BOYS OF SUMMER PLAYER OF WEEK: Liberty and Lehigh product Pat Donnelly

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

From Sunday's print edition of The Morning Call:

PLAYER OF WEEK, PAT DONNELLY

Despite the record of his team, 6-14 through Friday, Quakertown Blazers shortstop Pat Donnelly said he’s having a lot of fun this summer.
“It’s so much baseball all the time,” the 2013 Liberty High graduate said. “If you have a bad day, you can get right back up the next day. And if you’re hot, you can stay hot because you just keep playing. You don’t have much to think about.”
Donnelly didn’t mind reflecting on an amazing win Quakertown posted last Tuesday. The Blazers fell behind 7-0 after a half-inning before rallying for a 15-7 victory. Donnelly was a key to the comeback, going 4-for-5 with an RBI triple. The performance raised his average to .381, second best on the team.
He is coming off a solid freshman season at Lehigh where he batted .269 with five extra-base hits, 18 runs scored and 13 RBIs while stealing seven bases. He started at third base for the Mountain Hawks.
“This summer I just wanted to focus on being confident,” he said. “I appreciated the opportunity to start as a freshman and I had a pretty solid year. I hit seventh at Lehigh and next year I hope to move up to the top of the lineup. I’ve been focusing on getting my pitch and hitting it. It’s all about getting on base for my team.”
Donnelly, who was also a solid basketball player at Liberty, enjoys the competition in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League and the chance to play with other area products like Nazareth grad and Lehigh teammate Mike Garzillo.
“The competition is good, especially the speed of the pitching,” Donnelly said. “I’d love to have a shot at getting drafted, but right now I am just focused on getting better.”
— Keith Groller