BIG D to the MLB

In an exclusive report, Irish Creed has learned that Notre Dame pitcher Evan Danieli will forego his senior season with the Irish and sign a contract with the Atlanta Braves, who drafted him in the 24th round of the 2010 Amateur Draft.

One of the top pitching high school prospects in the country, Evan was selected in the 2007 draft by the Minnesota Twins albeit his strong commitment to play at Notre Dame. Despite a college career that was hampered by injuries, including rehabilitation following Tommy John elbow surgery that caused him to miss the 2010 season, the Braves clearly were impressed by his 90+mph fastball that reportedly topped out at 97 in previous summers in the Cape Cod League, a commanding curve ball, and overall ability to pitch.

Evan’s outgoing and fun-loving personality will be sorely missed this year in Alumni Hall, around campus, and on the baseball team. But, we are excited to know that he departs to an organization with an outstanding reputation for grooming star MLB pitchers.

Don’t forget all those great Dawg Pizzas we’ve made you big guy, and get us tickets to your pitching duel when you take down fellow Seton Hall Prep star Rick Porcello. Best of luck as you begin your MLB career.

Stepping Up From The Minors

Former Backup College baseball coach Mik Aoki has accepted the head baseball coaching position at Notre Dame according to The College Baseball Blog.

Aoki posted a 114-104-1 record as the head coach of the Eagles, and has a career record of 201-248-1. Although these numbers seem low when looking to find leadership for a team that has struggled since the departure of all-star coach Paul Mainieri, Aoki has an excellent track record and has earned a lot of respect in the college baseball world. He led the BC program that has no emphasis and poor baseball facilities to the NCAA tournament in 2009; this was the Eagles’ first NCAA regional appearance in 42 years.

Prior to coaching at Boston College, Aoki took over a struggling Columbia Lions baseball program that hadn’t had a 20-win season since 1987. From 2001-2003, Aoki’s final 3 seasons as the Lions’ skipper, Columbia posted three straight 20-plus win records.




Aoki started off his baseball career as a player for the Davidson Wildcats, setting up behind the plate, at 3rd, and at 2nd during his four-year career. Aoki is in the top ten for career batting average and slugging average for the Wildcats, as well as having top-five single-season records in home runs and doubles.

Despite having a similar record to Schrage’s, Aoki coached a team in a far more competitive conference than the Big East (ACC) as well as inheriting much less. BC has terrible baseball facilities and did not have the same caliber of players that Mainieri left Schrage with at ND.

Mike Belfiore, a pitcher for the South Bend Silverhawks, touted Aoki as a good player developer, stating "He'll always point out things that you need to work on. He always wants you to be better."

Although less proven than our football coach, Aoki could be a Brian Kelly-like hire doing “more with less” until he can get his recruits to South Bend. Here’s to hoping that Aoki can transition well from BC to Notre Dame like a famous football coach did long ago.