College of the Holy Cross

• Location: Worcester, MA
• Nickname: Crusaders
• Conference: Patriot League 1991-present; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 1984-1990; ECAC New England Conference 1983; Yankee Conference 1972
• Ballpark: Fitton Field

College World Series Appearances: 4 1952, 1958, 1962 & 1963

College World Series title in 1952

History

The College of the Holy Cross is an educational institution in Worcester, MA that included both a Catholic high school and a university. It was an important source of baseball talent in the early years of the 20th century, although the quality of its baseball program has since waned. The high school is no longer active.

Jack Barry, famous as a member of the $100,000 infield of the Philadelphia Athletics, coached here for decades.

Jean Dubuc is a player who went to the high school part of the institution, but not to the university.

On March 4, 2025, the college was on the wrong end of new NCAA Division-I record when they allowed 23 runs in the 2nd inning of a game against George Mason University. The previous record of 21 runs in an inning had been accomplished twice, in 1983 and 1984.

Notable Alumni

• Mike Ahmed, minor league infielder
• Jimmy Bannon, outfielder
• Jack Barry, infielder
• Bob Batten, minor league infielder
• Drew Bigda, minor league pitcher
• Matt Blake, coach
• Pat Bourque, infielder
• Chick Bowen, outfielder
• Hugh Bradley, infielder
• Tommy Cahill, catcher/infielder
• Pat Carney, outfielder/pitcher
• Bill Carrigan, catcher
• Ownie Carroll, pitcher
• Ralph Carroll, catcher
• Andy Coakley, pitcher
• Jack Concannon, minor league infielder
• Ed Conley, pitcher
• Pete Cote, pinch-hitter
• Declan Cronin, pitcher
• Walter Curley, infielder
• Bob Daughters, pinch-runner
• Gene Desautels, catcher
• Ray Dobens, pitcher
• Skip Dowd, pitcher
• Tommy Dowd, outfielder
• Jean Dubuc, pitcher
• Peter Dudunakis, Greek national team infielder
• Joe Dugan, infielder
• John Flynn, infielder
• Bill Fox, infielder
• John Freeman, outfielder
• Bob Friedrichs, pitcher
• Chick Gagnon, infielder
• Hank Garrity, catcher
• Doc Gautreau, infielder
• Ed Gill, pitcher
• Haddie Gill, pitcher
• Tom Gunning, catcher
• Andy Harrington, pitcher
• Mike Hegan, infielder
• Mike Hickey, infielder
• Jack Hoey, outfielder
• Dick Joyce, pitcher
• John Keefe, pitcher
• Art Kenney, pitcher
• Ed Larkin, catcher
• Tom Leahy, catcher
• Bill Lefebvre, pitcher
• Nick Lovullo, minor league infielder
• Freddie Maguire, infielder
• Danny Mahoney, pinch-runner
• Alex Maldonado, minor league infielder
• Ben Malgeri, outfielder
• Gordon Massa, catcher
• Bill McCarthy, college coach
• Jack McCarthy, outfielder
• Conny McGeehan, pitcher
• Jack McKeon, manager
• Doc McMahon, pitcher
• Bill Merritt, catcher
• Bill Mills, catcher
• Ed Moriarty, infielder
• Joseph Morrissey, infielder
• Joe Mulligan, pitcher
• Tim Murnane, infielder
• Bill Murray, infielder
• Tim Murtaugh, minor league catcher
• Alex Nahigian, minor league outfielder and college coach
• Pete Naton, catcher
• Bots Nekola, pitcher
• Al Niemiec, infielder
• Pete Noonan, catcher
• Dennis O'Neill, infielder
• James O'Neill, college pitcher
• Jimmy O'Rourke, outfielder
• Tom Padden, catcher
• John Pappalau, pitcher
• Mike Pazik, pitcher
• Jordan Petrushka, Israeli national team infielder
• Doc Powers, catcher
• Hop Riopel, minor league outfielder
• Blondy Ryan, infielder
• Jimmy Ryan, outfielder
• Rosy Ryan, pitcher
• Dan Shaughnessy, writer
• Jimmy Shevlin, infielder
• Bill Simmons, writer
• Tom Smith, pitcher
• Louis Sockalexis, outfielder
• Bill Spanswick, pitcher
• John Stafford, pitcher/outfielder
• Tom Stankard, infielder
• Jigger Statz, outfielder
• Dave Stenhouse, minor league catcher
• Denny Sullivan, infielder
• Bill Swiacki, minor league catcher
• Charles Walsh, minor league infielder
• Rube Ward, outfielder
• John Whalen, college coach
• Edward Bennett Williams, owner
• Eddie Wilson, outfielder
• Pinky Woods, pitcher

Coaches

• Dennis_O'Neill, 1894
• Chippy McGarr, 1895
• James Garry, 1897
• Jesse Burkett, 1898, 1917-1920
• Tommy McCarthy, 1899-1900, 1904-1905, 1916
• John E. Brennan, 1901
• John Pappalau, 1902
• William H. Dyer, 1903, 1910
• Pat Carney, 1906-1909, 1911-1915
• John J. Barry, 1921-1960
• Albert “Hop” Riopel, 1961-1966
• Robert T. Curran, 1967-1970
• Jack Whalen, 1971-1992, 1994-1998
• Philip L. Philip, 1993
• Paul Pearl, 1999-2001
• Fran O'Brien, 2002-2004
• Craig Najarian, 2005-2007
• Greg DiCenzo, 2008-2019
• Ed Kahovec, 2020-present

Assistant Coaches

• Steve Englert, 2001
• Jason Falcon, 2016-2019
• Ed Kahovec, 2017-2019
• Fran O'Brien, 1999-2001
• Wayne Mazzoni
• Albert “Hop” Riopel, 1933-1960

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Overall Record	Conference Record	Post Season
1890	2-2
1891	3-2-1
1893	11-5
1894	6-5
1895	17-5-2
1896	19-7-1
1897	17-7
1898	12-8
1899	19-5
1900	19-6-1
1901	12-9
1902	18-5
1903	15-6
1904	14-7-1
1905	15-10
1906	19-5
1907	16-8
1908	21-6-1
1909	15-12
1910	14-13-5
1911	12-10
1912	17-9
1913	14-13
1914	16-5-1
1915	16-14
1916	10-8-2
1917	22-4
1918	25-3-1
1919	22-1
1920	19-4
1921	30-2-1
1922	24-5
1923	28-2-1
1924	19-0
1925	29-2
1926	14-5
1927	13-7
1928	19-3
1929	28-2
1930	17-3-1
1931	16-5
1932	13-5
1933	13-5
1934	15-5
1935	22-1
1936	18-2
1937	16-2-1
1938	15-5
1939	10-6
1940	15-1
1941	14-3-1
1942	7-1
1943	4-1
1944	7-7
1945	13-3
1946	5-5
1947	15-2
1948	8-5
1949	13-5
1950	12-6-1
1951	12-5
1952	21-3		CWS District Tournaments CWS
1953	13-3		CWS District Tournaments
1954	15-3		CWS District Tournaments
1955	13-4		CWS District Tournaments
1956	13-4
1957	16-3
1958	18-6		CWS District Tournaments / CWS
1959	10-8
1960	12-5		CWS District Tournaments
1961	6-10
1962	21-5		CWS District Tournaments / CWS
1963	13-10		CWS District Tournaments / CWS
1964	14-6
1965	17-5		CWS District Tournaments
1966	11-7
1967	10-6-1		CWS District Tournaments
1968	12-6
1969	7-12
1970	8-17-1
1971	9-11
1972	5-21
1973	13-17
1974	10-13
1975	20-13
1976	13-17-1
1977	18-14
1978	27-14-2		CWS Regionals
1979	16-13
1980	21-9-1
1981	10-19
1982	13-5-2
1983	11-16	9-9
1984	6-22	2-3
1985	15-12
1986	15-13	11-4
1987	6-18	5-9
1988	6-20
1989	12-18	7-10
1990	17-13	10-7
1991	19-15-1	11-4
1992	12-19-1	3-12
1993	12-20	9-11
1994	14-18	11-9
1995	10-33	6-18
1996	7-26	5-15
1997	11-25	5-14
1998	7-29	5-15
1999	14-26	9-11	Patriot
2000	13-27-1	8-12
2001	19-23	11-9	Patriot
2002	11-28	5-15
2003	13-23	8-12
2004	14-22-1	9-11
2005	13-23	5-11
2006	16-26-1	5-15
2007	12-23	8-11
2008	21-28	11-9	Patriot
2009	22-27	11-7	Patriot
2010	26-26	10-10	Patriot
2011	24-23-1	9-11
2012	33-22	13-7	Patriot
2013	28-25	15-5	Patriot
2014	13-31	4-14
2015	24-26	12-8	Patriot
2016	30-27	14-6	Patriot
2017	24-29	12-8	Patriot / CWS Regionals
2018	18-27	11-14	Patriot
2019	22-32	15-10	Patriot
2020	5-10	0-0
2021	10-20	9-15
2022	17-37	11-14	Patriot
2023	16-35	6-19
2024	26-27	14-11	Patriot
2025	31-27	17-8	Patriot / CWS Regionals
2026		13-13	Patriot / CWS Regionals

Further Reading

• Brian Murphy: "A 23-run inning?! George Mason sets NCAA record ... without a homer", mlb.com, March 4, 2025. [1]