By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass -- The career records for home runs and RBI in a season for the Bridgewater State University baseball program had been established 39 and 22 years ago, respectively.

John Kiely, who went on to pitch for the Detroit Tigers, hit 15 home runs in 1986 while Jeremy Winters drove in 59 runs in 2003.

Last Saturday afternoon, during the eighth inning of a championship round game in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, both of those records were surpassed with one swing of the bat.

BSU junior first baseman Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) hit a three-run homer in a 12-3 victory over the Massachusetts Maritime Academy at Alumni Park to go past both Kiely and Winters.

Entering the NCAA Division III tournament this week, Flaherty has 17 homers to go with 64 RBI, helping the Bears reach the national tourney for a fourth straight season.

After hitting three homers in 14 games as a freshman infielder at Stonehill College in its first Division I season in 2023, Flaherty had six homers in 42 games at BSU a year ago.

Now, he leads all Division III hitters in New England in homers and RBI and ranks tied for four nationally in home runs and tied for sixth in RBI.

What a difference a year has made for Flaherty, one of the key reasons why BSU is averaging 8.4 runs per game heading into a Friday morning matchup with nationally ranked Endicott College at Alumni Park.

"I had a good season, and I remember leaving last season thinking I could have done more, which is funny because I had a great year," said Flaherty, who hit .359 and tied for the MASCAC lead with 45 RBI last spring.

"I can always get better. That's the mentality I took into the offseason, to get bigger, get stronger, working on my techniques. It's paid off."

Flaherty hit four homers during the early March trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., then had just one homer in the next 13 games. He went on a tear with six homers in five games and had a homer in each of the final two MASCAC tourney games against Mass. Maritime.

Flaherty has produced the power, and now his name is in the BSU record books twice.

"To break a record (for home runs) that was set before I was born is just something special," said Flaherty, who is hitting .299 and is sixth in the conference with a .647 slugging percentage. "Personal accomplishments come secondary to the team winning, but it means a lot to me.

"I'm proud of myself for the work I put in to get there. It's not something I ever would have thought I would be capable of doing.

"If I looked at the home run record prior to this year and saw 15, I'd say no shot I was coming close to touching it. Last year, I had the most home runs I ever had in a season and it was six.

"Strength training in the offseason, getting bigger, faster and stronger, that's the reason I've upped my home run numbers."

BSU coach Greg Zackrison, whose team heads into the NCAAs with a 30-13 record, has watched Flaherty improve through his two seasons with the Bears after leaving Stonehill.

"We knew he had some power, but the 17 have kind of come out of nowhere," said Zackrison. "He kind of got away from being a hitter and became a slugger. Obviously, the home runs really helped propel our offense at times. But he's always working and rounding out his game where it's not just home runs.

"You hit 17 home runs at our field during the spring, those are legit. Our field, the ball doesn't travel nearly as well as other fields. It's pretty impressive."

Flaherty was part of Stonehill's first season in Division I and batted .278 with the six homers and eight RBI. But after 14 games, his season ended due to a wrist injury and he was unable to play after April 11.

Flaherty had homered against Army, Kansas State and Brown before the injury.

He decided to leave Stonehill after the school year ended and found happiness at BSU with back-to-back trips to the NCAAs.

"I didn't really know my next step," said Flaherty. "I entered the transfer portal and coach Zackrison reached out. I knew I wanted to be close to home and I knew this was a winning program.

"I had already met a couple of guys on the team that I enjoyed my time with. I figured this would be the best spot for me, a place I could play and make an impact and win."

A middle infielder before arriving at BSU, Flaherty has made a successful switch to first base.

Now he is a power-hitting first baseman who holds two impressive records. Flaherty has 23 homers in two seasons with the Bears and the career record is 29 set by Kiely in his two years at Bridgewater State.

"This year I think the main difference is my biggest focus was gaining strength and power and making sure my body was healthy and moving correctly," said Flaherty. "Shutting my brain off and knowing I put all the work in and trusting I did the right work and I worked hard, that's all I could do."