1987 Baseball Team Enshrined into Athletics Hall of Fame

2015 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

North Adams, MA- As part of reunion weekend on the campus of MCLA, the athletics department held their annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night at the Holiday Inn downtown.  The lone inductee was the 1987 Baseball team led by legendary head coach Joe Zavattaro.  The team went 25-10 on its way to the NCAA tournament round of 32.

Also receiving an honor last night was Bob Kyle, class of '90, who was awarded the Athletics Director leadership award for his influence on resurrecting the alumni game and reconnecting players with the program.

The event was emceed by 1987 team member Wayne Soares, who was a first baseman on the club.  The team began the season 0-5 after playing Division I and NAIA oppponents, however they rebounded and quickly ran of wins in 18 of 19 games.  That run included a 13 game winning streak.

Many of the players from that roster are still record holders at the college as they placed three players on the All New England roster in Tom Rizzo, Kevin Carmody, and Bill Fitzpatrick. Six players from the roster went on to play professionally.  They won their third straight MASCAC championship after rolling through the league at 11-1.

Zavattaro was the mastermind of it all as he not only coached the team to great success, but he impacted their lives.  Many stories were told of the season, however it was Soares' introduction of Coach "Z" that stole the show.

Team Members are listed below:

Joe Abraham
Chris Barbarotta
Garrett Bean
Bill Bresett
Kevin Carmody
Tucker Destino
Gordy Dillard
Dan Fields
Bill Fitzpatrick
Victor Hart
Tim Hennessey
Ted Hohmann
John Malzone
Vito Mastrangelo
Pat McHale
Sean McMahon
Tom Rizzo
Brian Rucinski
Mike Shaw
Shawn Shields
Chris Smith
Wayne Soares
Joe Sondrini
Russ Steeves
Steve Swail
KJ Wallace