BOSTON, Mass. – Every kid playing baseball in New England has one dream: to play for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. While it’s not for the Red Sox, the Massachusetts baseball team just achieved the dream of playing at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark. On a beautiful 80-degree Tuesday afternoon, Fenway Park made sure to give the team the full experience.
For starters, the team parked on the very same street the Red Sox players park on and went through the same player entrance into the clubhouse. From the clubhouse, as the home team, the Minutemen (12-16-1, 6-15 Atlantic 10) called the first base line dugout home for nine innings; the very same dugout that housed Red Sox legends from Babe Ruth to Ted Williams, to current day star Rafael Devers. When starter Robbie O’Connor toed the rubber in the top of the first, there were numerous camera people surrounding him as he took his warmup pitches. That’s when it became clear to the Minutemen that they weren’t at Earl Lorden Field in Amherst anymore. As the flagship state university, lots of players call Massachusetts and surrounding New England states home.
For head coach Matt Reynolds, a South Boston native, he explained that “you come here as a child or a player or a coach, you can’t help but get goosebumps. To be able to compete and put our name out there on the field is pretty cool.”
Jack Beverly, a Framingham, Massachusetts native, had a monster performance with three doubles, two of which were off the iconic Green Monster in left field.
“It’s a pretty cool experience growing up as a Red Sox fan and coming to games as a kid. Obviously you’d wish to get the [win] but, it’s a pretty sweet experience. [A] dream come true,” Beverly remarked.
Sam Hill had a monster day as well. The Northborough native had a single and two walks as well as throwing a Boston College opponent out at the plate from left field under the Green Monster.
“It was something I was thinking about all night [Monday night], I definitely had trouble falling asleep,” Hill said. “All the history, the amazing games that have been played here and just being up in that box is pretty surreal. I don’t really remember my first at bat. It was a good experience.”
While the Minutemen were ultimately overpowered by a power four Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, the full Fenway experience was in effect: The CITGO sign illuminating over the monster, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the eighth inning, The “whoop” sound effect after every strikeout.
The names and faces of every hitter being awkwardly placed right in center field while batters hit and lastly, while not being super fun for the Minutemen, a light show after an Eagle (22-23, 9-15 ACC) grand slam. Fenway truly played a good host to a historic tournament and gave these students something to write home about.
“Hopefully this is an annual thing for us,” Reynolds said.
UMass baseball is next in action on Wednesday, April 30, taking on Sienna at 3 p.m. While the game won’t be at Fenway Park, the Minutemen return to Earl Lorden Field for out of conference action. The game can be viewed on ESPN+.
Owen Shelffo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X/Twitter @owen_shelffo
