Jun 1, 2005
By Kevin Moschella, Staff writer
DERRY, N.H. — Graeme Clohosey always seemed to come up big for the Pinkerton Academy football team. In three seasons as the starting quarterback, he set just about every passing record in school history.
He owns the single game and career yardage marks, the career touchdown marks and led the Astros to their first championship game since 1994.
But when it came time to decide his future, Clohosey determined he was not big enough to play college football. The 6-1, 160-pound senior instead chose to attend UMass Lowell to play baseball.
"People are always asking me why I'm not playing football next year," said Clohosey, who his batting .345 for the baseball team this spring. "But I kind of knew for a while I wasn't big enough to play quarterback at the next level. I want to be able to walk when I'm 60 years old."
But despite the health concerns, the decision wasn't an easy one for Clohosey. He weighed his options for months between UMass Lowell and Bryant. Both wanted him for baseball, though Bryant gave him the chance to also play football.
"I know I'll miss the adrenaline rush of playing football, so that almost swayed me to Bryant just to have the choice if I wanted to go back to it," he said. "But I just loved too many things about Lowell. The coach was great, the guys were great and the facilities were top notch. Getting to play our games where the Spinners play is pretty impressive. Plus I won't have to worry about the pressure or urges of playing football and going out there an hurting myself."
While being a catcher isn't exactly a pair of knees' best friend, his baseball coach said he believes his senior captain is making the right decision.
"Baseball is Graeme's sport," said Pinkerton coach Ron Manseau. "He might put up great numbers on the football field, but he's the best defensive catcher in the state and maybe the best we've had here at Pinkerton. He's got a cannon of an arm, will throw his body in front of anything and is great at working with the pitchers."
Clohosey will go to UMass Lowell next year with no promise of starting, just the promise that if he works hard and earns the job, he'll get his chance. He'll receive $2,000 in a baseball scholarship for the first year, but is getting roughly another $16,000 of the $24,000 tuition in other grants.
"I wouldn't expect to be given the starting job without working for it," said Clohosey. "Their starting catcher is graduating, so that gives me a chance, but I know it depends on how well I play."
If this season is any indication of how he'll play next year, the starting job may be his to lose. While always being considered a stalwart of a defensive catcher, Clohosey has started to earn his stripes at the plate this year as well.
His .345 average is a career best and he's also been a solid run producer, while hitting anywhere from second to fifth in the order.
"Graeme really worked hard on his hitting last summer and throughout the offseason," said Manseau. "He realized it was a weakness and got better. That's exactly what I would expect out of someone like him."
Clohosey was also a big part in the Astros not falling apart earlier this season when they went through a six-game losing streak and a 3-9 start. Since then, Pinkerton has won three of its last four games and if they can sweep a double-header today against Nashua South (10 a.m. at Pinkerton) and Winnacunnet (4 p.m. on the road), they'll still have a shot at the playoffs.
"It was tough to get through, but the thing about this team is that a lot of us have been together for along time," said Clohosey. "We just have fun out there and like playing together. For us seniors, it's our last year, so we wanted to go out playing well."
"Graeme is a quiet leader, like our other seniors," said Manseau. "But what helped us through the losing was that everyone stuck together. Sometimes you start losing and everyone starts fighting and getting on each other about mistakes. But that never happened with this team and a lot of that credit has to go to Graeme and the other seniors."
