Written by Tyler Neville '17
Tyler Neville, a junior Communications/Journalism major at Saint Joseph's, will be a regular contributor to the SJC Athletics website. Stay tuned to www.gomonks.com to read more of his special interest features!
At some point, everyone has to leave behind their childhood dreams, aspirations, and games and trade them in for the mantle of adulthood. Running around and playing with your friends turns very quickly into punching a timecard and holding down a cubicle for 40 hours a week. However, for a select few, the dream doesn't end. For a select few, their time before adulthood doesn't end when they put on a cap and gown and get thrown into the real world.
Joe Coyne was one of those lucky few. Due to his immense talent on the baseball field, coupled with an incredible work ethic and a burning passion for the game, Joe was able to continue playing the game he's loved his entire life after graduating from Saint Joseph's last spring. Joe as able to play the game of baseball professionally, something that very few people can claim. The dream ends for everyone, and everyone has to hang up the cleats at some point. Whether it's at 40 after a Hall of Fame career in the Major Leagues, or at 15 when you get cut from your Junior Varsity high school team. For Joe, it's coming to an end on his terms, after an incredibly successful year of professional baseball.
Joe's accomplishments are many, and can't be understated. However, Joe is not the first from the Saint Joseph's baseball program to continue playing after college.
Steve Osborne was the first to ink a professional contract after he graduated in 2001 and signed with none other than the New York Yankees after one of the most prolific careers ever seen in any sport at Saint Joseph's College. Since then Saint Joseph's baseball has produced quite a few other professionals, including Charlie Furbush of the Seattle Mariners, as well as Jesse LaCasse '03, Luke Enman '08, Pat Moran '10, and Nick Whittaker '14. Derek McIntosh '05, Todd Keneborus '11, and Tyler Laverriere '13 also had the opportunity to play professionally, but their chances did not pan out, for one reason or another.
Coyne left Saint Joseph's after a four-year career as the Monk's everyday catcher which saw him hit .350 (219-626) with 114 runs, 52 doubles, nine homers and 121 RBI over 178 career contests. Additionally, Coyne was an amazing four-time first-team all conference honoree, three-time conference champion, and was awarded the 2015 Greater Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year award for his senior season.
After graduating, Coyne quickly signed with the Old Orchard Beach Surge in the newly formed North Country Baseball League. "I think it's safe to say that at some point almost every single baseball player growing up has had a dream of playing professional baseball so I didn't need to think twice about the opportunity," Coyne said. Coyne was signed by former teammate Alex Markakis, the General Manager of the club. The Surge played 33 home games in their inaugural 2015 season and is the first pro team to play at The Ball Park in Old Orchard Beach since the Maine Guides – the former Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies – departed in 1988.
The jump from college baseball to professional baseball was a sizeable one, according to Coyne. "Pitchers pitch differently than they did in college," he explained. "Fastballs dive down and in and break your bats, curveballs look like they fall off of a table, change-ups can embarrass you and cutters… I don't even want to talk about those because we didn't often see those in college and in Old Orchard I saw more cutters than fastballs." Coyne handled the transition flawlessly, playing in 32 out of 33 games, and hitting .365 (46-126) with 22 runs, 10 doubles, two home runs and 26 RBI.
The biggest difference for Coyne coming out of college was the ruthlessness of professional baseball. "If you don't produce, you're gone," Joe explained. "One day you're shagging fly balls during batting practice talking with one of your buddies and the next day they could be gone if someone else can fill the role better. Or if they're in fact producing they could be gone the next day because they were picked up by a higher level team."
One of the high points for Coyne came near the end of his first professional season when Markakis called him to relay the message that his contract had been purchased by the Joplin Blasters of the American Association, one of the top independent leagues in the country. On Friday Joe got the call, and he had to get to Joplin, Missouri by Monday to suit up for the Blasters. "This goes to show how crazy professional baseball can be," Joe said. "I'm sure at some point Coach Sanborn wanted to trade me for a new pitching machine, or even a few new bats, but he was stuck with me for four years," he says jokingly.
According to Coach Sanborn however, the connection between Saint Joseph's baseball and Joe Coyne happened almost instantaneously. "(Joe) committed to (St. Joe's) really early, in September (of his senior year at Duxbury High School), and right after his first visit he really fell in love with St. Joe's and thought it was a real fit." Coyne echoed Coach's thoughts, saying that "Coach Sanborn is a coach that you want to play for and ever since the first time I met him I knew I wanted to go to St. Joe's."
Coyne continued to say "Of the many things I learned from Coach Sanborn in college I think the biggest was, don't ever let yourself get too high or too low cause this game will "kick you in the butt" when you're feeling like you've got it figured out and it will lift you up when you're pretty sure the "Baseball Gods" are out to get you. Coach Sanborn and the SJC coaching staff have helped me bring my game to a level I never knew it could reach." Coyne attributes the baseball program's success entirely to the way Coach Sanborn runs it. "Everything is run like a Division I program," Coyne claims. "He knows what it takes not only to win but also how to get the most of his players, not just as athletes, but as students and human beings as well. We did more in a three-hour practice than some teams might have done in a week…and I am not exaggerating when I say that."
Sanborn's ways have clearly paid off, not only on a team level with seven GNAC Championships in the last nine years but individually with several players taking their game to the next level. "It's the combination of talent, and the drive and willingness to do the work that lets things develop into a professional career for these guys," Sanborn explained, "With Joe, he just has such a love for the game and a drive for the game, which it what it takes at that level."
However, that love of the game doesn't make Joe immune to the reality of sports. It ends for everyone. "I'm deciding to walk away from baseball because I've reached a point in my life where I realized my entire life has revolved around the game of baseball. I want to see what else 'Joe Coyne' has to offer," Joe says, "I always knew the dream would end someday, but I needed to take that chance for myself to know how it feels to play at that next level."
There will come a day when Joe has time to reflect on his many accomplishments in the game, but for now, he's ready to start on the next chapter of his life. For now, Joe is focusing on his goal to use his Exercise Science degree to help other young athletes maximize their potential. He's already taking steps towards that goal, as he recently gained his Strength and Conditioning Specialist Certification. "For a kid like me, just the fact that I can say I played at that level is a dream come true. The whole experience has taught me it doesn't matter where you start, if you put in the effort and time and have the passion for something, you can achieve your goals. And it's easy to say that, but once you see it happen, the whole game changes. You have more confidence, not only in sports but also everyday life. Now I'm excited to take that confidence and that drive and pursue a new career."
Joe is hanging up the cleats after enjoying one of the best careers ever produced at Saint Joseph's, both within the program and beyond, and big things are ahead for him. After everything he's accomplished thus far, what else could we expect from him?
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
