By Ryan Martin, HockomockSports.com Contributor
BROCKTON, Mass. – For some Hockomock League baseball alums, the summer months bring an opportunity to hone skills as a collegiate player in various summer leagues across the country.
Maybe nowhere is this more present than with the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, where seven former Hockomock Leaguers are going from high school rivals to teammates this year on one of Massachusetts’ most recognizable collegiate summer teams.
In the wooden bat league featuring eight teams littered throughout New England, Taunton baseball alums Danny and Ryan MacDougall, Franklin’s Jake Fitzgibbons and Ryan Gerety, Foxboro’s Sean O’Leary, Mansfield’s Jimmy Gilleran (Framingham State), and North Attleboro’s David Floyd (Keene State) have all now suited up in Brockton after being opponents for several years locally. For Ryan MacDougall, Gerety, and O’Leary, the transition occurred just days after the incoming college freshman wrapped up their high school team’s 2023 spring playoff runs.
“A month ago, I hated playing against them,” O’Leary, who is playing at UMass Lowell this coming season, joked of MacDougall and Gerety. “… But it feels good to now be on their team; it’s so special to be sharing the field with them. With our talents being put together, it feels like we’re doing something really special for the Hock.”
At least two former Hockomock League players have been in Brockton’s starting lineup in each of the Rox’s last ten games, including when all besides Floyd and Fitzgibbons were utilized under the July 4th fireworks in a 0-0 tie at Pittsfield.
From the Hock to the Rox
With all seven local Rox players having started for multiple seasons at their respective high schools, Foxboro’s O’Leary wasn’t the only former Hockomock Leaguer taken aback by seeing familiar rival faces now in his dugout.
After starring in centerfield for two straight Franklin teams that fell to Taunton in the Division 1 Championship, Northeastern commit Ryan Gerety is happy to finally be shining with the help of Taunton’s Ryan MacDougall instead of defending against him.
“When I played against him, I remember having to take a couple extra steps back in the outfield to shag the balls he hit over my head,” Gerety, who holds a .435 batting average in nine games with the Rox, said of the Dayton-bound MacDougall. “But now being able to root for him hitting, where he does that over the other teams’ head and drives me in, has been so fun.”
Gerety adds, “The other day I was saying to [MacDougall] after he hit a sacrifice fly and scored me, ‘Who would’ve thought MacDougall would score Gerety after all those years of Franklin and Taunton’”.
New Team, Old Mentors
On one of the youngest Rox teams in Brockton’s 23-year history, Gerety and MacDougall have both acclimated to the new setting alongside old role models.
For Ryan MacDougall, his time with the Rox has become even more memorable with the team’s recent addition of his older brother, Danny. A 2021 Taunton High graduate who had an Endicott College-best .426 batting average in 49 games this spring, Danny’s spot on the team even came as a surprise to Ryan.
“I didn’t expect him to be in Brockton this summer after he said he wasn’t going to,” Ryan MacDougall said. “But I’m glad he accepted the call from Coach Walsh and Coach Logan; it’s been fun to play alongside him again.”
Like MacDougall, Gerety’s experience with the Rox would not be all that it’s become without a former Hockomock League teammate.
As was the case when the two were at Franklin High, UMass Lowell catcher Jake Fitzgibbons has helped Gerety find his groove with the Rox.
“As a sophomore, Jake brought me in my first year on varsity when he was a senior… he taught me the ropes about Franklin Baseball, and just now taught me the ropes of being with the Rox, so he’s been a great role model for me,” Gerety said.
The Rox (8-25), who still have 13 home games left on their schedule, will continue regular season play through August 6th.