Ellicotty City's Natoli Adjusts to Life in the Minors

He grew up following the Orioles and played at nearby Towson University.

But now Nick Natoli, from Ellicott City, is fully entrenched among Red Sox Nation in New England.

A four-year shortstop at Towson, Natoli played his first game with the Lowell (MA) Spinners on July 5 after hitting .263 in eight games with the Red Sox farm team in the Gulf Coast League in Florida.

In games through Monday he had two hits in 12 at bats with Lowell, about one hour north of Boston. He was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent following his senior season with the Tigers of Towson earlier this year.

"The people here are 100 percent baseball fans," Natoli, 23, told Patch before Tuesday's home game. "It does not matter if it is Lowell or the Red Sox, they are passionate about baseball" in New England.

"They are used to winning with all of their teams up here," added Natoli, on the same day the Red Sox were playing in Baltimore.

Natoli, who was defensive player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association this spring with Towson, is now living in a dorm at UMass-Lowell, which is near the home park of the Spinners. Lowell is an old textile city, thus the name Spinners.

The team finished a series on Monday in Brooklyn against a farm team of the Mets. Jose Reyes, normally the starting shortstop of the Mets, was on a rehab assignment with Brooklyn and played in Monday's game.

"It was nice to play against him," said Natoli, who did not see action for Lowell in that game.

After first game with Lowell, at home, the Spinners opened a series on July 6 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen against the IronBirds, a farm team of the Orioles that is also in the New York-Penn League with Lowell.

Natoli entered the game on July 6 as a defensive replacement and was also a reserve in the July 7 game and was retired in his only at bat. His parents, two brothers, sister and several family friends from Ellicott City were able to attend the Lowell series at Ripken Stadium.

"It was nice. It was good to see familiar faces," said Natoli, who was able to spend a night at home while in Maryland.

One of the biggest adjustment to minor league baseball, Natoli said, is the travel. After a day game Monday in Brooklyn, the team took a bus north and arrived back in Lowell around 10:30 p.m.

Natoli was at the park by 11 a.m. Tuesday for a meeting and then had to be in the clubhouse by 2 p.m. to prepare for a game that night. Some bus trips take eight hours in the New York-Penn League and Natoli said some of the players will watch movies to pass the time, such as "Wedding Crashers."

Natoli, a four-year starter at Towson, also has to adjust on the field since he does not play every day.

"It is tough. I have to do a lot of extra work before the game" to stay sharp, he said. "I definitely have to take advantage of the opportunities that I have."

"We have a shortstop who has been here awhile," added Natoli, who is 6-foot-1 and bats from the right side. "I have to pay my dues. But I am really enjoying it. Everyone up here throws hard (as pitchers). They are just more consistent. You have to work on your timing."

The hitting coach for Lowell is Rick Gedman, a catcher for the Red Sox in the 1986 World Series against the Mets. Gedman has suggested that Natoli move his hands back a little more at the plate.

"He has been great," Natoli said of Gedman. "He will work eight hours a day with you if he has to. He tries to give us the same kind of experience he had with the Red Sox."

Another minor league player from Ellicott City is pitcher Mike O'Connor, who began this season with Class AAA Buffalo in the Mets' farm system. He threw a scoreless inning Sunday against Rochester and that lowered his ERA to 4.89 in 23 games out of the bullpen for Buffalo, with a record of 4-3.

O'Connor, who made his Major League debut with Washington 2006, pitched in nine games earlier this season with the Mets and was 0-1 with an ERA of 2.70 out of the bullpen for manager Terry Collins.