By Jake Fischer, News Correspondent
Within the Northeastern Huskies men’s baseball program, expectations for the 2013 season are as high as they are every year. With a roster full of proven veterans intertwined with freshman and transfers, a conference championship and an appearance in the annual NCAA Tournament seem to be within reach for this ball club.
These expectations were confirmed Thursday, Feb. 21, when the Huskies traveled to JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. to take on the Boston Red Sox. Since 2004, these two Boston teams have battled every spring in an annual tune-up for both organizations. However, this time around, in front of a whopping 8,218 fans, the Huskies were able to truly compete with their Major League opponents. Northeastern fell 3-0 to the Sox, the smallest margin ever between the two teams – just one year after the AL East perennial contender won 25-0.
“Trying to create expectations for that game is always very difficult,” Assistant Coach Mike Glavine said. “The most important things are always to have fun, to learn from the experience and to make the game competitive. We definitely wanted to put on a great performance to represent the school, our alumni and our ball club.”
They certainly accomplished that goal Thursday in all facets of the game. After spending several minutes receiving autographs and posing for pictures with the Red Sox players, the Huskies were able to compete offensively, defensively and from the mound.
At the plate, four Huskies put the ball in play, as Aaron Barbosa, R.J. Roman, Connor Lyons and Justin Kessler registered hits. Barbosa, a junior outfielder from Dracut, will be a veteran leader for the Huskies this season and got off to a great start against the Sox.
“We played very well against their best lineup, so that was very exciting,” Barbosa said. “It felt good to represent the school well. We played good defense and our pitchers stepped up and performed. When I got to first base, it felt like a dream.”
Moving forward, Barbosa said he thinks he and his teammates can continue the high level of production.
“I think we have the potential to be one of the best teams in our conference and win it outright,” he said. “Our lineup has the potential to score a lot of runs every game and our pitching is going to be right there with us too. I’m looking forward to it all.”
The man who will be responsible for driving in a large share of those runs is sophomore shortstop, Jason Vosler. The West Nyack, N.Y. native has batted .423 in the team’s six official games. In 26 at bats, Vosler has totaled 3 doubles, 1 triple and 8 RBIs. He didn’t register a hit against the Red Sox, but did reach base, getting drilled by the Sox’ closer Joel Hanrahan, who started the contest.
“It didn’t feel good to get drilled by a major leaguer,” Vosler said. “I have a nice little welt, but it was fun and my adrenaline was pumping. It was an incredible experience to feel like one of them. It was great motivation to get to the next level.”
Barbosa and Vosler earned back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year awards over the past two seasons. But the Huskies will also need consistent production from several of their freshman and transfer players this season.
“Brad Brucoff is a transfer from Riverside CC who is playing everyday in left field and batting fifth in the lineup,” Glavine said. “We’re certainly expecting big things out of him. Isaac Lippert is a left-handed pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery who should be effective as well.”
Another newcomer, freshman Nick Cubarney, tossed three scoreless innings against the Red Sox, with one strikeout and three walks.
“We have to be very careful with our pitching,” Glavine said. “[Cubarney] pitched great for us [against the Red Sox]. He certainly will be a part of our rotation this season. We’ll look to our starters in Chris Cramain, Nick Berger and Kevin Ferguson to set the tone. But we also have Matt Cook backing them up and our senior captain, Dylan Maki as our closer.”
Moving forward, the Huskies have a big stretch ahead of them as they will play five games in a six-day stretch in the Snowbird Classic over Spring Break. The team fled the snowy remnants of the New England nor’easter for the sunny diamonds of Florida early Thursday morning.
The trip will be a stage to test out what could be a dynamic pitching staff and lineup for the Huskies.
The Huskies’ next game will be against Chicago State University tomorrow in Port Charlotte, Fla. as the first game in the annual Snowbird Baseball Classic.
