Baseball takes sixth Beanpot championship
By Jake Fischer
On Monday, the Northeastern Huskies baseball team descended on Fenway Park in search of the school’s sixth baseball Beanpot championship. Standing in their way was the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, also searching for their sixth Beanpot banner, but the Huskies were able to overcome a two-run deficit and take home the 2013 title, 6-3.
“It was a very emotional win in the sense of everything collectively,” head coach Neil McPhee said. “It’s Boston, it’s Fenway and given the moment of what occurred a couple of weeks ago at the Marathon, then you top it off with a win. It can’t get any better than that.”
Dawning special red jerseys with the number 617 on the back, Northeastern took the storied Boston diamond looking to make history. The jerseys were worn in support of the “Boston Strong” movement and will be auctioned off at a later time to support the Boston Marathon.
“Coach [Mike] Glavine made it work and the players got their jerseys today at noon. Their reaction was just incredible,” McPhee said.
Sophomore Isaac Lippert started the championship game on the hill for the Huskies, but allowed two runs on four hits in the three innings of work. Fortunately for Northeastern, junior Matt Cook took the mound at the top of the fourth inning and the boys from Huntington Avenue took control of the contest.
“It’s nice to, especially get the win, but just to play in Fenway Park, you know, a beloved park of New England,” Cook, a product of Hamilton, Mass., said. “I just wanted to throw strikes and get some quick outs so the guys could go in there and do what they did behind the plate.”
Cook threw four scoreless innings after he relieved Lippert and earned the win thanks to an eruption from the Huskies lineup in the bottom of the fourth. That combination ultimately propelled the Huskies to their championship.
Down 2-0, Rob Fonseca belted a homer over the green monster to put the Huskies on the board, but the team wasn’t finished. Pete Castoldi doubled off of the monster to drive in Michael Foster. Sean Lyons flied out to right and drove in John Puttress. Castoldi then scored on a wild pitch to cap of the scoring spree.
“It was an awesome feeling, you know? A feeling I will never forget,” Fonseca said. “My first at bat I had a little anxiety in me, but once I calmed down a little, I had a 2-0 count and I was just looking for a fastball and I got it.”
Second baseman Michael Foster, who has seen a lot of action on the mound as of late, picked up his first save of the season. The sophomore struck out five in the final two innings of the contest.
With the Beanpot championship now back where it belongs, the Huskies can refocus their attention towards securing the sixth and final spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.
“We have a big weekend coming up against UNC Wilmington and we definitely want to take two out of three at least from them,” Fonseca said. “They’re a team that’s Top 30 in the nation so it would be huge to be able to do that.
This article can also be found in The Huntington News.
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