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.
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