News

 

By Vin Colasuonno

 

Baseball is much more than a sport played by millionaire athletes. It is a pastime, it is a culture, it is global, and now it is deservedly back in the Olympic Games. 

I have been working in the international side of baseball since 2003, mostly in Europe. As it is with baseball, one makes friends with a common interest, stays in touch, checks in and follows up on their playing career and their life after. I was doing just that while in Warsaw, Poland, checking in on the players from Slovenia, who I coached for three years. They were preparing for their European Championship C-Pool Tournament in Ashbourne, Ireland, which I promised to follow online.

What I ended up seeing, instead, was a familiar name on the roster for Team Ireland—Conor McNamara. Hmm, familiar…I switched over to the HCBL website and pulled up the Shelter Island roster from 2017, the same team I coached to start the summer, hmm, same name. I messaged a friend who coaches Team Ireland, David Friedman, “is Conor McNamara from the states? From Marist College?” Response was yes, yes...

I flip to the stats web page for the tournament and Conor hasn’t pitched in the first four games. It turns out he was slotted in to pitch the championship game. Conor started and got the win in a 12-2 victory over Team Greece to win the C-pool title and advance to next years European Baseball Olympic Qualifier. Final line: 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 54 pitches.

I contacted Conor, asked about his adventure and If he would agree to answering some questions. He wrote back “Definitely, I am all for it."

 

Marist

Q. What college are you currently attending?

I attend Marist College going into my junior year. I am studying sports communications and business and I play for Coach Chris Tracz.

 

HCBL

What team did you play for in the 2017 in the HCBL and what are some memorable moments, people or friends from that experience?

Last summer I played for the Shelter Island Bucks. My experience there was awesome because of the coaching and the team. I met some great guys and learned a lot that summer. I have a ton of great memories from just playing everyday to just being with the team who were all new to me. 

 

Team Ireland

How did you wind your way to Europe to play for Team Ireland this summer?

I ended up getting a chance to play for Ireland because of Gary O’Connor who was one of my high school baseball coaches and he is involved with the 18u Irish team. He was instrumental as well as John Fitzgerald who is also an Irish recruiter from the states. 

Why did you go to Ireland to play for the Irish Team?

I went to play for Team Ireland because being Irish is something my family and I always had a lot of pride in. We have family there as well and my grandfather was born there so I thought he would be happy looking down at my brother Sean and I playing for his country. 

How long were you in Ireland?

I was there for two weeks with the first week being just training and the second week being the European Baseball Championships. 

One needs to be a citizen to play for a country, are you an Irish citizen?

I am a dual citizen. 

My grandfather who passed many years ago is the Irish part of me that gave me the chance to be able to do this.

What was it like to pitch in the European Championship Game for Ireland?

Being able to pitch in the championship for Ireland was amazing. It was something I never imagined doing and it was in front of a big crowd. Winning the gold was so cool because of what it means going forward for Baseball Ireland. 

What are some of your memorable moments from Ireland, the baseball, the coaches, your teammates?

There were so many memorable moments there with teammates and coaches from the opening ceremonies to the time in the hotel to the celebrations after. It was all good fun.