Hanover's Pardo shines at Stonehill

By Scott Roche, Enterprise staff writer

EASTON - It was on the verge of being a disastrous trip for the Stonehill College baseball team.

Staring with a 3-6 record and injuries starting to pile up for the Skyhawks, Stonehill was facing their final series of their trip to Fort Myers, Fla., against St. Thomas Aquinas.

Stonehill lost its No. 2 batter, Matt Vaughn, and cleanup-hitter, Max Vigliotti, to injuries and Coach Pat Boen was left with senior Adam Pardo of Hanover as the only starter in the middle of the order.

Pardo stepped up and answered the call for Stonehill as he went 7-for-12 with four RBI in the Skyhawks' three-game series sweep of St. Thomas Aquinas to help Stonehill return home at 6-6.

"Adam really started to get going at the end of the week,'' said Boen. "When we lost our second (Vaughn) and fourth (Vigliotti) hitters, that left only Adam in the third slot. We won those last three games due to Adam picking us up.

"We were 3-6 and things were not looking good at all. He carried us through those final three games. It seemed like every time someone got on, Adam drove them in. It was almost like the guys were waiting for Adam to get back up to the plate. If we had lost those games, we were looking at a five- or six-game losing steak coming home. But getting those wins were huge and it allows us to get healthy at 6-6.''

"It was not a bad Florida trip,'' said Pardo. "We were struggling a little bit and really needed to win those final three games. I changed nothing in those final three games at the plate and felt just as comfortable as I did in the other games. We needed the win for our team, and I was able to come through to help out our team.''

Pardo, a three-year starter at third base, is at the top of almost every Stonehill offensive category through the first 12 games.

Pardo leads the team in hits with 18, RBI with 13, doubles with four, triples with two and total bases with 26. He's second with a .400 batting average and second in slugging percentage at .578.

"I am not surprised by his start this year,'' said Boen. "He is a hard worker that worked real hard during the offseason. He had a good fall baseball season and when we started practices in mid January, you could tell how hard he worked in the winter. The surprise would be if he did not start out this year the way he has.''

After spending his freshman year as a backup, Pardo broke into the Stonehill starting lineup his sophomore year. Pardo batted .220 as a sophomore with seven RBI before having a breakout year as a junior with a .240 batting average and 17 RBI.

All of that was done with adjusting to the use of a wooden bat (which makes the Northeast-10 Conference one of two college leagues in the country to use wooden bats during the regular season), which Pardo used a little bit in high school.

"Playing with the wooden bat a little in high school made the adjustment a little easier,'' said Pardo. "In our league games in high school, we would use a wooden bat, but when we played non-league games, we got back to aluminum, but the use of wooden bats did help me out.''

Pardo is also having a career for himself at third base. In 45 games last year, he committed only four errors, and this year he's off to a .867 fielding percentage to start the spring.

"Not only at the plate has he improved, but also at third base,'' said Boen. "It might sound like a lot in 45 games, but he had only four errors last year for us. At third base in (Northeast-10 Conference) that uses wooden bats, third base is a very important position. He's the guy that controls the infield at the corner and he has been solid for us there.''

Pardo played four years on the varsity at Hanover High School, starting three years and earning three-time Patriot League all-star honors. During his senior season, Pardo was looking around at different colleges were he wanted to play baseball.

Pardo got in contact with Boen and the rest was history.

"It was a big adjustment going from Hanover to Stonehill,'' said Pardo. "but it felt like the right fit for me right away. It was close to home and the coaching staff, athletic department and teammates made it an easy fit for me.

"I could not think of a better place to play college baseball. Coach Boen is a great guy.''

"Some local people who knew Adam and knew us tipped us off to Adam when he was at Hanover,'' said Boen. "A three-year league all-star and hitting in the middle of the lineup, we knew he would be a good fit for us."

"Adam is a great leader,'' added Boen. "He is the little quiet type that leads by example. He is one of those kids on the team that you really want to do great things.''