TABLE OF CONTENTS REVIEW Results 2012 Statistics HISTORY

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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS OUTLOOK Team Photo & Pronunciation Guide Roster News and Notes Sonny Nictakis No. 8 COACHES Head Coach Mike Gambino Assistant Coach Scott Friedholm Assistant Coach Steve Englert Assistant Coach Greg Sullivan Director of Baseball Operations Pete Frates Support Staff PLAYERS Returners Newcomers QUICK FACTS REVIEW Results 0 Statistics 4 5 HISTORY BC vs. Red Sox BC in the Beanpot Postseason History Year-By-Year Eagles in the Draft Eagles in the Pros Honor Roll Academic Honor Roll Record Book Eagle Great Eddie Pellagrini Eagle Great Joe Morgan Eagle Greats GENERAL Location Chestnut Hill, MA 0467 Founded 86 Enrollment 4,640 President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. Athletic Director Brad Bates Nickname Eagles Colors Maroon and Gold Home Field Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field Conference Atlantic Coast Conference BASEBALL Head Coach Mike Gambino (Boston College 00) Record at BC 9-66 (third season) Career Record 9-66 (third season) Assistant Coaches Scott Friedholm (third season, Providence 98) Steve Englert (th season, Boston College 87) Greg Sullivan (third season, Eastern Connecticut State 06) Athletic Trainer Eric Crest 0 Overall Record - 0 ACC Record (Finish) 0-0 (sixth in Atlantic) Letterwinners Returning-Lost 8-8 Position Players Returning-Lost 0-5 Pitchers Returning-Lost -4 Newcomers MEDIA RELATIONS Associate AD/Media Relations Chris Cameron Assistant AD/Media Relations Stephanie Tunnera Assistant AD/Media Relations Dick Kelley Assistant Director/Media Relations Tim Clark Assistant Director/Media Relations Matt Lynch Assistant Director/Media Relations Zanna Ollove Media Relations Assistant Nicholas Dow Media Relations Assistant Michael Billings Media Relations Fax (67) Mailing Address Conte Forum Chestnut Hill, MA 0467 Website Baseball SID Office Phone Cell Phone #ThisIsBirdball BASEBALL CONTACT Zanna Ollove (67) (978) 88-9 ollove@bc.edu CREDITS The 0 Boston College baseball media guide is a production of the Boston College Media Relations Office and the Boston College Athletic Association, Chestnut Hill, Mass All rights reserved. Created and edited by Zanna Ollove and the Media Relations Office. Designed by Grant Hawkins Design granthawkinsdesign.com. Photographs by John Quackenbos (Athletic Department Photographer), Jet Commercial Photo, Garry Gilbert (BC Office of Publications), Lee Pellegrini (BC Office of Publications), Jim Abts, Boston Chamber of Commerce, Mark Crammer (Orange & White) and Jim Pierce (Northeastern University).

2 0 EAGLES Each year, the Eagles participate in the Welles Remy Crowther Red Bandana Run, a 5K race held each October to honor the former BC lacrosse player who lost his life saving others during the September terrorist attacks in 00. Bottom Row (L-R): Manager Michael Rivera, Matt Alvarez, Hunter Gordon, Travis Ferrick, Matt McGovern, Jay Jeannotte, Eric Stevens, Tyler Hinchliffe, Jimmy Dowdell, Michael Clouthier and Matt Paré Middle Row (L-R): Geoffrey Murphy, Logan Hoggarth, John Nicklas, manager Paul Andrews, John Hennessey, John Gorman, Nate Bayuk, Eric Stone, Tom Bourdon, Andrew Chin, Nick Colucci, Joe Cronin, Blake Butera and Luke Fernandes Back Row: (L-R): Nate LaPointe, Jeff Burke, Stephen Sauter, Chris Shaw, Koury Hajjar, Steve Green, Austin Solecitto, Jesse Adams, Gabriel Hernandez and Nick Poore TEAM BREAKDOWN - BY STATE California Ontario (Canada) Connecticut Florida Georgia Louisiana Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Rhode Island Tennessee Virginia TEAM BREAKDOWN - BY CLASS 9 4 Graduate Student Seniors Juniors Sophomores Redshirt Freshmen Freshmen PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Nicke COLUCCI Blake BUTERA Logan HOGGARTH Tom BOURDON Matt PARÉ Stephen SAUTER Nate BAYUK Koury HAJJAR Austin SOLECITTO Michael CLOUTHIER Jay JEANNOTTE Co-loo-chee BEW-tera HOE-garth BOR-din Per-ray Saw-ter Bay-ICK AY-zh-ar SAUL-a-seat-o Co-loo-CHAY Jah-no

3 NO. NAME CL. POS. HT. WT. B/T HOMETOWN/LAST SCHOOL Nick Colucci R-Fr. OF 6-8 R/R Portland, Maine/Deering Blake Butera So. INF R/R Madisonville, La./Mandeville 4 Travis Ferrick So. INF R/R Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge 6 Logan Hoggarth Fr. INF R/R North Port, Fla./North Port 8 Matt Paré Sr. C L/R Lighthouse Point, Fla./Pompano Beach 7 Tom Bourdon Jr. OF 5-87 L/R Simsbury, Conn./Northwest Catholic 9 Stephen Sauter Fr. C/B 6-90 S/R Fullerton, Calif./Troy 0 John Hennessy Jr. INF 5-94 L/R Andover, Mass./Andover Tyler Hinchliffe So. LHP/B/OF L/L Erial, N.J./Highland Regional Jimmy Dowdell Jr. OF R/R Palm Harbor, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic 4 Jeff Burke Fr. RHP R/R Signal Mountain, Tenn./Loomis Chaffee 5 Nate LaPointe Jr. C 6-44 R/R Brimfield, Mass./St. John s 6 John Nicklas Fr. RHP S/R Foxboro, Mass./St. Sebastian s 7 Jesse Adams Fr. LHP/OF L/L Maumee, Ohio/St. John s Jesuit 8 Matt McGovern Sr. OF L/L Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck 9 Nate Bayuk GS LHP 5-07 L/L Foxboro, Mass./Xaverian Brothers 0 Steve Green Jr. LHP L/L Brewster, N.Y./John Jay Eric Stone So. RHP R/R West Haven, Conn./West Haven Eric Stevens Jr. RHP R/R Pompton Lakes, N.J./Don Bosco Gabriel Hernandez Fr. INF 5-7 S/R Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian 5 Koury Hajjar Sr. OF L/R Hanover, Mass./Boston College High 6 Hunter Gordon Sr. RHP R/R Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott 7 Luke Fernandes Fr. RHP/INF R/R Elliot, Maine/Marshwood 8 Andrew Chin R-Fr. LHP 5-9 L/L Newton, Mass./Buckingham, Browne & Nichols 9 Nick Poore So. LHP L/L Salem, N.H./Salem 0 Matt Alvarez Jr. RHP 6-86 R/R Cranbury, N.J./Princeton Geoffrey Murphy So. RHP/OF/B 6-85 R/R Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh Chris Shaw Fr. OF/B 6-5 L/R Lexington, Mass./Lexington Austin Solecitto Fr. LHP L/L Franklin Lakes, N.J./Indian Hills 4 John Gorman So. RHP/INF 6- R/R Norwood, Mass./Catholic Memorial 5 Michael Clouthier Fr. RHP 6- R/R Guelph, Ontario/Bishop MacDonnell 6 Jay Jeannotte Sr. RHP 6-90 R/R Narragansett, R.I./Narragansett 44 Joe Cronin Fr. RHP/INF R/R Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough COACHING STAFF 5 Mike Gambino Head Coach 9 Scott Friedholm Assistant Coach 4 Greg Sullivan Assistant Coach 8 Steve Englert Volunteer Assistant Coach Pete Frates Director of Baseball Operations 0 ROSTER

4 0 NEWS & NOTES HEADING INTO A NEW SEASON WHAT WAS LOST Boston College heads into the 0 season with 0 position players and returning pitchers. The Eagles also welcome newcomers to the Heights. Junior captain Tom Bourdon leads the starting returners as the centerfielder who led the Eagles in eight hitting categories in 0, including batting average (.4), slugging percentage (.59), RBIs (7) and home runs (0). Senior captain Matt Paré returns for another season behind the plate. He led the team with a.4 on-base percentage, was hit a team-leading 5 times and was second with 4 walks. He caught 8 base runners stealing. Sophomore infielder Blake Butera made an impact as a freshman, playing an every-day role at second base and leading the team in walks (), while ranking third in runs (), hits (5) and RBIs (9). Junior infielder John Hennessy and senior outfielder Matt McGovern will be a veteran presence on the diamond. Hennessy had the second-best on-base percentage (.96) and recorded a.7 batting clip last season. McGovern made only one error in right field in 0, stole five bases and recorded 8 RBIs. Junior right-hander Eric Stevens returns for another season as a weekend starter. He went 5- in 0 with a team-high 40 strikeouts. Graduate student Nate Bayuk, a lefty, comes back to continue to provide a relief role for the Eagles. He led the bullpen with a.76 ERA, tallying 4 strikeouts. Sophomore John Gorman could return in a closer role or be a starter as he showed versatility in his freshman campaign and in the fall. In his first year donning the Maroon and Gold, the left-hander tallied four saves, 0 Ks and a.76 ERA. Sophomore Tyler Hinchliffe is one of the Eagles two-way players, as he will see time at first base, in the outfield or on the mound. The lefty tallied hits in 6 at bats last season, recording 0 RBIs and posting a 4.50 ERA in 6 appearances. BC lost eight letterwinners from the 0 ballclub, including Anthony Melchionda and Matt Brazis, both drafted by major league teams. Melchionda led the Eagles in runs (9) and was second on the team in slugging (.476), hits (65), RBIs (5), total bases (00) and doubles (7). Brazis held a.8 ERA, tallied five saves and struck out 5 batters while allowing only three extra base hits all doubles. Right-hander Kyle Prohovich, who led the bullpen in appearances (7) and was second with 6 Ks, finished his BC career last season. Outfielders Marc Perdios and Andrew Lawrence and infielders Spenser Payne and Rob Moir did as well. Moir tied for third on the team with 5 hits, and was fourth with a.45 slugging percentage. Payne was tied for second with six home runs, while Perdios led the way with six stolen bases. Lawrence tallied a.70 batting clip as a senior and did not make an error in left field, tallying one assist. EAGLES EARN SOME HARDWARE NAME IN THE BOOKS Anthony Melchionda tallied 04 career hits and 7 career RBIs in his four years at the Heights, ranking him fourth and tied for ninth on BC s all-time list. He also racked up 8 doubles, good for fourth all-time. Matt Brazis finished his BC career with 5 total saves, three behind Mike Belfiore (07-09), who holds the modern school record with 8 single-season saves. His five saves on the year tied for seventh in the record books. He also finished his career with 88 all-time appearances, first on BC s list. Junior Tom Bourdon recorded 79 hits in 0, tying him for fourth among BC greats. His 8 doubles tied for eighth, while his 0 homers tied for 0th on the single-season list. He also racked up 44 at bats and 9 total bases, which ranked fourth and tied for third, respectively. Current sophomore Blake Butera drew walks in 0, tying for eighth in BC record books. One of the three former players he tied with is older brother Barry, who played at the Heights from Sophomore righty John Gorman is tied for 0th on the Eagles career saves list with four while senior captain right-hander Hunter Gordon has 64 all-time appearances, which rank ninth in BC record books. Lefty graduate student Nate Bayuk s 86 are second on the list. Last year s senior captain Anthony Melchionda earned All-ACC Second-Team, American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Northeast Region Second-Team and New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association s (NEIBA) All-Star First-Team honors. This year s junior captain Tom Bourdon was also named to the All-ACC second team, ABCA All-Northeast Region first team and a NEIBA All-Star. Melchionda was also named ACC Player of the Week twice in 0. His first honor came the first week of the season (Feb. 0) for his play in the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway, S.C., where the shortstop tallied a.49 batting clip and drove in six runs. The award for the Maroon and Gold was the first since April 00, but he then repeated it on March 6 as Melchionda hit.4 and drove in seven runs as the Eagles went -, beating 4th-ranked Georgia Tech twice. Three of Melchionda s eight hits on the week were for extra bases, including a home run in the 5-7 win over the Yellow Jackets on March. Melchionda also garnered CB60 Primetime Performers accolades for his play the first week of the season. As a freshman, Blake Butera was named one of CB60 Primetime Performers for the sixth week of the 0 college baseball season (March 9-5), as presented by CollegeBaseball60.com. The second baseman hit the game-winning, walk-off single in the Eagles 4- victory over then-4th-ranked Georgia Tech on March 4. He reached base eight times in the series and tallied nine hits during the team s - week, including a -for-5 effort in the 8-5 win at Bryant with an RBI, two runs and a double. The Boston College baseball team was ranked 7th in ESPN s first Power Rankings of the season and was also named the Off-Radar Team of the Weekend for their sweep in the Caravelle Resort Tournament. The article noted that the Eagles were the only team in the country that beat two ranked teams that weekend. BIG GAMES, BIG RESULTS BC s 7 runs in the 7-6 victory over then-no. Florida State on April 5, 0 was the most runs allowed by the Seminoles in an ACC game since the 004 season. It also marked the most runs the Eagles scored since they tallied 9 in a 9- win over Samford on March,, 009. The Eagles tallied their first ACC sweep since 00, defeating Wake Forest in a three-game series (April 7-9). It marked the first sweep under head coach Mike Gambino. In 00, BC took down Wake Forest and NC State in three games. Georgia Tech was 8-0 when scoring first before coming to the Heights, but the Eagles won two of the three meetings after allowing the Ramblin Wreck to get on the board first (March -5). The Eagles 5- victory over Fordham on May marked the largest margin of victory in 0 for BC. Their 9 hits and 4 RBIs tied season highs. WELCOME TO THE HEIGHTS Blake Butera 4 The Eagles added players to its roster to start the 0- season. The new freshman class included a Gatorade Player of the Year, a pitcher on the Canadian Junior National Team and two hurlers who threw no hitters their senior seasons. Gambino welcomes Jesse Adams from Maumee, Ohio, Jeff Burke from Signal Mountain, Tenn., Michael Clouthier from Guelph, Ontario, Gabriel Hernandez from Brooklyn, N.Y., Logan Hoggarth from North Point, Fla., Stephan Sauter from Fullerton, Calif., Austin Solecitto from Franklin Lakes, N.J., two players from Maine as Joe Cronin hails from Scarborough and Luke Fernandes from Elliot, and two from Massachusetts as John Nicklas is from Foxboro and Christopher Shaw is from Lexington.

5 0 NEWS & NOTES John Gorman I really like the makeup of this class, Gambino said. I think it s a class full of high character student-athletes who will have a huge impact on the field, in the clubhouse and around the Boston College community. I think it also shows the type of national recognition the BC degree carries when we can recruit Maine to Florida, out to California, and everywhere in between. Adams, a left-handed pitcher and outfielder helped lead St. Johns Jesuit in to its first-ever conference title while righthander Burke earned All-New England status and was named the team MVP his post-graduate year at Loomis Chaffee. Clouthier, a right-hander, played for the Canadian Junior National team and won the gold medal at the Canada Cup National Championship in 0 and the silver medal in 00 with Team Ontario. Fernandes was named Maine s Gatorade Player of the Year and Rawlings/Perfect Game All-Northeast First Team as a senior. Shaw, who was drafted in the 6th round by the New York Mets, will play first base and outfield for the Eagles. The Lexington High School player was the 0 Middlesex League MVP. Solecitto, a pitcher from Indian Hills High School, was a runner-up for the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year while earning ESPN All-State First-Team honors and Rawlings/Perfect Game All-Northeast Region honors. TAKING IT TO EXTRAS BC was -0 in extra innings in 0, tallying its first extrainnings win over Bryant on March 8, in a 5-, 0-inning victory on a walk-off home run by then senior Spenser Payne. On March, the Eagles defeated Maryland, 5-4, on a walk-off single by current sophomore Blake Butera in the th inning. WALK IT OUT The Eagles won three games on walk offs and lost two last season. Sophomore Blake Butera tallied a walk-off single in a 4- win over Georgia Tech on March 4 with two-out, bases-loaded heroics and then hit one with runners on first and second to score the winning run against Maryland on March in the th inning. Spenser Payne hit the game-winning, walk-off home run against Bryant on March 8. On Feb. 6, in Orlando, the Eagles pulled ahead of UCF in the top of the ninth on a two-run double by current sophomore Tyler Hinchliffe, but the Knights came through with their own walk-off double with the bases loaded and two outs. Against Northeastern on March 7, BC gave up a four-run lead in the ninth and lost on a walk-off wild pitch run scored by the Huskies. STREAKY EAGLES Ten members of the BC baseball team tallied career-long hit streaks in 0, including current sophomore Blake Butera, who led the team with a -game hit streak that ended on April 0. In that time frame, he went 5-for-4 (.66) with six runs, three doubles, six RBIs and seven walks. He also reached base safely in 6 straight games. Junior captain Tom Bourdon tallied a career-long hit streak, going eight games. He tallied hits in 8 at bats, scored six times and drove in three runs. He reached base safely in 5 straight games spanning from April to May 8, one game before the 0 ended. He finished the year going 4-for-5 with four RBIs against Duke. Current sophomore Tyler Hinchliffe put together a fivegame hit streak in his young career, tallying eight hits and six runs. The Eagles won the first four games of the streak. He starts the 0 season on another five-game tear and has currently reached base safely in the last games. Then junior Rob Moir recorded a career-long, -game hit streak in which he recorded 5 hits, including two doubles and a triple, nine runs and two RBIs while batting.4. Marc Perdios, Andrew Lawrence and Spenser Payne finished their BC careers with career-high hit streaks. Perdios tallied a 0-game hit streak, going 5-for-7 (.405) with five doubles, eight runs, seven RBIs, while Lawrence registered two career-long, eight-game hit streaks, finishing his career with at least one hit in his final eight games. Payne also recorded an eight-game hit streak, from the first game of the season to March 4. He registered a teamleading.7 batting average with hits, eight RBIs and five walks. STACKING UP IN THE ACC The Eagles compiled a 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference record, tying Maryland for the final spot in the Atlantic Division. Maryland s overall record placed the Terrapins one higher than the Eagles in the final standings. BC s.77 team batting average ranked sixth in the league, as did its.409 slugging percentage. The doubles the Eagles hit were fifth and the 8 home runs tied for seventh overall. Junior captain Tom Bourdon finished the 0 season tied for eighth in the ACC with 79 hits and tied for fourth with.44 hits per game. His.4 batting average ranked 5th among all league hitters, while his 0 home runs tied for seventh and his 9 total bases tied for eighth. Anthony Melchionda finished the year with a.0 batting average, good for 8th in the conference. BC and Georgia Tech recorded hits and 54 total bases together in the Eagles March victory over the Yellow Jackets, marking the most hits and total bases by two ACC teams in 0. The game also saw five home runs, tying for the most on the year. The 5 runs the Eagles and NC State scored in NC State s 6-9 victory over BC on April were the most combined runs in the ACC for the season. The night before, the two teams combined for doubles in the Eagles -0 win, also a league high. The Eagles turned five double plays twice (at FIU, vs. JMU), which tied for the most in the ACC in 0. FACING THE RANKS The Eagles played nine ranked teams in 0, tallying a 7-6 record. BC kicked off the 0 season with a 5- win over 7thranked Virginia at the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway, S.C, and went on to defeat No. 5 Coastal Carolina in a decisive 8- win. The following weekend, after garnering votes in the NCBWA poll, the Eagles played a three-game series with 9th-ranked UCF. All three contests were decided by one run with the Eagles earning one victory. The Maroon and Gold took two of three from No. 4 Georgia Tech in its first ACC matchup at home. The Eagles earned one victory in a three-game series against No. Florida State, marking the second time in two years BC has taken down the top team as they defeated top-ranked Virginia, 5-4, in innings in 0. In Raleigh, BC earned an -0 Friday night win over No. 8 NC State before falling in a doubleheader on Saturday. IN THE CLUTCH In 0, BC tallied 8 two-out RBIs, 44. percent of its RBI total. Sophomore Blake Butera led the way with 9 and junior Tom Bourdon was second with 7. Butera batted.460 with two outs. BC also registered a.79 batting clip with bases loaded. Senior Matt McGovern was -for-7 (.49) while Andrew Lawrence was -for-, senior captain Matt Paré was -for and Anthony Melchionda was -for-4. MAKING IT HAPPEN BC had tallied a.59 batting average as a team with a runner on third and less than two outs. Senior Matt McGovern was 8-for-9 and Rob Moir was 7-for-8. Then senior Anthony Melchionda was 4-for- (.66) while classmate Andrew Lawrence was 0-for-4 (.74). The Eagles had success advancing the runner, recording a.46 average. Five players tallied an average above.500, including junior John Hennessy, who led the way with a.548 clip. EAGLES DRAFTED Anthony Melchionda was drafted nd in the 4th round, 450th overall, by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 0 Major League Baseball Draft. The infielder from Braintree, Mass., was the first player from the Eagles to be drafted in 0. He was followed by then incoming freshman Chris Shaw, taken th in the 6th round to the New York Mets with the 800th pick overall. Matt Brazis was picked third in the 8th round, 85st overall, by the Seattle Mariners. Both former Eagles quickly moved up the minor league chain to Class A ball over the 0 summer. Melchionda started in the short season Class A league with the Batavia Muckdogs in the New York-Penn League and was promoted to the Cardinals Quad City River Bandits, where he tallied 4 hits, including five home runs. He finished the 0 season with an overall.65 batting average, hitting.88 for the River Bandits, and tallying overall RBIs. Brazis also advanced quickly, from Rookie ball on the Pulaski Mariners to the Class A affiliate Clinto LumberKings. He tallied two wins, seven saves, a 0.65 ERA with 5 strikeouts in 8 appearances for the year. 5

6 SONNY NICTAKIS No captains Jeff Waldron (left) and Sonny Nictakis Head coach Mike Gambino started a tradition when he arrived at The Heights in 0 to honor former Eagle Peter Sonny Nictakis. Each year, he selects a current player to wear Nictakis number eight as that player battled has adversity and represents the best qualities of BC Baseball. Gambino announces the player s name at the annual Baseball Night before the start of the season. Nictakis was a two-time captain for the Eagles in and lost his courageous battle with Hodgkin s disease in the summer of 000. Until 0, his No. 8 had not been worn since 999. In 0, Gambino tabbed senior outfielder Mike Sudol to be the first to wear the number and last year, senior captain righthanded pitcher Kyle Prohovich earned the honor. Kyle Prohovich - 0 Recipient Mike Sudol - 0 Recipient 0 RECIPIENT - MATT PARÉ Gambino announced that senior captain Matt Paré will don No. 8 for the 0 season. He made the announcement at Baseball Night, held at Fenway Park s State Street Pavillion on Jan.. Matt has, from the day I met him, showed incredible integrity and character Gambino said. He has learned to handle adversity on and off the field and it has been awesome watching him grow and develop into a very good leader. He s humble, respectful and has a work ethic and drive to be great on the field and in the classroom. Paré has played 6 games for the Eagles, including 8 starts. Last year, after a knee injury cut short his sophomore season, he started 4 games behind the plate and led the Maroon and Gold with a.4 on-base percentage and was second on the team with 4 walks. He recorded the third-best slugging percentage (.47) in ACC games and the second-most runs (8) in league contests. The left-handed catcher also caught 8 base runners stealing and made his first career error after 5 chances. He was named to the Athletics Director s Award of Academic Achievement. Arriving at the Heights from Lighthouse Points, Fla., where he was drafted in the 6th round of the 009 MLB FirstYear Players Draft by the Houston Astros, Paré had a great freshman campaign, starting all 58 games, mostly as the designed hitter. He batted over.00 until the last month of the season, finishing the year at.59. He led the team is on-base percentage (.4) and walks (5). 6 Bringing Sonny s No. 8 back is something that is very important to me and one of the first things I wanted to do as head coach, Gambino said. Wearing his number will be the biggest honor a player can receive in our program. It will be given to one player each year - the one that best shows the qualities that made Sonny such a great teammate, great leader and great friend. When we think about what we want in this program and the type of kids we want to represent BC baseball, Sonny was the embodiment of all those qualities: hard worker, great teammate, leader, unselfish, committed to being great at everything he did, Gambino added. He handled adversity, never complained and held himself and everyone around him to an incredibly high standard. Sonny didn t care whether or not anyone liked him. He had true confidence in himself because of the morals and values instilled in him by his family and he had the integrity to always do the right thing. And that s part of why everyone loved him. Nictakis two-year captaincy proved what a leader he was. He earned the 998 Jeff Keith Athletic Leadership Award and the baseball team leadership award. He also served as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He graduated from BC in 999 with a double major in English and theology. After graduation, he took a job with the Boston Red Sox. In the summer of 000, Sonny lost his courageous seven-and-a-half year battle with Hodgkin s disease. His spirit lives on in the BC baseball community with the Sonny Nictakis Fall World Series that is played every year.