By Joe O’Gorman, jogorman@trentonian.com, @j_ogorman819 on Twitter
POSTED: 05/02/18, 3:20 PM EDT |
Baseball is a lot more than just a passion for The College of New Jersey’s Tommy McCarthy.It’s a way of life and a love of the game that began at an early age.
Along the way, he honed his skills and on Wednesday the TCNJ junior was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
“It was pretty humbling, honestly,” McCarthy said. “To have that kind of award when we have the team that we do is pretty amazing because it could’ve gone to so many different guys, even just on our team. In a conference like the NJAC to get an award like this is very exciting and very humbling.”
McCarthy is a part of a Lions team that captured the regular-season title and gained the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament.
Joining McCarthy on the All-NJAC first team are Austin Lindsay (New Egypt) and Tom Persichetti (Notre Dame). TCNJ reliever Matt Curry, was named the Fireman of the Year for the second straight season. Curry has eight saves and a 1.23 ERA.
Zachary Shindler and Patrick Anderson were named to the Second Team, while Joe Cirillo and Danny Borup (WW-P South) received Honorable Mention.
McCarthy had a league-leading 30 hits in conference play, batted .417 in the NJAC and had a conference-only OBP of .494. Overall, he is hitting .341 with 45 hits, 29 RBIs and nine doubles.
He has also started all 35 games for the Lions and played a stellar first base.
McCarthy’s father, Tom, is the broadcaster for the Phillies and has the broadcast booth at Arm & Hammer Park, where he got his start with the Thunder, named after him.
“My brother (Pat) and I found a true love when it came to the game of baseball,” McCarthy said. “It was because of the love we shared with our dad. Anytime we wanted to get away from things we’d always go watch a game with him.
“Just being with him and around him and sharing that love of the game with him and my brother is something I could never compare to anything else,” McCarthy said.
This has been a year on the field for McCarthy that certainly has far exceeded his hopes and dreams.
“I can’t thank all my coaches and my teammates enough,” said McCarthy, who starred locally at Allentown High. “Especially, guys like Austin Lindsay, one of my best friends, I played with him in high school and legion. He’s one of the guys I work with on a daily basis in the off season. The other person is definitely my dad, because of how much he does for me and again I can’t thank my coaches enough.”
The Lions are aiming for a return to the NCAA tournament for a second straight year.
“This is one of the best group of guys I’ve ever been a part of,” McCarthy said. “This is fun what we do. Being around 34 guys that you love being around, it’s just a great feeling. These are the guys that are pushing you all the time.”
TCNJ (28-7) opened NJAC tourney play with a 9-0 win over William Paterson and faces Rutgers-Camden on Friday at Kean University. The Scarlet Raptors (24-14) are the only team this season to defeat the Lions twice.
They did it by scores of 3-1 and 1-0.
“Rutgers-Camden is a very talented team,” McCarthy said. ”We need to know we had opportunities the last time we played them. But, with the staff we have an everyone healthy and hitting the way we are there’s not a team we can’t beat. We have a championship or bust mentality.”
Article originally published in The Trentonian: https://www.trentonian.com/article/TT/20180502/SPORTS/180509943