By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 1996 NCAA Division III College World Series included baseball teams from California, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, Wisconsin, New York and New Jersey.
The eighth participant traveling to Salem, Va., that spring to play for a national championship was from Massachusetts -- a school that was known back then as Bridgewater State College.
While teams like Marietta College of Ohio, Methodist College of North Carolina, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and William Paterson of New Jersey were making their second straight appearances, the Bears were newcomers to the experience of being on the national stage.
Bridgewater State, under the guidance of third-year head coach Rick Smith, had punched its ticket by winning the New England Regional in Maine as the No. 3 seed.
That sent the Bears to Virginia to compete for a national title, breaking new ground for a program that was in the NCAAs for only the fifth time.
It could have been an intimidating proposition for a first-time participant, but instead, Bridgewater State made a memorable run in its first College World Series.
Thirty years ago this month, the Bears finished third at the NCAAs, falling just one win shy of a spot in the national championship round against William Paterson.
Bridgewater State had opened the tourney by losing to William Paterson, then won three in a row, two of the victories coming against the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the country.
The run ended on May 28, 1996 when the Bears were eliminated by California-Lutheran, 3-1, which then lost to William Paterson in the final.
"It was really special," said Smith, the program's all-time winningest coach with a 550-376-5 record before retiring in 2018. "They were unbelievable as a team.
"They worked as hard as anybody. Everyone was part of it, and I had nine core guys who said that we are not going to get beat. They went down there and played head and shoulders above 90 percent of the country."
The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference has had only two representatives in the College World Series since it began in 1976.
That '96 team went 3-2, and a year later, the Bears were right back at the College World Series after winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional, losing their only two games at the '97 CWS.
The only teams from Massachusetts to finish higher than the Bears did in '96 were Brandeis University (second, 1977) and Wheaton College (second in 2006 and 2012).
Bridgewater State was led by senior first baseman/pitcher Kevin O'Leary, named to the American Baseball Coaches Association Division III All-America second team in addition to making the All-New England team.
O'Leary batted .430 with 65 hits, including 15 doubles and five homers, drove in 38 runs and had a .629 slugging percentage and a .488 on-base percentage.
On the mound, O'Leary went 6-2 in 15 games with four starts (all complete games) and had a 2.44 earned run average with seven saves.
"What a monster year he had," said Smith. "Just unbelievable."
The Bears batted .342 and outscored teams, 289-147, while finishing 31-10.
Senior captain Jim Martorana, the second baseman, batted .415 with 12 doubles, senior first baseman Matt Ardelino hit .373 with 40 RBI and junior center fielder Brian DeSantes was at .363.
Junior shortstop Matt Poitras was at .335 and formed a quality double-play combination with Martorana, while junior right fielder Mike Armold (.324) and senior captain and catcher Chris Quirk (.316) were also above .300.
Martorana and Quirk had suffered season-ending injuries in the same game at Legion Field early in the 1995 season and were able to return in '96 after red-shirting.
Senior Bill Vellios was the third baseman before getting injured with sophomore Matt Gallant taking over at the nationals and junior Mike Saraceno was in left field.
Senior Jason Newhall made the All-New England team and was 8-1 with four complete games and a 2.87 ERA in 12 appearance (11 starts). Sophomore lefthander Joe Dillon went 5-2 in ten starts while freshman Brad Kuta was 3-0 and sophomore reliever Fred Martin had a 5-1 record with three saves in a school-record (since broken) 17 appearances.
The postseason journey began at the four-team New England Regional where Bridgewater State went 3-0 with a pair of wins over nationally ranked teams in the last two games.
The Bears opened with a 6-2 win over Brandeis and stopped host and No. 1 seed Southern Maine, 9-2, before winning the regional with a 16-12 victory in 10 innings over Eastern Connecticut State, which had gone to the World Series a year earlier.
"They weren't nervous about going to the World Series after that," said Smith. "They just beat two natonally ranked teams and finally understood how good they actually were if they stayed together. They didn't care if they went 4-for-4. They cared if the team won."
Bridgewater State opened the national tourney on May 23 against William Paterson, which had gone 1-2 at the NCAAs a year earlier.
The Bears dropped the first game, 12-4, to immediately fall into the loser's bracket.
"We had Newhall pitching and there was a two-hour rain delay and they had a big inning and we got beat," said Smith. "The team was mad. We lost on a big inning. We made an error that caused a big inning and that was it."
Bridgewater State faced a long climb out of that early hole, beginning with a game against Marietta, the nation's second-ranked team coached by Don Schaly, who went 1,442-329 in his career.
The Bears stayed alive with a 5-3 victory and the reward was another elimination game against top-ranked Methodist on May 26.
"I remember Newhall mowed them down in that one (a 10-4 BSC win)," said Smith.
The third elimination game was on May 27 when the Bears outlasted Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 9-7, to get to the semifinal round.
Bridgewater State stayed right with California-Lutheran with O'Leary, who made the all-tourney team with Martorana, pitching, but the offense was unable to get going and the result was a season-ending 3-1 loss on May 28.
"There was a sinking line drive to the outfield, like a knuckleball, and it would have been a sensational catch by our outfielder," said Smith. "It just tipped off the glove and that's how they scored their runs."
A long bus ride back to Massachusetts from Virginia followed that game three decades ago, and the Bears were able to reflect on their tremendous accomplishments.
Prior to the regional in Maine, Bridgewater State was ranked No. 27 in the ABCA poll, then finished third at the nationals, coming back from an early loss and defeating the teams ranked in the top two.
"Each game after that first loss, we had to prove we belonged there," said Smith, whose coaching staff included Bob Wooster, Bryan Kudrikow and Doug Vadnais as well as team manager/statistician, Jeff Newhall. "They just said, no, we're not going to lose.
"I give that all to the kids. They believed in themselves, they believed that they belonged. Those teams we played were polished with the practice gear, everything. We had uniforms that had to be taped together.
"It was eye opening, the pomp and circumstance that went with it. That team could have folded their tents and said that we don't belong here. But they said, 'We're just as good as they are and we're going to prove it and that's what they did.
"The ride home, it was subdued. They weren't satisfied, but they weren't disappointed because they got beat by a better team. They understood it. They were sad. I don't know if they were sad about losing or sad about not being able to play together as a team again."
When the Bears arrived back on campus, there was a welcoming party to greet the best baseball team in program history.
"When we lost, (Dr.) Adrian Tinsley (then the school president) met us at Kelly Gym when the bus pulled up in front of the old Bear," said Smith, who was the New England Coach of the Year. "John Harper (then the director of athletics) and the athletics staff were there, too, to congratulate us. It was just unbelievable."
The team was inducted into the Bridgewater State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021 when a uniform jersey was presented to the family of Martorano, who died in 2020.
The Bears are also in the MASCAC Hall of Fame, inducted in 2023.
"Just great memories," said Smith. "They were all a bunch of working-class heroes, all very gifted athletes.
"We still get together two or three times a year for dinner on a Friday night. Nothing has changed."
