Boston College baseball practically rewrote its record book with a breakout season in 2023, being ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation over 10 weekly appearances in the rankings, while finishing the season 37–20.
Despite an offseason punctuated by turnover—a total of 14 combined MLB signees, graduations, and transfers, along with the departures of head coach Mike Gambino, pitching coach Kevin Vance, and hitting coach Tyler Holt––the Eagles find themselves starting 2024 with many reasons for optimism.
One reason is the continuity. The Eagles return seven of the 10 positional players who started more than 20 games for last season’s team. Another is the arrival of head coach Todd Interdonato, who brings with him 18 years of experience at Wofford College and 455 head coaching wins.
Interdonato, who BC hired in July to be its next head coach, took over the Wofford program in 2008, which did not have a winning season in the previous 12 seasons. Before joining the Eagles, the Terriers finished with a record above .500 in nine of the last 10 seasons, including 40-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
In short, Interdonato knows the fundamentals of building a winning program. In the last decade, Wofford ranked consistently among the Southern Conference’s best.
“Once we turned the corner, we felt like what we were doing was sustainable,” Interdonato said of his time at Wofford. “It wasn’t a flash in the pan. It wasn’t a ‘Okay, how are we going to pull the rabbit out of our hat again?’. It was ‘Nope. We know the process, we know the blueprint. We have this foundation, we have this infrastructure, and this is how we do it.’”
The success of the 2023 team, to Interdonato, is proof the Eagles can contend on a yearly basis.
“When I look at BC baseball, I think what last year shows you is what the program is capable of,” Interdonato said. “I look at that, and it’s just such an encouraging sign … it shows you what is possible here.”
The transition process has been a collaborative effort between the coaching staff and the players. Upperclassmen Vince Cimini, Barry Walsh, and John West, among several other returning players, were pivotal in making Interdonato feel at home, he said.
“You feel like you are being taken care of, you feel like you’re being watched out for, and you feel like somebody is legitimately trying to help you succeed,” Interdonato said of his returning players and staff. “Those guys, I feel, are trying to set me up for success as a coach, which has been—I never ever expected that taking this job.
Returners:
The Eagles return a majority of their outfield and infield starters from last season, bringing back seven players who started more than 20 games—outfielders Walsh, Cameron Leary, and Cohl Mercado, along with infielders Cimini, Patrick Roche, Nick Wang, and Sam McNulty. Other positional players who saw game experience in 2023 and look to fill more significant roles include catcher Parker Landwehr, infielders Owen DeShazo, Kyle Wolff, Aidan Harrington, and outfielder Chris Markovich.
For pitching, the Eagles lost weekend starters Chris Flynn and Henry Leake to graduation, but return several relievers and potential starting pitchers. Returning pitchers West, Eric Schroeder, Sean Hard, A.J. Colarusso, Bobby Chicoine and Matthew Nunan all started games for BC in 2023. Joey Ryan (24 appearances) and Charlie Coon (17 appearances) are other key returning relievers.
Departures:
Outfielder Travis Honeyman (Rd. 3, No. 90, STL), and first baseman Joe Vetrano (Rd. 5, No. 163, LAD) were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft. Along with catcher Peter Burns (LAA), all three signed professional contracts following the Eagles’ 2023 season. Starting pitchers Flynn and Leake, relievers Andrew Roman, Ian Murphy, and Jon Campbell Jr., and infielder Lucas Stalman graduated. Transfers to other programs included Adonys Guzman (Arizona), Julian Tonghini (Indiana), Luke Delongchamp (Bryant), Daniel Baruch (Bryant), and Jason Hernandez (Hudson Valley).
Incoming Transfers:
BC welcomes nine transfers to the 2024 roster. Graduate transfers include starting pitcher Michael Farinelli (Northwestern), relief pitcher Stephen McLendon (Babson), infielders Connor Bertsch (Dartmouth) and Cam Caraher (Southern New Hampshire), and catcher John Collins (Middlebury).
The four underclass transfers are junior pitchers Tyler Mudd (Holy Cross) and Jordan Fisse (Stevens Tech), and sophomore catchers Beck Milner (Yale) and Nate McHugh (Iowa Western).
The most significant positional departures from the 2023 team were from the pitcher and catcher positions, and both were addressed with transfers. Flynn and Leake’s graduation leave two starting weekend rotation roles available, which Mudd, Fisse, and Farinelli should be in the competition for. BC has one returning catcher on the roster from last season, senior Parker Landwehr. Collins, Milner, and McHugh should figure into that starting position competition as well.
Enrollees:
Rounding out the 17 new players on the Heights, eight freshmen will begin their collegiate careers in Chestnut Hill this spring. Among them are four infielders: Nathanael Frederking (London, Ontario), Esteban Garcia (Queens, N.Y.), Austin Hartsell (Bridgewater, Mass.), and Adam Magpoc (Torrance, Calif.); one utility player: Tony Humphrey (OF/RHP, Courtland Manor, N.Y.); and three pitchers: Joe Gold (RHP, Ballston Spa, N.Y.), Gavin Hasche (RHP, Parker, Colo.), and Kyle Kipp (RHP, Stamford, Conn.).
Offseason Notes:
Five Eagles represented Boston College in the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer after the 2023 NCAA season. For the Falmouth Commodores, pitchers Ryan and Coon combined for 13 innings of scoreless work. Outfielders Leary and Caraher made appearances for the Harwich Mariners, and junior pitcher Hard had an excellent summer, pitching 23 innings and striking out 31 for an ERA of 2.34 for Harwich.
Notable Series:
The ACC is tied with the SEC with six teams in the D1Baseball preseason top 15.
BC will play series with four of those six teams—No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 10 Clemson, No. 13 NC State, and No. 14 Virginia—with only the Virginia series at home.
Wake Forest was No. 1 for the last month of the 2023 season, before losing to LSU in the championship game. Virginia was No. 6 in the final poll. NC State, which was ranked early last season, returns all three of their weekend starters this year.
Opening Weekend:
The Eagles travel to Scottsdale, Ariz. to play in the opening weekend’s MLB Desert Invitational from Feb. 16 to 18. Playing against Ohio State, No. 24 Kansas State, and California—the first of which being nationally broadcasted on MLB Network at 1 p.m. on Friday—the Eagles face three premier non-conference opponents. California swept historically successful UCLA at its home stadium in 2023, Ohio State ended the season winning nine in a row, and Kansas State, ranked No. 24 in the preseason poll, reached the Big 12 championship game last May.
