Boston Collge Baseball Announces Incoming Baseball Recruits

Boston College and baseball head coach Mike Gambino announced the commitment of nine freshmen to the Eagles program for 2015 this week.  The group will feature one 2014 MLB draftee and one member of a national representative team.

Highlighting the group is a pair of pitchers. Mitch Bigras, a 6'5" lefty pitcher who is capable of also playing first base and the outfield.  A member of the Canadian National Team, he helped lead the Maple Leafs to a seventh place finish at the 2013 U-18 World Cup in Taiwan.  In 2012, he played in the MLB Futures Game.

He'll be joined by an undersized right handed pitcher out of Greenwich, CT named Kyle Dunster.  A 28th round selection of the New York Mets in this past year's draft, he enters BC on the heels of a 5-2 season in eight starts for Greenwich High School.  He sported a 1.75 ERA with one shutout and 50 strikeouts while being named to the MSG Valley All-Region and Connecticut All-Star Teams.  He was the seventh-rated recruit out of the Nutmeg State and the fifth best pitcher.

Dunster is one of three recruits from Connecticut.  He'll be joined by the top-rated outfielder out of the state, Scott Braren, and infielder Anthony Maselli.

The only Massachusetts native is Trevor Massey, whose father, Michael, graduated BC in 1986.  Massey was a 2013 graduate from Swampscott High School and played last year in prep school at Tilton Academy.

Remaining recruits include New Jersey recruits Donovan Casey and Brain Rapp, the latter of which played last season with the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL; New Hampshire recruit Carmen Giampetruzzi; and Kenesaw, GA native Jake Palomaki.

Summer Baseball Notes:

Chris Shaw (Chatham Anglers, CCBL):

Shaw is hitting his way out of a slump, upping his batting average to .226 after starting the year at an .077 clip.  The rising junior went 4-for-6 with three runs scored in a 16-14 victory over Yarmouth-Dennis this week.  One of those hits was a solo homer, which gave Shaw dingers in back-to-back games.  He now has 11 RBI on the season, including seven in his last four games.  On June 25th, he had three RBI as Chatham went over 10 runs for the second consecutive night; after beating Y-D, they romped Falmouth, 13-3.

Blake Butera (Chatham Anglers, CCBL):

Butera hasn't played since the 19th, which is a bummer since he was hitting .370 at the time.  As of his last performance, he'd gone 6-for-his-last-11.

Andrew Chin (Chatham Anglers, CCBL):

Chin got rocked in his last appearance, that two-run victory over Y-D that featured 30 runs.  In three innings, the lefty gave up five runs, four earned, on three hits, walking three and just striking out one.  It raised his ERA from 1.80 to 4.15.  Prior to that, he won his second start, the first appearance since Opening Day, by going six innings and striking out four in a 6-2 victory over Brewster.

Jeff Burke (Chatham Anglers, CCBL):

Burke also appeared in that 16-14 game, and he didn't fare much better than Chin.  He lasted two innings, giving up four runs on four hits while striking out three.  His ERA has ballooned to 8.43 in just under 11 innings thrown, and he's given up at least three runs in each of his three outings.

John Gorman (Bourne Braves, CCBL):

Gorman is one of only four pitchers remaining on the Bourne roster yet to give up an earned run.  He ranks as one of the best pitchers on the roster, reinventing himself as a lock down reliever for the Braves in the summer of '14.  In five appearances, Gorman's thrown 7.1 innings, recording four saves.  Opponents are hitting only .130 against him with only three hits across the entire season.  He's picked up saves in his last four consecutive appearances.

Given BC's deficiency coming out of this past season, Gorman needs to be given a look at being moved to the back end of games given the way he's performed so far.