Fitchburg State baseball program is on the rise

Courtesy of Nick Mallard, Sentinel & Enterprise

LEOMINSTER -- Extended spring training.

It's a term most commonly heard in Major League Baseball, one that refers to a player who stays at his team's spring training facility to take in extra drills. It can be to polish skills or rehab from an injury, but what it means is simple: You're not starting the season with your ball club.

Obviously, it's a term most don't want to hear.

But for the Fitchburg State University baseball team -- and many others in the Northeast -- those words have taken on a new meaning. With fields still buried beneath snow and ice or slowly becoming swamps as the temperatures begin to rise, the Falcons returned from their annual season-opening Florida trek only to have their campaign halted in its tracks.

Nine games in and one game over .500, the Falcons seemed to have a bit of momentum on their side after coming back from their southern swing. Almost two weeks later without another game under its belt, Fitchburg State is seemingly starting its season all over again with a pair of games with five games in four days -- providing that venues are ready for them.

"It's unreal. It's like starting over without having played those games," first-year head coach Keith Brouillard said Monday afternoon following a batting cage session at Baseball Evolution in Leominster. "It's nice to get back into the flow. We're trying to get as many games in as we can."

The Falcons will play Tuesday and Wednesday at Franklin Pierce University, facing Gordon and Anna Maria, respectively. Brouillard is quite familiar with the Rindge school, having been a standout pitcher for the Ravens, ranking in the top 10 in several categories for the team and earning a spot in the FPU Hall of Fame as a member of the 2003 baseball team, which was a Division II national semifinalist.

And the new skipper isn't concerned with having a packed schedule with games being postponed and rescheduled whenever possible.

"I think we've got enough senior leadership in terms of our pitching staff to get us through it," Brouillard said. "Obviously, we've got to play our matchups right and worry about our league games. We'll take it a game at a time. There are going to be a lot of consecutive days we'll be playing."

The senior leadership begins with captains Cody Bamforth, Randy Ortiz, Jeff Boice and Zach Bombria. Each has been a key piece in the Falcons' 5-4 start as the team looks for its first season with a winning record since 2009 (19-18).

"Randy's really developed over the last four years. He's plugged in our four hole right now, and Cody Bamforth has stepped in and performed," Brouillard said. "We've got seniors here who are hungry. We haven't had a winning season here in a few years and there are guys here who are hungry to get it done now."

Boice, an outfielder and first baseman, is batting a solid .361, having driven in a half-dozen, while Ortiz -- who shares the same positions as Boice -- is at .333 with a seven RBIs. Third baseman Bamforth has tallied the same average as Ortiz, and Bombria has appeared in three games on the hill, boasting a 1.64 ERA.

Sophomore Pierce Hans, a catcher and outfield transfer from County College of Morris in New Jersey, leads the team with eight RBIs, hitting .296 with the team's lone home run to this point.

In addition, Brouillard pointed to several area natives as key contributors to FSU's early-season success. Outfielder David Mason and shortstop Alex Heroux -- both juniors and graduates of Leominster High School -- and corner infielder and St. Bernard's alumnus Joe Balboni have seen plenty of time on the field for the Falcons. Lancaster native and Clinton grad Brendan Cutler has appeared in nearly half the team's games as a catcher.

But the most impressive performance from a local player has come from Townsend's Pat Mercier, a senior who set a program record for strikeouts in a game earlier this season, sitting down 16 Medaille batters via the K in a 7-4, 11-inning win.

The move to carry high-end area players has been by design and a strategy that has paid off for the Falcons.

"We try to keep the local talent around here. They've been playing huge for us," Brouillard said. "And Mercier is hitting his spots and he's going to be our go-to guy this year."

Brouillard admits that the Falcons still have some growing to do, but thinks that the team is heading in the right direction. He even sees a postseason berth as a distinct possibility.

"I think realistically this year, we're going to make the conference playoffs. That's one of our main goals," he said. "This year, we want to make the conference playoffs and see where the momentum takes us from there."

But for now, the focus is on the Belichikian, one-game-at-a-time philosophy that has served so many teams well. And though blankets of snow prevent games from being played, Brouillard is keeping his team has its collective sights on improving and being ready to take the field.

"Ryan Copp at Baseball Evolution has been a huge help to us, giving us access to his place when the Recreation Center has been closed," Brouillard said. "The guys are itching to get outside. It's time to get going. It's time to play some baseball."

Follow Nick Mallard at twitter.com/n_mallard