Spotlight on Josh Faiola

June 9, 2006

When he leaves Dartmouth in mid-June, Josh Faiola will have his name etched in the record books alongside such standouts as Mike Remlinger '88 and Conor Brooks '00.

Faiola led the Big Green staff with a 6-2 record and an Ivy League-best 2.45 earned run average. He completed five of his eight starts, and threw 47 innings in five conference outings to earn a place on the All-Ivy League first team for the second time in his career.

For his career, he finished up fourth all-time at the College in wins (17) and innings pitched (238 1/3) and fifth in strikeouts (188). So it was no surprise when Faiola was named Dartmouth's pitcher of the year and most valuable player at the team banquet.

On top of those awards, the senior from Pueblo, Colo. was also honored with the James Henry Cooke Award, given to the player who has done the most for baseball at Dartmouth during his career.

"It's been the best four years of my life," Faiola said. "It's always bittersweet looking back on it because I was here four years and went to just one Ivy League championship. But all in all, it was a success."

The Big Green finished just a game behind Harvard this year after a thrilling series with the Crimson which came down to the final innings. As a co-captain, Faiola is quick to give credit to his teammates for the Big Green's success.

"Just going through four years with these guys has been great," he said. "One thing that I can say about Coach's (Bob Whalen) recruiting is that he consistently brings in great people. I've heard from guys that were seniors when I was a freshman and still get blitzes, and it's a great network."

As close as Dartmouth was to winning the Red Rolfe Division, Faiola knows that the program is in good hands with only four members of the Class of 2006 graduating this year.

"We were a young team and knew that coming in, but I definitely think we played very well to go into the last game with a chance to get to the Ivy League championship," he said.

"There were a lot of games we could've come out on top of. Four of our seven Ivy League losses were one-run losses. The freshmen were awesome. But it was really easy being a captain with these kids. A lot of them are going to have very good careers."

How Faiola ended up at Dartmouth four years ago from Colorado is something of a roundabout story. Knowing he wanted to eventually play professional ball but living in a state with just one NCAA Division I baseball team at the time, Faiola had two greatly different options "It always sounds terrible, and I got a lot of flak for it on things like my DOC trip and whenever I was around non-athletes," Faiola said, laughing. "There was only one Division I school in Colorado and that was Air Force. But I wanted to pursue a pro career so I was looking at junior colleges. And it's tough going to an Ivy League school when the other two choices were junior colleges."

When Tony Baldwin, then an assistant coach for Dartmouth, saw Faiola at a showcase in Arizona, he dropped off a questionnaire for the high school senior to fill out and send back.

"I was so far away that I didn't know what it was, I thought it was like a Division II school," Faiola said. "My coach had to tell me it was an Ivy League school. So I sent it back and the rest is history."

As for his professional dreams, he's anxiously awaiting the upcoming Major League Baseball draft.

"It's all up for grabs, I'm waiting for June 6 and 7," he said. "I got drafted last year, but haven't heard from any scouts for awhile. So I won't really know until after I'm drafted. I just want a shot." (Ben Flickinger '04) ?

Josh Faiola's recruiting trip to Dartmouth was made possible by the generosity of the Dartmouth Class of 1963 and Jack L. Billhardt '58 through the Athletic Sponsor Program.