Bates College catcher Gordy Webb ’11 earned New England Small College Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Week honors in early April, batting .611 (11-for-18) with a .632 on-base percentage and a 1.111 slugging mark while not committing an error behind the plate during the Bobcats’ 3-2 week.

Bates sophomore catcher Gordy Webb (Hampden, Maine) batted .611 (11-for-18) with a .632 on-base percentage and a 1.111 slugging mark while not committing an error behind the plate during the Bobcats’ 3-2 week last week.

Webb hit four doubles, a triple and a home run while scoring seven runs and driving in four. During Sunday’s doubleheader sweep of Colby, Webb combined to go 5-for-8 from the dish with two doubles, one home run, four runs and four RBIs. He also threw out three runners on seven stolen base attempts on the week.

Webb also earned NESCAC Baseball Player of the Week honors, the New England Small College Athletic Conference announced on Monday, and is the first Bobcat to win the award since Drew McKenna ’04 in 2004.

Webb has raised his batting average to .370 on the season with two homers and nine RBIs, and is sporting a team-high .674 slugging percentage.

“Red Sox Nation,” a course taught by Professor of History Margaret Creighton, uses the Olde Towne Team to discuss issues like race, class and gender in America.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Sox class now has academic competition from a likely source: the New York Yankees.

Edwin Thompson, a former Division I and professional baseball player from Maine, has been named head baseball coach at Bates College, Director of Athletics Kevin McHugh announced on Wednesday.

A native of Jay, Maine, Thompson, age 28, most recently served as associate head baseball coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Maine–Farmington. Thompson played baseball at Division I Howard University and the University of Maryland before playing his final two years of college baseball at Webber University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration. Thompson also had a two-year professional playing career with the Bangor Lumberjacks, an independent minor league team.

“We had an outstanding group of finalists with a wealth of baseball playing and coaching experience among them. Edwin came across as the perfect fit for Bates and the baseball program,” said McHugh. “In addition to the high baseball IQ he possesses, we are also excited about the leadership, energy and enthusiasm that Edwin will bring to the program.”

Thompson succeeds Craig Vandersea, who resigned in June.

“I’m thankful for the chance to coach at Bates and in my hometown area of Maine, and I’m very excited about the trajectory of this program,” said Thompson. “We’ll be a team that you’ll want to come out and see play. We’re going to do all the little things to win baseball games, and we’re going to play with passion.”

Thompson was also head boys’ varsity basketball coach at Jay High School in 2007-08, meanwhile running his own baseball summer camp in Jay.

Bates returns numerous productive young players. Last year’s freshman class included infielder Jake Simon, who started 25 games and batted .402 with a team-high 26 RBIs and shared the team lead in homers (3). Other promising rookies included infielder Noah Lynd, catcher Gordy Webb, outfielder Rich Velotta, infielder/outfielder Luke Wamboldt and pitchers Paul Chiampa, Ryan Heide and Alex Gallant.

Also returning are Tom Beaton, who batted .343 and scored 27 runs while playing superior defense in the outfield and both middle-infield positions; and pitchers Ryan Horvath (3.97 ERA), Chuck Murphy-Romboletti (2-1, 2 saves, .250 opponents’ batting average) and Custer Cook (2-3, .248 opponents’ batting average).

Brian Mahoney '08

Mahoney played and started more games (125 and 124, respectively) and recorded more at-bats (488) than any Bates baseball player in history, and his name is all over the program record book. His career hits record of 175 exceeds the old one formerly owned by Nate Maxwell by 40 hits (teammate Erik Hood ’08 also surpassed the old record, with 138). Mahoney also owns Bates’ career records for total bases (224) and singles (137). [More...]