June 5, 1998
Andy Larned (Mentor, OH), a senior catcher for the Fairfield University baseball team, was picked by the Boston Red Sox in the 23rd round of Major League Baseball's Amateur draft on June 2. Larned is the second Stag in the last three years to enter the ranks of professional baseball, joining former teammate Jim Manias who was selected in 1996 and is still in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.
Larned, a 6-foot, 190-pound backstop batted .307 in his final season with the Stags. He finished second on the team in 1998 with 35 RBI while cracking four home runs and 11 doubles. Larned also starred behind the dish with a .974 fielding percentage and threw out 40% of attempted base stealers. He wraps up his career ranked among Fairfield's all-time leaders in several offensive categories. Larned is second all-time in hits with 170, third in RBI with 115, third in doubles with 37 and ninth in home runs with 14.
The Stags finished the year 19-25 overall and 12-14 in the MAAC. As a team the Stags finished with a league-leading .308 batting average. Head Coach John Slosar returns a starter at every position in the field except for first base and catcher next season and also returns all but two starting pitchers, giving the Stags much hope for a return trip to the MAAC Tournament in 1999.
