Josh Faiola '06, the second player on the 2005-06 Dartmouth baseball team to be picked up in this year's major league draft, may have been one of the few members of his class choosing between Dartmouth and junior college. Yet in the world of baseball up-and-comers, junior college is more than a viable option. For Faiola, one of Colorado's top high school pitching prospects, the quickest route to the major leagues seemed like the most appealing path. Then his better judgment set in.
Faiola first stepped foot in Hanover during the winter of 2002, a time of year in New Hampshire which would send most running for the ice-covered hills. As soon as the Pueblo, Colo., native arrived, he was welcomed to a baseball brotherhood that made his college choice an easy one.
"While you can't turn down an Ivy League education, the thing that sells Dartmouth is the people here, and as soon as I met the baseball team I knew where I needed to be," Faiola said.
Anyone who has ever met Faiola would not immediately assume they were conversing with a former Cape Cod League playoffs co-MVP, a major league draft pick and one of the greatest hurlers in Dartmouth history.
The baseball team captain still cites "the good friends [he] made" as his greatest Dartmouth memory, eclipsing both the countless high-pressure pitching masterpieces in which he partook and his Ivy League degree.
While it may have been easy for his friends to forget Faiola's true passion, it certainly was not so simple for his opponents on the field. The hard-throwing righty remained one of the most feared pitchers in the Ivy League throughout his entire collegiate career, amassing 17 wins and 188 strikeouts in four seasons. It was only a matter of time until the same pro scouts who had deserted him after learning of his decision to attend a four-year institution would come calling once again.
Faiola did not wait long to reveal himself to the baseball world. After his sophomore year, while most of his classmates returned to Hanover for summer term, the 6-foot-3-inch flamethrower was accepted to the nation's most prestigious summer league. The Cape Cod League, known by baseball enthusiasts as a draft-pick factory and by little girls as the setting for Freddie Prince Jr.'s 2001 flick "Summer Catch," was the site of Faiola's true unveiling and the start of his professional future. Pitching the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to a league championship, Faiola was named co-MVP of the playoffs.
"A great summer in Cape Cod got me on a lot of scouts' radars," Faiola said. "But then I backed that up with a very inconsistent junior year at school which really hurt me as far as the draft went."
Although he led Dartmouth's pitching staff in both strikeouts and innings pitched, Faiola could not find the "stuff" that had guided him through his previous year. He went 3-3 with a less-than-excellent earned run average of 4.96.
On the second day of the 2005 MLB draft, Faiola was picked in the 32nd round by the Baltimore Orioles.
"When I got the call from the Orioles scout saying they were going to draft me it was a pretty big surprise," Faiola said.
Yet several factors, including an unimpressive financial offer from the Orioles, reinforced Faiola's desire to return to Dartmouoth for his senior season.
"Things basically just didn't work out throughout my junior season for it to be a smart choice for me to sign last year," Faiola said. "It was a great feeling to be drafted and one that I will always remember, but I knew that I needed to come back for my senior year."
And return he did -- to dominate the Ivy League. He led the league in ERA and wins, clearly demonstrating his worth to major league scouts. As a graduation gift of sorts, Faiola was once again drafted by the Orioles in June 2006, this time in round 24.
Faiola will finally have the opportunity to pursue the major league-sized dream that has inspired him "since [he] first picked up a baseball." The road to Baltimore, however, seems like a long one for the Colorado native. Faiola has begun his professional career in Bluefield, W. Va., playing for the Orioles' rookie league affiliate.
Thus far, Faiola has shined. In 18 innings of work, he has posted a dazzling 0.50 ERA, the best mark on the team.
"I like it here in Bluefield -- it's a small town and the team has a bunch of great guys on it," Faiola said. "We actually have like 12 players from the Dominican Republic or Venezuela who only speak Spanish so I've been working hard to remember the stuff I learned my freshman year in my Spanish classes."
Nevertheless, as his former teammate Will Bashelor '07 is learning with the Mets, progression in the minor leagues is always an uncertainty.
"There's really no way to tell when or if I'll move up this year, that's something that the front office guys decide so I can't focus on that," Faiola said. "I'm just trying to concentrate on pitching as well as I can, working hard, staying healthy, and Lord willing, I'll move up through the system."
