On April 29, the Northeastern Huskies baseball team descended on Fenway Park in search of the school’s sixth baseball Beanpot championship. Standing in their way were the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, who wanted the exact same thing. But it was the Huskies who came out on top in the end, and overcame a two-run deficit to 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.”
Donning special red jerseys with the number 617 on the back, Northeastern took to the storied Boston diamond looking to make history. The team wore the jerseys in support of the Boston Strong movement. The jerseys were auctioned off later 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 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 started to take 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, who is from Hamilton, 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. Then, Castoldi scored on a wild pitch to cap off 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 as a pitcher 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 back on Huntington Avenue, the Huskies can refocus their attention towards securing the sixth and final spot in the Colonial Athletic Association 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.”
