Joe Freiday Commits to Virginia Tech!

Bridgewater-Raynham Class of 2014 catcher Joe Freiday verbally committed to Virginia Tech tonight, becoming the second Trojan in as many months to commit to an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball program.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Freiday was one of the state’s leaders in runs plated, batting .425, with a .573 on-base percentage, 31 RBI and five home runs as the Trojans captured the MIAA Division 1 State Championship for the first time in school history. He also drew 21 walks and struck out just 10 times. Behind the plate, Freiday demonstrates above-average arm strength, recording a pop time as fast as 1.82 seconds.

At the time of his commitment, Freiday was also considering Coastal Carolina and Virginia, as well as a full ride from the University of Maine. He is the second B-R player in as many months to commit to an ACC program, joining (his cousin) 2015 righthander Jack Connolly, who committed to Notre Dame in late June.

Freiday is the second Bay Stater from the Class of 2014 to pledge to the Hokies, joining Boston Latin lefthander Pat Naughton, who committed last fall. When Freiday arrives in Blacksburg in the fall of 2014, he'll join BC High's Ryan Tufts, Lowell's Matt Tulley, and Noble & Greenough's Phil Sciretta among the Massachusetts natives on the roster. B-R product Eddie Campbell, a lefty for Tech the last three seasons, was drafted in the 15th round by the Seattle Mariners last month along with Middleboro's Tyler Horan who was drafted in the 8th round by The San Francisco Giants.

Freiday visited Blacksburg yesterday, and says he was immediately enamored with the campus.

"Obviously what attracted me there [initially] is they have an elite baseball team -- they're absolutely unreal at baseball, number one," Freiday said. "And then, once I got there, the campus was absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It's everything I wanted in a school -- athletically, the campus, and great academics -- there's so much to offer."

Since the Hokies first began evaluating Freiday, they've had a change in head coaches, with Peter Hughes leaving for the University of Oklahoma and Tech internally promoting pitching coach Patrick Mason. Mason, a Franklin native and former Northeastern University standout, watched Freiday in the Trojans' MIAA Division 1 South Final against BC High (of which Hughes is a graduate). He watched Freiday again a week later at Area Code Games tryouts on the campus of Bentley University.


"He's a real nice guy," Freiday said of Mason. "I know Hughes showed interest at first, and I know he texted [B-R coach John] Kearney. He [Mason] impressed me. He knew his stuff about baseball. He was also a catcher at Northeastern back in the day, so he probably saw me from a different perspective."

"I couldn't be happier" said Joe Freiday Sr., for him to play elite D1 ball is a dream come true!!
Freiday will represent the Phillies in the East Coast Pro Showcase next week in a series of games, aimed at an "interview" process for top prospects from the Right coast, followed by a spot on the Summer Rivalry Classic at Bentley University!