Saturday, May 22nd 8:27 PM:

Well today concluded an epic journey that will forever be remembered in Saint Joseph's history. We fell short to top-seeded Tufts University in 12 innings. Although we lost, I can't say how happy I am for this team and for the seniors. We battled our way through adversity, pulled together when we needed to, and really defined what it means to be a team. We never accepted that we were considered the weaker team. We battled every game, every inning, and every pitch. We proved to New England that we were going to be a tough out, and that we were just as good as every team down there.

To the seniors: Pat Moran, Craig Woodbrey, Mike Burdin, Ben Grant Roy, Travis Adams, Kyle Dorr, Andrew Keirstead, and Chris Nanof; your leadership and drive you showed all season long had a positive influence on all the underclassmen. You guys kept us in line, led by example, and created a fun atmosphere on the ball field. You will be greatly missed next year and I, as well as the rest of the team, hope for nothing but greatness in your futures. Thank you for being the best leaders a team could ask for.

As for next year's team...we have a lot of returning talent, and recruiting talent. Look for this team to work hard in the off season and come back ready to win games next year. We can all taste it now, and hope to make it back and win it. However, this is not an easy task. We will have to work harder than everyone else and have the most confidence in ourselves on the day we step back on the field in the fall.

What a season!

Saturday, May 22nd 9:31 AM:

What a night! I would have wrote my insider last night but it was 1 A.M. and I needed to get as much rest as possible for today's 1 P.M. start versus Tufts - again. To reflect a little bit on yesterday's game; the team has lived by a few sayings: "Why not us “and” One game at a time." We have gone after each opponent like it was our last and have left everything we have on the field. The seniors have shown leadership that is indescribable and it just shows how bad they want to keep playing the game they love.  I wish I could write longer but we are heading to the field right now to take batting practice. One game at a time, one pitch at a time…

Thursday, May 20th 8:52 PM:

Well the 6 A.M. wakeup call came up quickly. Players rolled out of bed and made our way over to breakfast. Pitcher Mason Roberge was so jacked up for today's game that he popped a warhead in his mouth as soon as he woke up.  Probably not the best breakfast but it woke him up.

We arrived at the field at 7:15 A.M and took batting practice at 7:40. The weather was amazing. The game was even more exciting. Both pitchers gave their team a chance to win as they both had clutch pitching performances keeping hitters off balance. We knew going into the game that it was going to be the team that executed and showed the most heart that was going to win the game. The senior leadership that we had today was incredible. Pat Moran with his outstanding 9 inning performance, Mike Burdin with his leadership in the dugout, Craig Woodbrey with his unselfish bunts to start big innings, Chris Nanof's 2 innings of shutout ball in the later innings, and lastly Travis Adams hitting a walk off double to win the game in the bottom of the 12th. This along with the underclassmen doing everything they could, allowed us to be victorious and live to fight another day.

After the game, players found the hotel bed real fast. Naps felt really good after such a big victory for our team. The rest of the night consists of some of the team relaxing in the hotel, or going to watch the UMass Boston vs. WNEC game. Cannot wait for tomorrow's big day. One game at a time, one pitch at a time.

Wednesday, May 19th 7:51 PM:

Today's wakeup call was at 9 A.M. Players woke up and made their way over to McDonalds or the continental breakfast that the hotel has to offer for breakfast. The team looked confident and eager to start the Regionals on a good note. Arriving at the field around 10:30, we had time to stretch and throw before our scheduled batting practice at 11:30. Game time was suppose to be at 1:15 P.M. but the Eastern Connecticut vs. Worcester State game went a little over its scheduled time causing our game to be moved to 1:50.

The game started out a little shaky for both teams. Mike Burdin, Todd Keneborus, and Ben Grant-Roy smacked three straight hits and Pat Moran grounded to short to score the first run of the game. Sam Murray got the start and battled for 3 innings and was relieved by Mason Roberge, who then was relieved by Andrew Keirstead. Tufts had timely hitting and seemed to always score when they put runners on base and were a very fundamental team. We had a few early mistakes and once Tufts got ahead of us we couldn't do much to score runs. It was a very frustrating game for our team because we know we are a better team than the way we played today. However, this is why the tournament is double elimination. We will have to come to the field tomorrow with a chip on our shoulder to prove that we are a team that can make a run for the title.

After the game a few of us went to Angelino's Italian Restaurant up the road. The place was a little pricey but it was very good and filling. Rafferty, Murray, Achorn, Keneborus, and I had very interesting dinner conversations throughout that we probably won't talk about ever again. Anyway, now it's time for resting and watching the Red Sox game. Tomorrow's game is at 10 A.M. versus Worcester State, which means 6 A.M. wakeup. We are determined to stay in this tournament and leave everything we have on the field for the duration.

Tuesday, May 18th 8:06 PM:

The day started around 6 A.M. this morning. Players were packing up their stuff and heading down to the Alfond Center to wait for the coach bus, which is driven by our favorite driver – Rodney, and any bus with Rodney as our driver is okay with us. The bus ride consisted of several things; sleeping, listening to iPods, watching Mullen sleep with his mouth wide open, and watching the Scotty Cameron flick "Avatar". One of the most surprising events that occurred on the bus ride is when Senior Pitcher Chris Nanof woke up from his nap and realized we were heading north on 95 instead of south. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. The reason we were heading north on 95 was because we missed the exit for McDonalds, which was our place of destination for breakfast.

We arrived at Eastern Connecticut's baseball field at 11:30 A.M. Tufts had the field till 12:15, so we stretched and threw on the turf field right next to the field.  As soon as we took the field at 12:15 the rain slowly started to pick up. The plan of attack for practice was to have a solid batting practice and then if we had time to do an infield/outfield. Unfortunately since the rain came, we were only privileged enough to do batting practice. We were still, however, able to get extra hitting and fielding in the batting cage area next to the field. A little rain was not going to stop us from getting enough swings to prepare us for tomorrow.

After practice Coach ordered us a large amount of pizzas from Papa Gino's, while we waited to check into our hotel at the Best Western. Usually when a team gets pizza there's never enough for everyone to be full. In this case we had extra slices and most players had 3 or 4. We were also each given a Dasani water to have with our pizza. These waters were passed out by Coach McCarthy at the front of the bus. Everyone seemed to catch theirs with their hands besides Junior 1st team All New-England Outfielder Todd Keneborus who caught his with his forehead. He wasn't too happy. We then checked into our hotel and the roommate situation was the same as its been on every road trip. My roommates are Chad Rafferty, Sam Murray, and Sam Butts. Beds were extremely big like usual (sarcastic), but it's fine because I love to sleep next to Murray Magic!

After practice and pizza the trend of the team seemed to be taking another nap. Naps were short and now we were hungry again. Most of the team went to Applebee's again or an Italian restaurant down the road. I was at Applebee's with Chad, Nicky, Woodbrey, Todd, and Mason. When it was time to order drinks, Chad decided to go with a manly Coco-berry smoothie. The waitress gave him an extremely awkward look and got him what he wanted. Rest of the dinner went well and we enjoyed the nice walk back to our hotel in rain. Now the team is all relaxing waiting for the Celtics game which starts at 8:30. Curfew is at 10 and hopefully tomorrow we come out with passion and play to the best of our abilities.

Monday, May 17th 8:37 PM:

Workout sessions for today started at 9 A.M. for the pitchers, 10 A.M for the infielders, and 11 A.M for the outfielders. This has pretty much been the schedule we have followed since winning the GNAC. Each player has put in at least an hour of hard work in the gym to keep fitness and gain strength. One of the players you can't help but notice in the weight room is infielder Kyle Neagle. This kid is an absolute beast. He does a ridiculous four sets of ten reps pull-ups, and then super sets them with twenty push-ups. Kid is in amazing shape.

After weight training, we had to be at the field at 2:45 P.M. dressed and ready to stretch for practice. It was the last practice at Larry Mahaney diamond until our first game at the Regionals! We started with baseball practice, which consists of live fly balls and ground balls, fungos to the infielders, and batting practice for the hitters. You can tell weight training sessions are paying off because the ball was flying out of the ball park. Freshman outfielder Jimmy Rouse was hitting bombs off the scoreboard in left.  We moved into a "Matt Mullen" live bullpen. Mullen looked very sharp in his two innings, while our hitters got to see live pitching one last time before Regionals. After this we touched up on some team drills, and finished by packing Coach Sanborn's truck with equipment.

Upon the conclusion of practice, several members of the team went to Applebee's or Pats Pizza. Both of which are common places to eat out because of the great food and atmosphere. Now it's time to socialize, watch some basketball, play World of Warcraft (if your Stan or Rafferty), and get some good rest for tomorrow's early 6:45 A.M. departure for Connecticut. Should be an exciting bus ride!

Monday, May 17th 9:13 AM:

Today is a huge day for the baseball team. The NCAA announced which seeds each team was and who got the at large bids. Planning on waking up at 9 this morning, junior pitcher Chris Dion came flying in the room at 8:30. "Soup, we got the 8th seed and we are playing Tufts." A little surprised that we are the 8th seed but where you are seeded just tells you when and who you will be playing. As a team we all know that we can compete with anyone if we're on our game, and just have to show it starting Wednesday. Game time for Wednesday is at 1:15 pm against top-seeded Tufts University. For now weight training sessions, and practice at 3.

Sunday, May 16th 9:46 PM:

After a couple of days off, today marks the return to Scully Hall, home to several guys on the baseball team, as we await the much anticipated New England Regional Tournament. Living in this dorm has been pretty entertaining. Team chemistry is building fast and everyone seems to have the same common goal. Needless to say, school is more enjoyable when you do not actually have to attend classes! All we have to worry about is baseball and baseball only.

Having to be ready to stretch at the field at 11 A.M. for our last inter-squad game, most of the team arrived from their hometowns around 10 this morning. The game was a success. All of the pitchers look like they are well prepared, defense looks solid, and our hitting has not missed a beat. Although the blue team, my squad, is a more well-rounded ball club, the black team had the upper hand today and won by a score of 7-3. Blue team record 2-1, black team record 1-2.

After the inter squad game, a few of us had a pizza date with Father Paul, our campus priest. This pizza was amazing. Started out with pepperoni, worked its way into a spicy sausage jalapeño, and then ended with a nutella chocolate pizza. The team sends great thanks to Father Paul and all the hard work he put into the pizza. Whats better than a nice workout after shoving seven pieces of pizza down your throat? I can't think of anything! After the meal the guys all headed to the Alfond Center for the team weight training sessions. The workouts have been going well and will pay off for sure. Not only will this help us in the Regionals, but they will also set the tone for next year season as well. Baseball practice and weight training is over for the day, now it's time for relaxing and socializing. Another busy day of preparation tomorrow!

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