Seniors Nick Gallivan and Preston Cote have both pitched their way to a Division II baseball scholarship at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
While Gallivan and Cote have been teammates as varsity pitchers since their sophomore years, they’ve faced different struggles throughout their lives playing baseball. However, through hard work, both have achieved their goal of earning a baseball scholarship. As a sophomore, Cote was Algonquin’s only relief pitcher, while Gallivan pitched both starting and relief.
As a junior, Cote had an impressive season, playing in seven games while starting five with an overall 0.96 Earned Run Average (ERA). While Cote had some offers from Division III schools, he liked how St. Anselm’s was a small Division II school in the Northeast Ten conference.
“I liked the campus and the environment in Manchester, New Hampshire,” Cote said.
Gallivan had an offer from Division III college, Western New England, as well but chose St. Anselm for its strong sense of community, its campus and, of course, for baseball.
“From a baseball standpoint, I liked the facilities and the coaches as they were very upbeat and also their philosophy matched what I was looking for,” Gallivan said.
The recruiting process was different for the two pitchers, as Cote was recruited through one of the coaches coming to a Northeast Baseball AAU showcase. Gallivan, on the other hand, originally reached out to St. Anselm’s, and after observing his outstanding pitching, he was invited for a tour where he was offered a scholarship.
Cote enjoys pitching because it makes baseball a mental battle.
“There are so many different parts to [pitching] and not all of it is physical but [there are] also mental parts,” Cote said. “Every pitch, every at-bat is a mini-battle and the game is the war, and I think about how you need to win enough battles to win your team the game.”
Gallivan enjoys the control the pitcher has in a game.
“For me, I enjoyed baseball because as a pitcher you always have control over the game and I like that competitiveness,” Gallivan said.
They have both played AAU baseball for a big part of their lives. Gallivan has been playing for the Northeast Eagles since he was 10 when he played up on a U12 team.
Cote has played AAU since he was 13, most recently playing for Nokona in Ashland. He plans to play American Legion baseball this year as Nokona doesn’t offer a U18 program.
Cote and Gallivan also have different schedules and training throughout the year. Cote has a specific training routine during the off-season to improve his pitching mechanics and strength. He also uses YouTube videos from a variety of channels to help improve his game.
“Typically in the fall right before winter, I stop throwing completely to let my arm rest,” Cote said, “In that time I do lots of strength training to try and get as strong as I can.”
Gallivan and Cote have some similar struggles when it comes to pitching.
“A struggle for me was not always succeeding when I might not be 100% in a game,” Gallivan said. “You might have failures, but you need to find ways to bounce back.”
Cote agrees about the need to push through the inevitable lows of pitching.
“Sometimes when the last at-bat gets in your head it can bring your confidence down and you need to persevere through that,” Cote said.