呈上升趋势

上图:Eric Espada |所有照片由BC 体育运动提供

Just a few days removed from BC’s 9-4 loss to Miami on June 12 in the deciding game of the NCAA Tournament “Super Regional,” Gambino was at his Conte Forum office formulating plans for scouting and recruiting future Eagles. 六月是高中棒球锦标赛的时间, 太, and Gambino and his assistants wanted to be sure they had an opportunity to view promising players at the height of competition.

“在对迈阿密的比赛之后, 我们看着对方说, ‘哇, 我们已经三周没招人了,’”甘比诺说, 谁领导BC棒球队六年了. “很明显, 我们的重点是准备ACC和NCAA锦标赛, 你能花在其他事情上的时间是有限的. 这是一个很大的问题.”

As far as Gambino is concerned, it’s a problem he wants to have every year. He is determined to have BC be regarded as a team that can compete, 并赢得, 不只是在东北部, 或行政协调会, 但是在乡下. So while Gambino is able and willing to find satisfaction in the accomplishments of 2016, 他知道他的时间最好花在为2017年做准备上, 及以后.

甘比诺说:“对我来说，这是难以置信的一年. “我为这支球队感到骄傲, 他们不仅代表了棒球项目, 而是电子游戏软件本身作为一个机构. 我一直相信这就是这个项目的发展方向, where we have a chance to go to the College World Series every season. 我希望这是我们每年谈话的一部分.

“另一方面, I don’t want us to take it for granted: I want these guys to feel the excitement about playing in the tournament, 也要明白实现这一目标有多难.”

Gambino said the Eagles benefited from having an assortment of players who showed different kinds of leadership, 从16年的乔·克罗宁和17年的尼克·西奥蒂诺开始. “Nick is in the mold of the fiery leader, while Joe is more even-keeled. 然后是约翰尼·亚当斯的17岁, 做事安静的人, 或者米奇·比格拉斯18岁的时候, 谁让每个人都放松. Justin Dunn ’17 is somebody who inspires by showing you how much he cares. Bobby Skogsbergh ’17 and Donovan Casey ’18 are another example of two guys with different personalities who, 当你把它们放在一起, 有所作为.

“What it came down to, though, was everyone—whatever their personality or style—put the team first. 当你有这样的领导时，你更容易被追随.”

“I was proud to be part of the team that brought BC baseball back in the limelight,克罗宁说, who was signed by the Minnesota Twins and was one of five BC players selected in the recent Major League Baseball Draft. “It was a whole lot of fun to extend my time—I got my diploma on May 23 but we were still playing almost three weeks later—and to be with these guys a little longer.”

Baseball is famously depicted as a game awash in factoids and statistics, so there are ample indicators of how meaningful 2016 was for the Eagles. Start with how close they came to going to the World Series: It would’ve been their fifth time overall, 但这是1967年以来的第一次, NCAA改变了附加赛的形式, 扩大队伍的范围和回合数.

BC’s 35 wins (against 22 losses) were its most since the 37 in 2005, 老鹰队8-0的开局是该项目历史上最好的开局. BC also fared respectably against the country’s best baseball teams, going 11-11 against those ranked in the top 25 and 5-5 against top-10 squads. 在ACC玩游戏, acknowledged as one of the toughest conferences in college baseball, BC achieved its first ranking in a major poll (at 20th) prior to the Super Regional.

然而，数字只能说明部分情况. 特别是在行政协调会, BC consistently faces teams that have superior facilities and resources, not 对我来说ntion better weather—the Eagles (along with many other schools from wintry climes) have to play on the road the first several weeks of the season, which begins in February; their first 2016 home game at Shea Field didn’t come until March 29.

“人们说我们不能赢得比赛的所有原因都是, 对我来说, 我们可以这么做的原因,甘比诺说. “Playing away from home, with the crowd usually cheering against you? 这就是我们赛季的头几周.”

That’s why Gambino has a very specific set of criteria for the players he wants to recruit. "It’s not just finding the best player,” he said, “but the right player.”

那个人将不仅仅是一个优秀的棒球运动员, 而是甘比诺手下的精英学生, BC棒球队的总平均成绩有所上升, 五名老鹰队成员进入了acc学术棒球队, ACC学术荣誉榜46名). He also looks at a player’s character (“Character wins”) and toughness—“enough to handle everything that’s thrown at them, 在棒球场上或场外.”

甘比诺补充道, “Making our alumni and former players proud of BC baseball is extremely important 对我来说. We take pride in the program for how it represents 电子游戏软件 and serves the University’s Jesuit mission.”

Sizing up the team during its first few weeks of practice last fall, Gambino felt it had qualities enough to improve on the 2015 squad that had fallen a little short of postseason play: not only good pitching, 有深度的阵容, 击球手让对方投手努力让他们出局, 但是团队精神给了球队一个强大的, 情感结缔组织.

“The culture and chemistry in our clubhouse is very special,甘比诺说. “我们谈论成为一个家庭, 兄弟情谊——尤其是和我们的团队牧师, [神学与事工学院的学生]克里斯·卡尔德隆, S.J.以及如何实现这一目标. We don’t have to create any fake scenarios to show that part of ourselves, 我们努力工作，照顾它.”

还有07年的皮特·弗雷茨, 棒球运营主管, whose determination to lead a life enriched by family and baseball while enduring the ravages of ALS has become a national story. The progression of the disease has made it all but impossible for Frates to attend more than a few games, yet he is constantly in touch with the team by social media or other electronic communications.

“Pete is an inspiration to all of us, plain and simple,甘比诺说. “他让我们正确看待一切, especially the players: How can you not be impressed and moved by his example?

“当然, Pete’s story received a lot of attention in the media because of the Ice Bucket Challenge, 这很好. But for us, Pete is simply an everyday part of who we are and what we do.”

“我们谈论的一切——成为一家人, 齐心协力——就是以皮特为榜样,克罗宁说. “他就像我们的兄弟.”

与朋友们一起工作, 并指导像克罗宁这样的球员, are two of the many reasons Gambino feels he made the right choice to return to the Heights.

“I feel so lucky to be a part of this University; my respect and love for BC continues to grow. 这是艰难的, 我想, when your job and your passion are the same thing: I take the losses much harder, 因为我想以最好的方式代表这所学校.

“If I get 太 passionate sometimes, it’s because I truly believe progress can be made.”

——肖恩·史密斯，新闻 & 公共事务