March 9, 2007
Eagle Baseball Takes First Pitch This Weekend In Orlando
 

Casey Allen is one of the Eagles top returnees after hitting .268 with 10 RBI (Jodi Andruskevich photo).

As the chill of 20-degree weather slowly releases its icy grip on southern New Hampshire, a sure sign of the coming Spring begins this weekend as the Eagles baseball team heads to sunny Florida and kick off its 2007 campaign.

The Eagles depart for Orlando, Florida Friday, March 9th as they prepare for a season-opening nine-game stretch at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex over the following six days.

The season sees its first action Saturday, March 10th as the Eagles face Farmingdale (NY) State in a doubleheader with the first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m. The Eagles then play single games against Rochester and Saint Joseph’s, Maine on Sunday with a day off Monday.
 

The team returns to action Tuesday with a single game against Saint Joseph’s, matchups with NAIA school Calumet-Saint Joseph (Ind.) along with Farleigh Dickinson-Florham Wednesday, and closes the trip Thursday with a doubleheader against Curry.

Coming off a 5-21 overall season that included a 4-11 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play, fifth year Head Coach Jim Cardello’s club looks to improve from last season while making a run at the post season conference tournament.
 

The team will also feature a unique addition to the program in newcomer Christal Fitzgerald, who will offer a pair of firsts for the Eagles program. Not only with Fitzgerald be the first female member of the program, she will also be the first Australian native (Sydney) to play at DWC.

It will be hard to replace the extraordinary talent of last year’s Co-GNAC Player of the Year and national batting champion Chris Shanahan (.524 average), but the Eagles won’t have to look far for him as he joins the staff as an assistant coach alongside fourth year top assistant Mike Henzley ’88.

The Eagles roster is young but shows promise. Cardello and his staff have expanded the roster from 16 a year ago to 22 this season which includes eight returning letter winners, six starters, 14 newcomers and 10 true freshmen.
 

Nick Culver hit .291 last season and fielded .941.

Leading that returning cast is sophomore pitcher and outfielder Nick Culver (Meriden, Conn.), who finished second in team hitting last year with a .344 average, including five doubles and six RBI. Culver was also among the team’s top fielders with a .941 fielding percentage.

Sophomore infielder Jared Galm (Kingston, N.Y.) hit .291 with three doubles and eight RBI, while sophomore infielder Dave Shemella (Stone Ridge, N.Y.) hit .270 with 10 RBI, two doubles and was the team’s top base-stealing threat, converting 12 of 14 attempts.

Graduate student and pitcher/first baseman Casey Allan (South Berwick, Maine), who hit .268 with five doubles, 10 RBI and was 10 of 11 on stolen base attempts, rounds out the top four returnees at the plate. Sophomore outfielder Mike Adams (Frankfort, Maine), who hit 229, and knocked in seven runs, along with junior catcher Kevin Murphy (New Paltz, N.Y.), who added two doubles, a triple, and nine RBI, round out the returning starter corps.

The Eagles will also look to the continued development of junior outfielder Danny Haynes (Downsville, N.Y.), and junior third baseman Aaron Freedman (Randolph, Mass.) to be top contributors in 2007.

On the mound, Culver worked 36 2/3 innings last season including six starts, posting a 2-3 mark with a 6.14 ERA with 20 strikeouts. Freedman earned three starts as part of five appearances, while Galm added a 2-2 record in six appearances and two starts.

Among the 14 newcomers, players to watch include pitchers Shaun Hanson (Durham, N.H.), and Nick Michaud (Windsor Locks, Conn.); outfielder Mike Sweeney (Foxboro, Mass.); catcher Chuck Manning (Riverside, R.I.); and junior walk-on infielder Mike Collette along with his brother, freshman outfielder Matt Collette (Oceanside, N.Y.).

Meanwhile Fitzgerald, a pitcher by trade, is set to become the fourth all time and first Australian and international female to play collegiate baseball in America. Fitzgerald played in high school as well as a women’s baseball league down under, representing her state team for many years and was a finalist to make the national team.

Fitzgerald became the first Australian to play in the elite North American Women’s Baseball League (NAWBL) in 2005. As part of the Nashua, N.H.-based NAWBL, she was named as an all-star and offensive most valuable player among her peers.

Fitzgerald joins a short list of women baseball collegians that includes Julie Croteau, a first baseman who in 1989 became the first woman to play as a member of the St. Mary’s (Md.) NCAA Division III program; Ila Borders, who in 1995, became the first woman to pitch in a men’s game for Southern California College (now Vanguard University) and later played at Whitter University (Cal.) and went on to play professionally for three years; and pitcher Molly McKesson, who received a scholarship to play at NCAA Division II Christian Brothers University, and is currently in her second season as a junior on the Bucs’ 2007 season roster.

Upon their return to Nashua, the Eagles are off until Thursday, March 22nd when they open their home schedule with a single game against Gordon beginning at 3:00 p.m. and host intercity and GNAC rival Rivier the following day at 2:00 p.m.