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Baseball's Back at Newbury
The 2011 edition of Newbury baseball experienced monumental success led by first year Head Coach Kraig Kupiec, setting new season and career highs both at the plate and on the rubber. He turned a last place team into a formidable, competitor in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and the other conference coaches took notice. Kupiec added another piece of hardware to the mantel earning NECC Coach of the Year honors after his colleagues voted him Newbury Coach of the Year at the end of April.
Under Coach Kupiec's tutelage, the Newbury bats bested their previous single season highs in 10 categories: batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, runs, triples, RBIs, total bases, stolen bases and sacrifice flys. Coming into the season, the Nighthawks highest team average was .274 in 2009 but this season due to 334 hits – blowing their previous high of 282 (2009) out of the water – the squad hit .311 at the dish.
Newbury was far from a one-dimensional ballclub. Aside from hitting for average, they showed they could hit for power, slugging .395 as a team despite falling one double shy of their single season record of 53 set in 2009. However, they made up for it using their speed to not just swipe 47 bases but to rack up 15 three-baggers – new single-season highs in both categories.
One of the three captains, junior Patrick Curry saw the most success, spending the majority of of his 33 games behind the dish, and now sits atop numerous all-time Newbury single-season and career records. Not only did he top his previous season-high in batting average but he surpassed William Maddock for Newbury's single-season record in batting average and hits. His team-leading .402 average makes him a career .366 hitter and Newbury's new all-time leader in average.
The Hampstead, N.H. native was not the player opposing conference pitchers wanted to see at the plate – especially with runners in scoring position. For the second straight season, Curry was honored by the NECC with an All-Conference First Team selection at the catcher position. He finished behind only Mitchell College junior right-hander John Apostolo, hitting an impressive .485 while driving in 19 runs against conference opponents from the heart of the Nighthawk order.
In addition, Curry was one of three juniors to collect his 100th hit of his career which he did on the road in a 5-4 victory against Elms College on April 9th. First baseman Alex Chetelat, who started every game for the Nighthawks at either corner infield position, also registered his 100th career hit late in the season against Becker College on April 27th but the highlight of the season for the Farmington, Conn. native came on April 7th.
Mid-way through the season against non-conference Rivier College, Chetelat cleared the bases driving a high-towering fly ball well over the 30-foot fence in centerfield for his first career grand slam. The homerun put a 16-5 victory over the Raiders to bed and earned junior starter Michael Gulla his first victory of the season. Gulla pitched solid on the bump for Newbury making seven appearances for a 2-2 record over the course of the season.
Primarily playing and starting in left field for the Nighthawks, Michael Dean was the third member of the squad to record his 100th career hit. In their last game of the season, Dean went two-for-four in a 6-4 loss to a tough Anna Maria College team to reach the career milestone.
While the gaudy batting numbers for Newbury this season maybe glamorous, it has been proven that pitching wins ballgames. And it was no different for the Nighthawks on the hill this season. Under pitching coach Anthony Lauretto, the Nighthawk pitching staff saw dramatic improvements in: team ERA (5.23), strikeouts, earned runs and opposing batting average.
Freshman southpaw Shawn Marcelle's 5-1 record highlighted the Newbury pitching staff. The Bristol, Vt. native was nearly unhittable striking out five opposing batters for every walk issued while maintaining a sub-two ERA (1.51) out of the bullpen. His 46 strikeouts led the Nighthawks to surpass their 2009 record of a 135 as the 2011 staff retired 194. Against NECC opponents Marcelle was a perfect 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA and 31 strikeouts.
Second year starter Christopher Ninteau saw a remarkable turnaround from his freshman year to his sophomore season. Dominating opposing teams early in the season, Ninteau finished the 2011 campaign with a record above .500 for the first time in his career as well as bettered his career ERA by two runs. Fellow sophomore starter Zach Griesche also saw his career ERA drop and his strikeout total improve significantly from his first year wearing green and gold.
While their accomplishments on the diamond are hard to ignore, Newbury baseball exemplified what it means to be a Division III student-athlete – excelling in the classroom and the community as well as on the playing field. For the second straight year the school's male recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award – given out every year at the athletic banquet – went to a member of the baseball squad.
Patrick Curry followed in outfielder James Languirand's footsteps, who was the 2010 award winner with a 3.54 grade-point average. The Newbury backstop was the 2011 Scholar-Athlete of the year maintaining an impressive 3.65 grade-point average while double majoring in business management and accounting in addition to being selected to the NECC All-Academic team.
It was one of two awards the baseball program would see a member of the squad earn. A hard-worker during his four years wearing green and gold, Languirand was honored with the 2011 Sportsmanship Award. He had genuine respect for the game and his teammates while wearing the uniform with Newbury emblazoned across the front while off the diamond he was a leader in the community as a Resident Assistant as well as being a meticulous student in the classroom.
Only graduating one senior this year, the Nighthawks will return to the diamond in 2012 with the majority of their team intact. So baseball fans in Nighthawk Nation, the future looks bright.
New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) 2011 All Conference Team
