happy with both my career and my education here.” Williams, a dean’s list student, is a senior majoring in marketing and management. She wants a sports-management career when her track days are behind her but intends to go to grad school before making definitive career decisions. “I have a six-month co-op rotation to go, and I would like to get it in something related to sports management,” Williams says. “Maybe related to a sports agent, or event planning, or with an athletic director. Something where I could get a feel for the sports industry.” But Williams has plenty of meets to compete in before that. In addition to the triple jump, she participates in the long jump and is a member of all the relay teams. The triple jump, however, is clearly her strongest event, with a personal best of 41 feet, 11 inches. Now she intends to qualify for the nationals this spring in what will be her last attempt. “It’s been my mission since sophomore year,” Williams says. “I just missed then, and I just missed last year. I know it’s something I can attain.” As valuable as Williams is for Hart during competition, the coach believes she’s even more so during practice. An outspoken personality, Williams agrees that leadership has always been one of her strengths. “People don’t look at track as a team sport, but you can’t win meets without being a team,” Williams says. “If people aren’t doing what they should—whether it be drills or whatever—I might suggest that they try it this way or that way. I have no problem with that. I don’t do it in a confrontational way. I just want to win.” During Williams’s freshman season, the Huskies won the America East indoor and outdoor titles as well as the New England indoor crown. This season, NU has the talent and depth to reprise that kind of success. With athletes like Williams leading the way, Northeastern may be halfway to Hart’s goal of a men’s and women’s sweep. |
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