Boston College Showcasing Gritty Identity Ahead of Final Stretch

Photos Courtesy of Boston College Athletics

It was a less than ideal start for Boston College to start the season, but the Eagles are finally back to .500 and playing their best baseball of 2025. Since being swept at Louisville in early April, BC is 8-3 with back-to-back ACC series victories. With a massive series at home this weekend against Miami that features the annual ALS game at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon, the Eagles are poised for a potential NCAA Tournament push.

Boston College head coach Todd Interdonato is in his second season at the helm and one key to this midseason surge comes down to his specific team style of play. Interdonato, who spent 18 years at Wofford in the SoCon prior to arriving in Brighton, was well known for his aggressive baserunning philosophy. His Terrier won 30+ games in eight of his last nine seasons there– including back-to-back 40-win seasons the years immediately preceding his time with BC.

When Interdonato was first introduced as head coach in 2023, he said, “We’re going to build on a strong Birdball foundation, while developing our own exciting and aggressive style of baseball.”

While there were glimpses of the new and exciting style of play over the course of last season, it did feel like Boston College lacked a clear identity as they transitioned philosophies. A sweep of Georgia Tech on the road early in the season was the main highlight as the Eagles struggled down the stretch and eventually missed the ACC Tournament with an 8-22 conference record.

While BC has certainly had struggles this season– including non-competitive sweeps at Louisville and Florida State– they’ve improved throughout the year and now boast a clear identity that reflects both their unique Northeastern culture and their head coach’s philosophy.  

“It was cool to see Todd getting his grasp on the lineup, his grasp on the roster,” long-time BC infielder Patrick Roche told me in the fall. “A lot of we learned about Todd last year and his philosophies and in the way he attacked the transfer portal and the way he attacked like that freshman class and stuff like that– he’s clearly committed to his style of baseball and the way that he wants us to play at BC.”

Interdonato’s offensive style involves aggressive baserunning and small ball. As we approach that last stretch of the season, BC leads the ACC in both stolen bases and sacrifice hits. They’ve had multiple walk-off safety squeezes and they’ve executed steals of home plate. Over their recent 8-3 stretch, they’ve stolen 30 bases alone. They have a lineup full of gritty, aggressive and high-energy players that will do whatever it takes to get on base– whether it’s a hit, walk, hit by pitch, or even catcher’s interference. And once they get on the basepaths, they’re going to put pressure on the pitcher and defense to make plays.

The majority of BC’s roster is made up of students from New England and Northeastern United States. The cold-weather young men bring a blue collar work ethic and attitude that mixes well with Interdonato’s style. The head coach also stressed that there’s a unique culture in the way this team has come together and it shows in the way they play the game.

“One of the things that I've enjoyed most about being at BC is that there's a lot of grit, there’s a lot of team,” Interdonato said. “They really play for each other, they really pull for each other. That was evident in my first semester here and going all the way back to last fall. There was a genuine care and love for each other here that is very unique.”   

Boston College executed their philosophy and showcased their team first attitude to perfection over this past weekend’s road series win over Wake Forest, where they stole 14 bases and forced a myriad of mistakes from an otherwise reliable Wake Forest team. In post-game interviews with several players, each star took more time to feature another player’s contribution than their own. 

JD Ogden, who pitched a career high six shutout innings in BC’s 7-2 win over Wake on Saturday, highlighted Vince Cimini as an example of the team’s grit in the win. Cimini was bedridden for much of the day Saturday with a serious illness, but somehow found the strength to provide a key pinch hit that added important insurance runs to the lead.

“It's Northeast baseball and I think this win kind of exemplifies that,” Ogden said. “Vin was on his deathbed today, but he still kept at it, got a huge hit, and played the rest of the game. Examples like that of, pushing through the pain and just fighting for each other. We all love each other. We all love playing Birdball.”

Cimini was able to grit through another difficult day of illness and play the next day as well. In BC’s 7-5 victory to clinch the series, the graduate infielder went 2-for-3 with a double and home run while playing first base the entire game.

“He came to me in the fifth or sixth yesterday,” Interdonato explained. “He goes, ‘ I can gut out three innings.’ And then this morning he said he broke his fever overnight, that he sweated through his bed sheets and emptied out a bunch of stuff. And said he was at a six [out of 10] today. So I felt like we could use him.”

Vince Cimini wasn’t the only one who showed grit in their big win. Top rotation arm AJ Colarusso pitched five innings on Thursday to open the series, throwing 77 pitches and departing the game with Boston College in a position to win the game. It’s very rare in the regular season to see a starter throw a full five innings and then come back to pitch again later in the series, but Colarusso did just that.

Boston College was clinging to a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 7th and had been unable to get effective length from key relievers Tyler Mudd and Kyle Kipp. There were runners on first and second with just one out when Interdonato turned to his best starting pitcher. After Colarusso walked a pinch hitter on four straight pitches to load the bases, the decision looked suspect as Wake Forest looked certain to tie the game. Instead, the junior ace buckled down and induced an inning ending, game saving double play ground ball to shortstop. Colarusso would get one out in the 8th before making way to closer Joey Ryan following the allowance of two base runners.  

“That's just kind of the guy AJ is,” Interdonato said post-game. “You use toughness, but I would just use preparation, right? Nobody takes care of their body better than AJ. Nobody takes his conditioning, his recovery more seriously than AJ. And it's not a coincidence that he bounces back as well as he does.” 

If AJ Colarusso epitomizes the toughness of the pitching staff and Patrick Roche encapsulates the energy and leadership of the squad, then Kyle Wolff is the man who exemplifies the grittiness, whatever-it-takes attitude of the program. After battling through injury as a sophomore in 2024, the junior hasn’t put up the big numbers that he may have expected and hoped for. He’s slashing .264/.380/.399 with just nine extra base hits, but he does lead the ACC with 20 Hit By Pitches.  

“My goal is to get on base any way I can,” Wolff said after being plunked twice in one game against Wake Forest. “If it's hit by pitch, if it's a single, if it's a walk, if it's a catcher's interference or a catcher's block– whatever— I'll take it to help my teammates and keep passing the torch.”

“It means everything to me because I just try to get a base for all of my teammates. It embodies our team because we're a bunch of scrappy, gritty guys, a bunch of gritty Northeast guys. And [getting plunked] gets the boys fired up. It doesn't feel too good when you get hit by 95, but I'll take it. I'll take my 90 feet.”

Patrick Roche, who leads the team with a .321 batting average and bats atop the order, claimed back in the fall that Wolff was the Eagles’ best hitter. If Boston College continues to play their brand of baseball and get solid pitching performances, a Kyle Wolff hot streak to end the year could be the difference when looking at the programs’ postseason hopes. 

“He's been really productive,” Interdonato said of Wolff. “And eventually he's going to get hot. and he's going to be really dangerous too.”

With the Eagles playing their best baseball of the season and a favorable conference schedule down the stretch, it’s very possible that Boston College finds itself playing in an NCAA Regional for the second time in three years. The key for Interdonato and his team will be keeping games within striking distance early and allowing them to play their style of baseball. 

Following this weekend’s big matchup with Miami, Boston College finishes conference play with weekend series against Stanford and California– two of the ACC’s worst three teams by conference records. If BC is able to continue to play their unique style of baseball, they’re going to be a very dangerous foe to face in the postseason.