Boston College heads into the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament from a position of strength.
The No. 22 ranked Eagles (34-17, 16-14) drew the No. 6 seed and were assigned to Pool C with No. 2 Clemson (39-17, 20-10) and No. 10 Virginia Tech (30-21, 12-17).
The Eagles will open the tournament as the home team against Virginia Tech at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Durham Bull Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. Virginia Tech was ranked No. 10 in the country when BC took two of three over a weekend series in Blacksburg, Va., on March 10-11. BC recorded wins over two No. 2 ranked teams this season, Tennessee and Wake Forest.
“This team is tremendously confident right now,” said BC coach Mike Gambino. “These kids here, they really believe they can win this tournament and they really believe we are going to Omaha.”
BC closed out the regular season by sweeping a doubleheader against Notre Dame last Saturday. The Eagles matched the program’s best record through 51 games that was set in 2005, BC’s final season in the Big East. BC also equaled its best record in conference play since moving to the ACC.
A good showing in the ACC tournament (a minimum of two wins) could provide for a bigger reward down the road. BC enters the tournament neck and neck with Duke to secure the ACC’s final slot to host an NCAA Regional.
That would be rare occurrence in this neck of the Northeast. The resurgent BC program would relish the opportunity to showcase its new facility as a recruiting tool. The Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at the Harrington Athletic Village at Brighton Fields became operational in March 2018.
“The cool thing is the path to hosting a regional is the same path of winning an ACC championship,” said Gambino. “Yes, we want to host and the way to do that is to go about our business the same as we have been doing it all year.
“We all want to host and we know the historical significance of it and these boys deserve it. It would be an amazing moment for our school. When you think about it, five years ago we didn’t have a baseball field and now we are legitimately in the host conversation.”
In Like Flynn
Staff ace Chris Flynn of Naugatuck, Conn., a right-handed graduate transfer from Roger Williams College, was named to the All-ACC second team on Monday.
Flynn has a 7-2 mark with two shutouts in 14 starts over 70.2 innings with a 3.82 ERA. He has allowed 34 runs, 30 earned, with 68 hits, 80 strikeouts and 32 walks. Flynn was 4-2 in 10 ACC starts over 51.2 innings with a 4.70 ERA, 31 runs and 27 earned. He recorded 50 strikeouts and 24 walks.
“I feel great,” said Flynn. “I have a lot of innings right now but my pitch count has not been too high in any given game so it has been very manageable.”
Flynn was the pitcher of record in the Eagles 8-2 win over Virginia Tech on March 11. He went 5.2 innings and allowed three run, two earned, on six hits with five strikeouts.
Flynn picked up his last win of the season in the opener of the twin bill against the Fighting Irish. Flynn allowed two runs and scattered six hits over seven innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Flynn will likely get his 15th start against Clemson on Friday. Gambino intends to start sophomore righty Eric Schroeder and possibly use up to six relief pitchers against Virginia Tech.
“We are going to keep him (Flynn) on his full rest to be ready for Friday,” said Gambino. “This sets us up for our bullpen to do a very good job starting with Eric Schroeder.”
No Ordinary Joe
Junior first baseman and clean-up hitter Joe Vetrano of Shrub Oak, N.Y., has made going yard a routine occurrence this season. The veteran southpaw smashed three home runs in the doubleheader against ND, one in the first and two in the second, and was named to the All-ACC third team along with outfielder Travis Honeyman.
Vetrano started 50 games and batted .306 with 60 hits, 18 home runs, 10 doubles, 124 total bases, 46 runs and 51 RBI. In 30 ACC starts, Vetrano batted .320 with 39 hits, 11 home runs, seven doubles, 79 totals bases, 27 runs and 32 RBI. Vetrano posted these strong numbers despite being the victim of the shift by opposing defenses.
“We are stronger spot and moving forward we are all pretty pumped and excited to get this thing going,” said Vetrano. “I am seeing a lot more curveballs I can tell you that and that is not much fun.”
Honeyman missed the final eight games of the season with a shoulder injury. But Honeyman practiced on Monday and is expected to play. Honeyman is projected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming MLB draft. Both Honeyman (Orleans) and Vetrano (Harwich) are veterans of Cape Cod Baseball League.
