Courtsey of Brian Beard

Baseball catcher Finn Cahill ’28 is on a streak, earning NESCAC Player of the Week recently after assisting the team (19–4; 5–1 NESCAC) to a victory over Trinity College (8–13; 2–4 NESCAC). Cahill then continued with his impressive gameplay with a multi-hit game against Bates College (5–13; 2–4 NESCAC) this weekend, the only Polar Bear to do so in that game.

Cahill, who started playing baseball when he was four years old, explained what he loves most about the sport.

“I like how engaged you have to be. It’s a long game, and there’s no time. It’s nine innings, and you just need to be engaged for every pitch,” Cahill said. “I love that there’s no limit to how many pitches there can be, if you’re down by a bunch of runs, you’re not out because the time’s not going to run out. You just fight right back. Then the same thing on the other side, if you’re ahead by a bunch, your game’s not won yet until it’s over. I just love that.”

Cahill planned to play college baseball once he transitioned from little league to the bigger fields, around age 13. He was drawn to Bowdoin’s baseball team for a variety of reasons, including Head Coach Mike Connolly.

“I was looking for somewhere I would be challenged academically and obviously continue to play baseball, so I’d been reaching out to coaches,” Cahill said.  “Coach Connolly had me up here, and he talked to me for a while, and I really liked his approach to things. Coach Connolly was a big factor in [my decision].”

Cahill commented on the positive team environment, especially highlighting the competitive spirit that pushes every player to play well.

“I get along with my teammates. We’re all a great group of guys, and we come together and really compete for games. I love that we’re not just friends off the field, we’re competitors on the field,” Cahill said. “That’s a great aspect of our team.”

Cahill noted the team’s success so far this season, owing it to the preparations the team put in during the preseason. The training specifically focused on pitching, as well as cooperation between various roles.

“I think the big thing is pitching, pitchers being confident in their stuff and being able to be confident in being able to throw strikes and trusting their defense,” Cahill said. “I think they’ve grown from the fall. They were trying to pitch perfectly, but that’s not the way that you should pitch. That’s where my role comes in. The role of the catcher is big in making the pitcher feel confident in their stuff.”

The work put in by both pitchers and catchers, like Cahill, has paid off. Cahill commented on how these preparations, paired with the team’s belief in themselves, has led up to positive results over the past few weeks.

“I think confidence is the biggest thing and trusting that you did put in the work in the preseason and that you’re going to stick to your plan and your plan is going to work,” Cahill said. “The biggest reason for success is just, when someone steps up in the box, they’re sticking with their plan, and they’re trusting that they belong in that box and they’re a good hitter. When our guys do that, we see success.”

The next goal for Cahill and the team is to keep up its good results and make it to the NESCAC championship.

“Obviously, we started off hot. We’ve been doing well so far, so we want to continue that. And obviously the goal would be to win the NESCAC championship. It’s been a while since that’s been done here. I don’t think I remember the last time. It’s a big goal, and you can’t just think about that and we need to take things one game at a time, but I would say that that’s something [we’re hoping for],” Cahill said.

Cahill especially highlighted the importance of moving on from failures, hoping that the team will continue to keep that mindset until the end of the season.

“Baseball is a game of failure. You’re going to fail no matter what. It’s inevitable,” Cahill said. “So to be able to flush it down the toilet and move on to the next pitch, the next play, the next game, is a really important skill. I think we’ve done that so far—we’ve been able to respond. Hopefully, we can continue to do that for the rest of the season.”