Welcome back, Boston College baseball!
The 2023 season was one of BC’s best ever. It saw them finish with a 37-20 overall record and a 16-14 ACC record, which was tied for their most ACC wins ever. They finished third in the Atlantic Division and made it to the Regionals of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to Alabama in the Regional final.
During the offseason, Birdball lost head coach Mike Gambino, to Penn State and replaced him with Todd Interdonato. Interdonato had been at Wofford since 2008 and posted a 455-421-1 record in his time there. In his last nine seasons with the Terriers, he led them to eight 30-win seasons and won two SoCon championships. His program also produced 12 MLB draft picks, one All-American, and five Freshman All-Americans.
Entering the 2024 season, Interdonato’s BC squad has been picked to finish second-to-last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division in the conference’s preseason poll and to finish 13th of 14th in the conference by Baseball America. This might be a bit of a rebuilding year, but Interdonato is a proven winner and BC has plenty of talent on the roster. So with that said, here’s a brief overview of Birdball’s 2024 season and roster.
Players to Watch
The Eagles will be without two key bats from last season’s team: Joe Vetrano and Travis Honeyman, both of whom were selected in the MLB Draft. BC will turn to outfielder Barry Walsh to anchor the offense. He started 51 games in 2023 and slashed .314/.416/.490, finishing second on the team in batting average and hits and first in stolen bases with 14. He also played stellar defense in center field and made more than his fair share of highlight-reel catches, like this one against Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament.
Senior Cameron Leary will play right field and has shown good power in his career, hitting 26 homers and 18 doubles over the last two seasons. Last year, in BC’s upset of No. 2 Tennessee, he threw out the game-winning run at home plate in the ninth inning and then hit a go-ahead home run in the tenth. Nick Wang will presumably take over at first base after starting 55 games primarily at third in 2023. He also demonstrated solid power, finishing second on the team in homers (11) and doubles (12).
Vince Cimini, who slashed .277/.373/.312 last season, will take Wang’s spot at third where he’ll get to show off his defensive talent. Both middle infielders, Patrick Roche and Sam McNulty, from 2023’s Birdball team will also be back, providing both good continuity and solid bats.
The Eagles will also have to deal with turnover in their pitching staff: Chris Flynn and Henry Leake, both weekend starters, have graduated, leaving room for new players to step up and prove themselves. One such pitcher is 6’8 senior, John West, who was also a weekend starter last year. He finished with a 5-3 record, 4.50 ERA, .208 batting average allowed to opponents. In 17 appearances, he struck out 71 batters while walking just 25. His performance this season could go a long way toward shaping a strong BC pitching staff. Eric Schroeder, Bobby Chicoine, and A.J. Colarusso are the only three Eagles still on the team who started more than two games in 2023, and any or all of them could become key pieces of the starting rotation.
Ryan Joey could be the team’s primary closer in 2024 after appearing in 24 games last year and ending with a 5.57 ERA and a 45:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Also of note, Baseball America singled him out as having the best changeup in the ACC this year.
So, despite this being Todd Interdonato’s first season in Chestnut Hill, and the roster losing a lot of top-shelf production, don’t be surprised if this 2024 Eagles team finds itself surprising a few teams in the ACC and winning some big games.
2024 Schedule Highlights
It comes as no surprise, but the Atlantic Coastal Conference will be very difficult again this season and is home to some of the top teams in the country. That includes preseason No. 1 and an early favorite to win the College World Series, Wake Forest. Clemson (No. 9), Duke (No. 12), NC State (No. 13), Virginia (No. 14), and North Carolina (No. 15) are all also included in the preseason Top 25, so BC will certainly have their work cut out for themselves in conference play.
The Eagles’ first conference series will start on March 8, when they travel to Raleigh to face the NC State Wolfpack. BC will also have two home series against Virginia Tech (March 22) and Florida State (April 5).
In what could be their hardest matchup of the season, Boston College will play the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest from April 12-April 14 in Chestnut Hill. The regular season will conclude with a series at Clemson starting May 16.
Some out-of-conference games include February 17 against No. 24 Kansas State in Arizona as part of the MLB Desert Invitational, a series at No. 16 Texas in late February, home against Northeastern in mid-March, home against Harvard on April 2 and The Beanpot championship or consolation game on April 9.
Birdball’s first game of the season will be Friday, February 16 against Ohio State, their first of three games in the MLB Desert Invitational in Scottsdale, Arizona. That game will be broadcast on MLB Network and the other two will be streamed on MLB.com.
Here’s to another great season of Boston College baseball!
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