Baseball

In the spring of 1959, students at Catholic Memorial High School interested in playing baseball met for the first time.  Ronald S. Perry would be their coach assisted by Brother Tom Feerick.

Unlike basketball where there was a lack of youth programs in the area, there were many options available to play youth baseball in the Boston area.  When tryouts were called, it would not be surprising to see 100 students show interest in trying out.  CM had no baseball field on its property so that those students playing JV Baseball went to Hynes Field on the Parkway and varsity baseball players were driven to Kelly Field in Hyde Park.

Like basketball in 1958-59, the baseball teams competed against JV competition against mostly promising for the future.  It was not uncommon, especially during the early years, to see freshmen playing on the varsity team…

Competition on a varsity level started in 1960 in the Catholic Suburban League (Class C).  CM had no senior class at that time but the team was very competitive and finished as co-champs with Marian High School and qualifying for the State Baseball Tourney.

In the 1962 season, CM baseball was elevated to the Catholic Central League (Class B) and won the League Championship with a 12-2 league record.  Ed McElaney was chosen to the Hearst All-Star Team and Skip Lockwood would open the eyes of professional scouts with his unbelievable talents at such a young age.  He would eventually play in the major leagues and the Boston Red Sox.

In the 1962 season, the team was elevated in class once again to the Catholic Conference League (Class A).  The team finished in 2^nd place behind St. Mary’s of Lynn, which featured future Red Sox stars Richie and Tony Conigliaro.  In the opening game of the State Tournament, CM defeated undefeated Lawrence High and then upset St. Mary’s of Lynn, a team that had beaten them twice during the season.  The season ended in the State semi-final to a strong Melrose High School team.

In 1964, CM won the Catholic Conference League for the 2^nd year in a row going undefeated in league play behind the outstanding pitching of Skip Lockwood, Bob Welz and Don Larsen.  CM would end its season with a tough 3-2 loss against Lowell in the State Semi-Finals after winning 22 straight games without a loss!

The tradition of excellence in CM baseball continued throughout the rest of the 1960’s.  The foundation has been set by the earlier teams and whenever a situation arose for a clutch base hit, a good fielding play or a strong pitching performance, CM found a way to make it happen.

The fact that CM had strong freshman and JV programs assured that the varsity team would always be competitive.  Not having a field close to the main campus was not a problem.

Ron Perry, who had been the only varsity coach of baseball at Catholic Memorial, coached his last season of baseball in the spring of 1971.  He accepted the position of Director of Athletics at Holy Cross, his alma mater in the spring of 1972.  In 12 years of coaching baseball at CM, his teams won 186 and lost 53 and never had a losing season.  Ron would be succeeded as Head Coach of Baseball at CM by his most able assistant, Ed McElaney, who was also one of the best players he had the privilege to coach at CM.  

In 2004, Hal Carey ’95, who captained the Harvard College team as an undergraduate there, took over as head coach of CM Baseball.  His squad has seen four postseason appearances, making it as far as the South Sectional Finals in 2007.