SENIOR PROFILE
Brain Sheehan entered this past fall as our top catcher, one of five on the roster. A knee injury, two back injuries and one player quitting later, Brian was our only catcher for the Spring season. No other player on our roster entered the season physically able to squat behind the plate, or with any college catching experience.
He ended up leading our team with 10 hit by pitches. I was pretty close a number to asking him to back off the plate or work on rolling out of the way of pitches. Given his bat and skills behind the plate, he was our most valuable player. Fortunately, he toughed it out all season and opposing pitchers never squared him up.
Brian went on to have a great season. The more he caught, the better he hit. The better his eye got. He ranked second in the SUNYAC with 20 walks. He was our most consistent hitter all season. He was the only SUNYAC catcher to start all 18 conference games behind the plate. He was leading, or among the leaders, in the conference in on-base percentage, batting average, walks and hit by pitches all year.
Brian was finished with a great season and a great career for us. As a senior, he was nominated as the Fredonia State Male Athlete of the Year and earned all conference. He continued a tradition of strong catchers at Fredonia State. In my 11 years at FSU, Mark Taurisani, John Papierski, Dan Murphy, Rob Herrman (four times) and now Brian Sheehan were able to make all conference.
His toughness and consistency were what made him a leader for this team. He wanted to catch every game all season. Through his four seasons, he hit .316, .274, .337 and .349 and posted a .324 career average.
Brian was an individual that really grew during his four years here. Each year his grades got better. Each year he worked a little harder in the weight room. He became a better leader each season. It was great to see it pay off for him this year.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Dillon Lowe... the next Donny Kirsch
SENIOR PROFILE
Dillon came to as one half of the 'State Champs Connection' (along with Ian Gallagher) from Pittsford Sutherland. When I first saw Dillon during a fall league game in high school, I was really impressed with how the program was run. Everyone ran on and off the field, everyone on the team hustled and the team played the game the right way. He'd fit in with our team. I recruited about five guys off that team, and he's the one we ended up with (Gallagher spent one semester at Alfred State).
Dillon broke in with a bang his freshman year. Due to injuries late in the season, he took over the third base spot and batted .538 (14 for 26). As a junior and senior he would go on to earn All Conference recognition. We won't mention his sophomore season.
He finished his career 10th on the team's all-time hit list, and seventh on the stolen base list while posting a .305 average. Over his four seasons, no Blue Devil appeared in more games or had more at bats.
As a senior, Dillon was moved over to first base. An intense player, he was known for talking to himself after every out he made. Dillon had a great conference tournament for us this year, batting .357 with a home run and double. He helped lead the offense to a great showing in the tournament. Dillon batted in the middle of the order most of the season, taking the pressure of the other hitters.
He is also one of the Original Five. As a freshman, he was adopted and mentored by Donny Baseball, the great Donny Kirsch. Betrween the two of them, we had a great run of thirdbasemen.
Dillon will finish up his schooloing in the fall, earning a degree in geology. He is exploring the possibility of working with Brian Lansing, our previous geology grad, and traveling around the country, making a lot of money and fly fishing when he can.
I'd like to give a shout out to his dad, Dan Lowe, who was our official team photographer for a few years. Dan played some college ball at St. Lawrence back in the day.
Dillon came to as one half of the 'State Champs Connection' (along with Ian Gallagher) from Pittsford Sutherland. When I first saw Dillon during a fall league game in high school, I was really impressed with how the program was run. Everyone ran on and off the field, everyone on the team hustled and the team played the game the right way. He'd fit in with our team. I recruited about five guys off that team, and he's the one we ended up with (Gallagher spent one semester at Alfred State).
Dillon broke in with a bang his freshman year. Due to injuries late in the season, he took over the third base spot and batted .538 (14 for 26). As a junior and senior he would go on to earn All Conference recognition. We won't mention his sophomore season.
He finished his career 10th on the team's all-time hit list, and seventh on the stolen base list while posting a .305 average. Over his four seasons, no Blue Devil appeared in more games or had more at bats.
As a senior, Dillon was moved over to first base. An intense player, he was known for talking to himself after every out he made. Dillon had a great conference tournament for us this year, batting .357 with a home run and double. He helped lead the offense to a great showing in the tournament. Dillon batted in the middle of the order most of the season, taking the pressure of the other hitters.
He is also one of the Original Five. As a freshman, he was adopted and mentored by Donny Baseball, the great Donny Kirsch. Betrween the two of them, we had a great run of thirdbasemen.
Dillon will finish up his schooloing in the fall, earning a degree in geology. He is exploring the possibility of working with Brian Lansing, our previous geology grad, and traveling around the country, making a lot of money and fly fishing when he can.
I'd like to give a shout out to his dad, Dan Lowe, who was our official team photographer for a few years. Dan played some college ball at St. Lawrence back in the day.
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