Raiders Baseball Welcomes Double Digit New Comers

2010 has brought about a transformation of sorts for the Rivier College Raiders Baseball club. The two seniors, Chris Hunt (Lisbon, NH) .309 slugging % and a .884 fielding % and Ryan O’Connor (Medford, MA) .389 batting average, are happy to see the new faces and are eager to get the season started. Also returning are junior Pat Brooks (Milford, NH) .466 on base % and .913 fielding %, junior Corey Burns (Dorchester, MA) .957 fielding % and junior Tyler Eaton (Waterville, ME) a third team All-GNAC Conference selection. All three transferred to Rivier College in the spring of 2009 for the opportunity of playing time and to redefine the baseball culture at Rivier. 

This group has welcomed in a group of players that will compete and push hard for every starting position.  Hunt will help to anchor a young pitching staff with the only other returner that toed the pitching rubber last season was Eaton. Senior Jesse Dryz (Hyannis, MA), returns to the Rivier pitching staff after taking the last 2 years off for academic and work reasons.  Sophomore Jeff Breslin (Westford, MA) transfers in to continue his baseball career while freshman Jacob Daigle (Burlington, MA) is another transfer hoping to help Rivier regain their winning ways. Daigle transferred in to get back to baseball after he played football at his previous school. 

The freshman class will get a great look and plenty of opportunities from the Rivier College coaching staff. Kyle Bowser (Newington, NH) brings back-to-back State Championships from Plymouth High School along with his winning ways to Nashua. Bowser will play in the outfield and DH while classmate Ford Coates (Raymond, NH) will compete on the mound and behind the plate. Artie Hoffman (Medford, MA) will roam the outfield and step on the mound in his inaugural GNAC campaign. Gilbert Luis (Miami, FL) will be the guy that plays a little bit of everything; fans could see Luis behind the plate, in the outfield and on the mound. Tim O’Meara (Burlington, MA) will solidify the middle infield positions and Matt St. Peter (Colchester, VT) could see time in the outfield and at first base.  The guy that keeps everyone on their toes and with a smile on their face, Aramis Velez (Lowell, MA) will play at first base/ DH and hit in the middle of the line-up.

This young squad will look to the upper classmen for some leadership and guidance as they expect to bring a winning tradition back to Rivier.  Just 2 seasons ago, Rivier was among the top teams in the GNAC, only to fall to the bottom a season ago.  This group of Raiders have no plans of being at the bottom of the pile again and even though this team is sure to go through some growing pains, the plan is to work hard day in and day out to get the Raiders into the win column and back to the post season.