By Jill Saftel, News Staff
After a deep Colonial Athletic Association Tournament run, the Northeastern men’s baseball team will be without one of its best for the 2014 season. Junior Aaron Barbosa signed a free-agent deal with the Seattle Mariners and was assigned to the Pulaski Mariners, where he’ll compete in the Appalachian League.
“He made the right decision at this point in his career,” head coach Neil McPhee said. “His whole year with us, contributing to the year that we had which was just terrific for the program coming back after having a couple down years, it took us to a really high level for the future. We can’t replace that, there’s no possible way. But, the key to 2014 for us is that we still have the core of our lineup and team coming back and that’s a very positive thing for us.”
Barbosa was a huge piece of the Huskies’ 2013 success, reaching 30 wins for the fourth time in program history and finishing with a 31-26 overall record. In the team’s standout season, Barbosa started all 57 games and led the team in hits, runs, triples and steals.
“We will not be able to replace Aaron Barbosa in this lineup and probably won’t be able to replace him for a few years to come. He’s the best leadoff player our lineup has ever seen in its history as far as I can determine,” McPhee said. “He was the spark that made everything go.”
He cemented his name in NU baseball history, taking the school record in career stolen bases with 69. He also sits fourth in program history with 217 hits and sixth with 136 runs scored.
In his sophomore season, Barbosa set single-season records for hits, with 76, and steals, with 29.
“He’s really the supreme student athlete, dean’s list, engineering major and terrific young man as much as he was a baseball player,” McPhee said. “He is a college coach’s dream, in terms of being that athlete any one of us wants in any of our programs both athletically and academically.”
In seven games played for the Pulaski Mariners, Barbosa has seven hits and five runs with a team-best .389 batting average. At 24-15, Pulaski is one-and-a-half games back from the first-place Bluefield Blue Jays.
“My guess is that early on in the minor leagues, and our coaching staff concurs to this, he will probably be an immediate success in what he brings,” McPhee said. “His speed is a gift and it works so extremely well, even at the highest levels of the game. At this point in his career professionally, it’s going to be hard for teams to control his running, and it’s an incredible value that he brings.”
