LYNN — During his high school baseball career, Bobby Alcock checked just about every box on the list. Alcock, a right-handed pitcher, was a 3-time Catholic Central League All-Star, hurled a perfect game during his sophomore year, cracked the 300-strikeout mark, pitched in three MIAA state tournaments and won a Division 2 state championship.
Last week, Alcock announced his commitment to continue his baseball career at Division I Gardner-Webb in Springs, North Carolina.
“Playing baseball down South was definitely something I wanted to do,” Alcock, a Lynn native who plans to study exercise science, said. “I feel it’ll make me a better player, being able to go outside and throw long toss in the warmer weather. It’s a small school, only about 2,500 students and I was looking for a small school. I feel the coaches are great coaches and they’ll help me become a better player.”
Alcock also drew looks from a number of other Division I schools in Rutgers, UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, Northeastern, Bryant and Austin Peay.
“I’m very relieved,” Alcock, who finished his St. Mary’s varsity career 21-3, said. “It was a very long process starting around the summer of my sophomore year. It’s very relieving to get it over with.”
Alcock received nothing but high remarks from St. Mary’s baseball coach Derek Dana.
“Gardner-Webb’s getting an excellent kid that’s going to have a lot of success,” Dana said. “He’s an outstanding competitor with outstanding work ethic and he does what his coaches ask him to do.
“Bobby has an edge to him,” Dana said. “He wants the ball every time it’s his turn to get the ball. He took the ball every single time. He was a 20-game winner, 300 strikeouts, state champion. They don’t get much better than that.”
Alcock couldn’t have asked for a better senior season. He helped the Spartans to a Division 2 state championship, St. Mary’s first state title since its 2015 run in Division 3, with 23 strikeouts over 22 shutout innings in three postseason starts. He blanked Belmont (1-0 in the North quarterfinal), Woburn (5-0 in the North final) and Hopkinton (2-0 in the state final).
“The final state tournament run was unbelievable,” Alcock said. “The way we came together was awesome. The way we practiced at the end of the season, hours in the rain, we wanted it so bad for one another. To finally get it was just unbelievable.”
Dana pointed to Alcock’s mental toughness as one of his best strengths on the mound.
“Bobby really refused to lose,” Dana said. “The whole team did but when you’re the kid with the ball in his hand, it’s different. I go back to the Belmont game. They had a great pitcher and Bobby just didn’t let them score. That was just mental toughness. He knew we weren’t going to score two, three, four runs. He had to hold them down. That was the best game he’s ever pitched and he’s pitched a perfect game.
“Winning the state championship was the final culmination of all of Bobby’s hard work. Now he’s a Division I scholarship athlete. It makes me feel very proud.”
Alcock’s currently at postgraduate Winchendon Academy, where he’ll sharpen his game before heading off to Gardner-Webb.
“Everything’s going really good,” Alcock said. “I think it’s helping me get more structured before I go to Gardner-Webb. I think it’s helped me overall become more prepared for college so I’m really excited.”
“Most kids don’t need prep school,” Dana said, “but in Bobby’s case I thought it was a good fit. He told me he wasn’t quite ready to go to school yet. He sounds great. He’s in a great place right now. He’s excited to have a great spring at Winchendon.”
