STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's pitcher/designated hitter Pat Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) was selected to play in the annual NEIBA All-Star Game at Fenway Park, but his opportunity to play on the hallowed field was squandered by mother nature.
After three complete innings, and the DII/DIII squad leading the DI All-Stars 2-0, Fenway field crew members tarped the mound and home plate when rain started to fall. Heavy rain soon followed and the field was quickly deemed unplayable.
Moran, certainly in the pitching rotation for the day and likely to get at least one set of swings at the Green Monster, headed back to Maine with memories of being in the first base dugout along with the select few chosen to participate in the annual exhibition.
Moran is just the fifth player in program history to have been selected to play in the prestigious event.
NEIBA Release:
We only played three full at Fenway today before the heavens opened, and that was all she wrote. The College Division Team (II-III) had a 2-0 lead after UMass Boston's Drew Tambling hit a two-run home run past Pesky's Pole into the right-field seats in the bottom of the third.
Eastern Connecticut's Travis Bass hit a double off the wall in left-center with one out in the first for the College Team. Johnson & Wales' Jon Melendez doubled to lead off the second.
Maine's Taylor Lewis led off the game for the University Team (I) with an infield single, but that was the only hit that they would get through three innings. Curry College's Cory Moore struck out two while pitching a 1-2-3 inning for the College Team in the second. Merrimack's Ryan O'Rourke did the same in the third inning for the College Team.
Unfortunately, a lot of the players did not appear in the game. There is no rain date for the resumption of this unofficial game.
Prior to the game, the annual NEIBA awards were distributed. Along with the All-New England Teams for each division, the organization also presented its annual Team and Coach of the Year Awards, along with its three major individual awards. Connecticut, and its coach Jim Penders, were recognized as Team and Coach of the Year for Division I. Franklin Pierce University and coach Jayson King were the recipients in Division II. Coach John Casey and the Tufts Jumbos were awarded for Division III.
Dartmouth College head coach Bob Whalen received the Jack Butterfield Award, presented to coaches who exhibit the integrity and dedication to the game that Coach Butterfield displayed during his long career at the University of Maine. The recently-established Kevin Burr Assistant Coach Award was presented to Northeastern University assistant Pat Mason. John Doldoorian, a scout for the Chicago White Sox, received the NEIBA's Andy Baylock Distinguished Service Award.
