Kevin Driscoll Leading Lions to Tournament

Kevin Driscoll, a captain of the Chelmsford High baseball team, is currently playing in his best ever season of baseball. This year, after a position change from catcher to first base, the senior has come into his own and proved to be a necessary asset too the team's success.

Driscoll, although a member of the varsity team last year, was not a starter, and upped his playing time this season.

“I was up and down last year, actually. I was on the team, but I didn’t really play, so I played JV to get playing time. This is my first year being a starter,” said Driscoll.  “I played catcher (last year) , but this year, we didn’t have a first basemen, so I told coach that I would play first this year instead of catcher."

The switch proved to be a wise decision.

“(When) switching positions, you get to learn a more about the game, it just makes you a better overall baseball player," he said.

The senior worked hard in the off season to ensure improvement for his last year of high school baseball.

“I worked out this summer to make myself stronger, better, and faster. In the fall, I worked with coach O’Keefe. He helped me a lot to hitting wise and  helped me get to know the game better,” Driscoll said.

This year, Driscoll has played as a starting first baseman, and has one of the highest batting averages in the Merrimack Valley Conference. The standout leader, however, hasn’t allowed his success to go to his head.

“I’m not all about the statistics,” he said. “As long as my team is winning, I don’t really care.”

Driscoll and the Lions are currently having a great season. This past week, they secured  . After this last week of regular season games, Chelmsford will begin to play in the state tournament. Although the Lions were predicted to be a good team, they are exceeding the expectations that some other teams in the League had placed on them.

“We weren’t expected to be the best team in the league, and we kind of shocked a few teams by becoming one of the top teams in the MVC,” he said. “We actually started off pretty good. At first we were 4-0, but there is always room for improvements, so we just keep working and getting better and better.”

Driscoll, who plans to play baseball for Framingham State next year, said although winning the state championship would be ideal, he will be happy if the team finishes the season on a good note.

“Baseball is my favorite sport; I’ve gotten better each year, and this year has been a good year. It’s an honor being selected to be a captain for this year, and bringing a team to the playoffs means a lot to me personally," said Driscoll.

The Lions will begin state championship games next week.