Trinity Baseball's Bayer And Killeen Headed To Boston Red Sox
Hartford, Conn. - The Boston Red Sox selected Trinity College senior RHP Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield, Mass.) in the 30th round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft, and Bantam senior C Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.) signed a free agent contract with the Red Sox shortly after the conclusion of the draft.
Seven Trinity players, Bayer, Killeen, Jonah Bayliss (Royals, Pirates, Bluejays), Jeff Natale (Red Sox), Kurt Piantek (Tigers), Thomas DiBenedetto (Red Sox), and Tim Kiely (Angels) have now continued their baseball careers at the professional level in the past seven years, and Bayliss became the first NESCAC player in 10 years to appear in a major league game in 2006.
Bayer opened the 2009 season with a win against UMass-Boston to start a double-header sweep in Florida. Three days later he was summoned in relief to lead the Bantams to a 7-5 12th inning win over Hamilton. After the Bantams ended their record-breaking 50-game regular season winning streak, Bayer got the Bantams right back on track by striking out 13 batters in 7.1 innings to lead Trinity to a 15-6 win over the Suffolk University Rams, giving the Bantams the top spot in the National Rankings. Three days later, Bayer pitched a perfect ninth to collect a save over Springfield in a 9-8 win. Three days following that, he pitched a complete game to lead Trinity over Bowdoin in their NESCAC opener. In his second NESCAC start against Tufts, Bayer tossed a six-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 7-1 win. He improved to 6-0 with a win over Bates the following weekend. Facing Colby, Bayer went eight innings, striking out nine and allowing just one run in eight innings for the win. His regular season highlight would come the following weekend against a strong Amherst team. Bayer would throw a 65-pitch seven inning no-hitter, the 14th in Trinity history. In his next, and final regular season start, Bayer struck out 10 over 7.1 innings of work in a 9-5 win over Wesleyan.
In day two of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament, Bayer would throw another complete game in an 8-3 win over Williams, Bayer's 10th win of the season. In a New England Regional Tournament that featured three top 6 teams in the nation, Bayer was unfazed, tossing a complete-game shutout over the Southern Maine Huskies in a battle against two of the countries top pitchers. Bayer saved his most impressive performance of the year for the clinching game of the New England Tournament, throwing 4.1 innings in relief, striking out seven and escaping a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, which included getting past National Player of the Year Shawn Giblair, in a 5-4 win to give Trinity its second consecutive World Series berth.
In the opening game of the World Series against Kean, Bayer pitched 8.1 innings, allowing just four earned runs, but was a tough-luck loser, and Kean would add four unearned runs in a 8-3 win over the Bantams. The loss was the first in Bayer's career as a Bantam, compiling a 21-1 record on the mound in two years at Trinity.
Bayer was selected as the 2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division III Pitcher of the Year and the D3Baseball.com National Pitcher of the Year, he was selected to the D3Baseball.com All-American First Team, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III All-American First Team, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III All-New England Team, and for the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Senior All-Star Game on June 4 in Brockton, Mass. Bayer was also chosen as the NCBWA and the NEIBA Division III Pitcher of the Year, and was selected to the All-NEIBA First Team. He was also the NESCAC Pitcher of the Year and a NESCAC First-Team selection for a Trinity team that has made two straight Div. III World Series appearances, while compiling an astounding 78-8 record.
Killeen picked up right where he left off following Trinity's historic 2008 season, that included an NCAA Championship title and an NCAA Division III-record 4 wins in a row. In the second game of the 2009 season, Killeen went 3-4 with a triple, two runs and four RBI to lead the Bantams to a 13-11 victory over UMass-Boston. The following day, Killeen clocked his first homerun of the season to lead Trinity to their fourth win in two days. He would go on to add another triple, double and three RBI to his stat sheet in a double header sweep over Westfield State.
In Trinity's first loss in fifty straight regular season games, Denison was able to keep Killeen's bat quiet in the first game of a double header by walking him three times. In the second game, he racked up three hits, but Denison was able to escape with a 10-7 victory. He would reach base 18 times in the ensuing five games, capped by a four-hit, four-RBI game in a 16-8 win over Bowdoin, in which he hit a homerun and a double. He would hit his third homerun and collect four more RBI the following week in a 7-1 win over Tufts after Trinity bounced back from a 9-7 loss to Worcester State. He would reach base 13 times over the following five games, capped by a double header sweep of Bates in which Killeen would rack up six hits, including two homeruns and a double, six RBI, and four runs. Killeen collected six hits, including a homerun and two doubles, in wins over Bowdoin and Amherst as Trinity improved to 22-3.
Killeen saved what was perhaps his greatest performance of the year for the NESCAC Championship Tournament. With the Bantams trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning versus Tufts, Killeen, who had already homered in the game, led a five-run outburst with his second homerun of the game - a grand slam - one of his four hits in the game. The Bantams clinched the NESCAC Championship with a 7-3 win over Tufts, their second straight league title.
Killeen reached base in every game this season, the second consecutive season he has achieved such a feat. In his career, he has reached base in all but nine of the 159 games he's played in. Eight of those games were losses. Killeen, who has a career record of 125-34 at Trinity, ends his season having reached base in every single game since March 21, 2007. He had an astounding 21 multi-hit games this season, 21 in 2008, 15 in 2007, and 11 as a rookie in 2006. Killen racked up three hits or more in 30 games in his career, including 13 four-hit performances.
Killeen was selected to the D3Baseball.com All-American First Team, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III All-American First Team, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III All-New England Team, and for the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Senior All-Star Game. Killeen also made the All-NEIBA First Team and was named both the NCBWA and the NESCAC Player of the Year.
