Chris Kowalski
A SEADOG AND AN EAGLE
April 18, 2011
There are very few high level, multi-sport athletes who have achieved as much off the field as they have on the field, but Chris Kowalski is a perfect example of one of those unique student athletes. Chris not only earned a scholarship and played four years of baseball at Boston College; he then went on to work on his Master’s Degree in a fifth year up on Chesnut Hill, all while revisiting his love for and talent in the game of basketball by walking onto the BC hoops team.
Chris’ journey began in Dorchester. It wasn’t long before the now 22-year-old became interested in sports, and baseball and basketball were the two he took the strongest liking to. Chris tried out for and joined the South Shore Baseball Club Seadogs when he was just ten years old and was a member of the team for seven years. As a Seadog, Chris developed as both a power hitter and a skilled, strong pitcher. The keys to his success, in both aspects of the game, were always about the time and energy he was willing to put in.
“I was a Seadog for seven years. Being a Seadog in the younger years taught me what it would take to be successful. So many times we went to the club when other kids didn’t and it became obvious of the decisions you had to make to get better. How good of a baseball player did I want to be? We went to Hingham when it was snowing, recognizing the sacrifices my parents made to get me there.”
Throughout his time as a Seadog, Chris says that while being a member of the team was certainly about working on his skills, the bonds built with teammates are unbreakable: “Those relationships you build with those guys, you’re with them every single summer. You develop bonds and relationships you never forget and are there for a lifetime.”
As a teen, Chris attended Roxbury Latin High School and was a member of the Varsity Baseball team for three years and the Varsity Basketball team for all four years of high school. On the baseball team, Chris was selected as a Three-time Independent School League (ISL) first team selection, first-team ISL MVP runner-up, All Northeast selection, and was a member of the ISL championship team as a sophomore and junior. He also served as the team’s camptain in 2006.
Upon graduation, Chris had several great options both academically and baseball wise for college, and chose to stay close to home and attend Boston College on an athletic scholarship.
“BC was a school I always dreamed of, with Jason Delaney, Ryan Morgan, Drew Locke, all Seadog alumni as well. I wanted to play there knowing they were going to join the ACC. I knew it was going to be an elite conference to play in week in, week out. I saw it as an opportunity. I also got recruited by NC State and Notre Dame — other big powerhouses as well, but with the opportunity to both stay close and be able to have friends to go there, I knew the program and the coach was doing a great job.” Chris says the combination of quality education and a great baseball program made BC an easy decision:
“Athletics is going to take you as far as it’s going to go, but in the end it’s going to be your academics and schooling that’s going to be essential to your future success. Going to BC I knew it was a great school and going there I was going to get a high level education.”