New England Baseball Journal’s The Base Path

A special treat this podcast, as we’re joined by Tim Foley, the play-by-play voice of the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Foley guides us through the different ways to enjoy the league, including batting clinics for the youngsters and the best places to get food! Whether you’re a longtime fan of the league or a newcomer, Foley gives you the lay of the land and tells you which teams have the best and most family-friendly parks.

One of the favorites heading into the MIAA D1 state tournament is Boston College High. The team’s new head coach, Steve Healy joins us to discuss the potential pairings, and which teams he’d like to see — and avoid — in the tournament.

Katie Krall is just the second woman coach in the history of the Red Sox organization. The club hired her to serve as the player development coach at Double-A Portland, and she works with the Red Sox players on improving their game. Katie enjoys her work, but says sexism is still a real problem in the game. She joins Dan Guttenplan to talk about her experience breaking barriers with the Sox.

We have two guests from Nor’Easters Baseball in studio for our podcast – Nor’Easters founder Tim Daneau and Operations Coordinator Matt Feld. Matt also covers all of the biggest games in Massachusetts high school baseball for the Boston Herald, and he’ll size up the top teams and players heading into the MIAA state tournament. 

Austin Prep Head Coach Jonathan Pollard joins the podcast to talk about what makes his program special, and how he helps students find the right match. Pollard has a unique approach that combines the students’ skills with their personalities. Find out more in this edition of The Base Path.

Our guest is the coach of the number three ranked junior college (JuCo) team in the nation, Northern Essex Community College’s Jeff Mejia. He arrived at Northern Essex as the Knights’ head coach in the 2013 season. Since then, the team has been crowned New England regional champions six times, district champions five times and earned five bids to the NJCAA World Series.

Want to add speed to your fastball? How about adding velocity to your swing? Winning Pitchers Academy in Framingham, Mass. claims to have the recipe — and it is proving it. We talk with Winning Pitchers Academy trainers John Miller and Jamie Aldoupolis about how they get their students to give their all.

The Massachusetts high school baseball season is underway, and our guest is a Hall of Fame coach whose team played for a state championship last season. Hopkinton High School Coach Steve Simoes was inducted to the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame earlier this year. Last spring, he led Hopkinton to the D2 state championship game, and he also has experience coaching Legion and college baseball. Enjoy his thoughts on the state of the game after a legendary career.

Baseball season is underway in New England! Most high school, prep and Little League teams kicked off the season in the last week. Today, we preview the prep season with the coach of the top-ranked team in New England. Phillips Andover coach Kevin Graber will be joining us. Under Graber, Andover has won four league championships. This is the fourth season in which the Big Blue have started the season as the number one ranked prep program in New England.

A special! We’re out of the studio and into the field! We visited UConn in Storrs, Conn., to talk with Coach Jim Penders, leading prospect Reggie Crawford who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and slugging pitcher Erik Stock who transferred to UConn from Old Dominion. Enjoy this report from UConn’s baseball field, recorded during batting practice.