Quantum leap for Framingham State

May 3, 2010

By Eric Avidon, Daily News Staff

Quantum leaps are impressive.

What the Framingham State baseball team is doing this season is just that - quantum, and impressive.

The Rams have been downright lousy in recent years. They were a mediocre 17-14 in 2003, but since then haven't come close to breaking even. There were just nine wins in both 2004 and 2005 with 19 losses each year, a mere five wins in 2006 and six in 2008 sandwiched around a 9-18 mark in 2007, and 10 wins last year with 26 losses.

But Framingham State stands 23-15 overall and 11-3 in MASCAC play at the end the regular season this year, following a doubleheader sweep on Saturday of Fitchburg State.

There are postseason games to be played in the MASCAC Tournament with an automatic berth in the NCAA's Division III Tournament on the line - remarkable, considering what the team has done the majority of this century.

The last time the Rams won 20 games was 1997.

"The season has exceeded my expectations a little bit," said third-year coach Brian Blumsack, who is assisted by his brother Scott and Mark Piantedosi. "I did know we had good guys on the team, and we got some junior college transfers, but we didn't know when we would see the results, whether it would be this year or next year.

"I'm not sure people saw 20 wins. We knew there was talent, but it was a matter of whether it would happen this year or next."

Blumsack obviously had a huge challenge on his hands when he took over as the interim coach in 2008 and was officially named the head coach prior to last season. Blumsack, who grew up in Malden and pitched at UMass-Amherst, Central Florida Community College and Suffolk University before starting his coaching career, saw that losing had become the norm at Framingham State and made it his goal to change expectations.

He played a lot of young guys - freshmen and sophomores - those first two years and let them take their lumps while learning how to play on the college level. Those guys who were freshmen and sophomores two years ago are now upperclassmen, leaders.

"The biggest thing was changing the culture," he said. "They'd been losing, and were used to that. We came in and worked hard and preached practicing hard and getting better every day. Guys bought in, and they've carried it into this year. We've added in new guys and that's pushed us over the edge. There were tough years and we lost a lot of close games, but we stayed positive and preached that it wasn't enough just to hang in against good teams.

"Now we expect to win, where a couple of years ago guys didn't have that attitude."

The Rams boast a deep starting rotation with Charlie Spear and Thomas Lindberg at the top.

Spear, a junior college transfer, is 3-3 with a 3.70 earned run average and, according Blumasck, is a legitimate pro prospect with a fastball that tops 91 miles per hour. And Blumsack would know pro prospects, having coached more than 20 draft picks while an assistant at Lake City Community College in Florida.

Fellow junior college transfer Lindberg, meanwhile, is 5-1 with a 3.77 ERA and has a nasty changeup. Marlborough's Matthew Magazine, freshman Joe Quinn and Mike Cain have played major roles as well, with Magazine boasting a team-best 2.16 ERA while splitting time between the bullpen and rotation.

Steven Tramontozzi, who was All-Conference each of the last two years, is the team's top hitter, batting .328 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 49 runs batted in. Corey Ketterer is second on the team with a .362 bating average, while Hopkinton native Will Crofton - a freshman - leads the squad at .377, and catcher Sean Callahan has also been key with four home runs and 34 RBI while batting .348.

"We have more pitching depth than we've had in the past, the defense has been a lot better and we're swinging the bats," said Blumsack.

Of course as good as this year has been so far - and there are still more games to play - the next challenge will be to sustain this year's success, to make sure this season isn't an aberration and Framingham State doesn't fall back to single-digit wins in a year or two.

"We have to keep on the guys and make sure they continue to work hard in the summer and play quality summer baseball," said Blumsack. "We've brought in younger kids and have solid freshmen. Next year we'll be loaded with seniors, but we'll fill out the team with quality young guys so they can see how to do things the right way."

Despite reaching 20 wins for the first time in 13 years, Framingham State actually started slowly, going 5-5 down in Florida and then losing its first three games back north. After dropping three straight in early April to fall to 9-11, the Rams have gone 14-4 as they head into the postseason.

They finished in second-place in the conference and will play Worcester State in the opening round of the MASCAC Tournament on Thursday.

Somehow the team that averaged eight wins over a six-year stretch has a shot to reach the NCAA Tournament. Somehow the team that averaged 22 losses over a six-year stretch and was perennially at the bottom of the conference standings has a nice perch near the top and is one of just four that gets to keep playing.

"It's been great," said Blumsack. "We have a great group of guys and we've really come together as a team ... It's been a really good ride and we want to keep it going."

It's been, simply, a quantum leap.