Finding College Home At UMass Lowell Brings A Smile To Doney

Josh Doney LHP / OF / St. Mary's, MA / 2025

LYNN, Ma. - Being a college baseball recruit was not all it’s cracked up to be according to Josh Doney.

“It definitely was the most stressful thing in my life,” Doney said. “From June until late July was the most stressful. Everytime I went out I had to be on fire. If not, it wasn’t going to work. Making the right pick was very stressful.”

Hard work was credited with helping find a future home at UMass Lowell.

“I did three PBRs last year and topped at 84,” the St. Mary’s High School senior reflected. “I feel that was an eye opener for me, that I have to get to work.”

Most recently it was a mobility program that proved beneficial.

“I went to New Jersey at the start of June for a tourney, hoping to get looks,” the 18th-rated 2025 left-handed pitcher in New England related. “The first thing I saw was one of the (UMass Lowell) coaches behind home plate videoing me. I’m thinking wow. I’ve not heard anything from them before. Two weeks after I pitched I got a text from the head coach and that’s when I started talking to them.

“I was throwing 81 in high school and at New Jersey I hit 86 for the first time. I think that was make or break for me. I started a mobility program two weeks before summer season and in two weeks I was throwing a lot harder than in high school.”

A visit to the university located just 40 minutes from home was memorable for the 93rd-ranked senior in Massachusetts.

“I loved the school and I committed,” noted Doney, whose only previous time at the college was during the Final Four with his high school team in June. “The facilities stood out. It’s one of the nicest dirt fields I’ve ever played on.

“(Head) Coach (Nick) Barese seemed to love me and was pumped to have me. He showed me around campus, showed me the weight facilities and the dorms, which are really nice. He showed more love than other schools to me.”

Merrimack was the second choice for the 5-10 175-pound southpaw, with St. Anselm and Endicott other colleges that were given strong consideration.

“I just felt Lowell was a better fit for me,” noted Doney, who made an impression on the coaches at the American East Conference university.

“They like how I pitch,” the seventh-rated 2025 southpaw in Massachusetts explained. “I’m not throwing 90, it’s the fact I have three pitches I can throw for strikes. I can get kids out with the fastball, I can get kids with the curve and I can get kids with the changeup. I’m a pitcher, not just someone throwing as hard as he can.”

It was a little more than four years ago when the desire to play at the next level developed.

“When I got on the big diamond at 13 is when I started thinking about college baseball,” related Doney, who will turn 18 on Sept. 8. “Sophomore year in high school Tufts reached out and I’m thinking, I can do this.”

Doney credited going to the gym on a daily basis with helping the cause, as well as his parents and coaches Derek Dana, Rich Gillbride and Derek January.

“My parents have supported me since I said I wanted to play college baseball and coach Gillbride, Dana and January helped me get seen and get better,” pointed out the 229th-rated senior in New England, who admitted that making a commitment was a very special feeling.

“When I called coach Barese and said I was ready to accept the offer he was shocked,” Doney said. “I looked at my mom and started smiling. It was exciting to have a home for the next four years.”

Doney believes he can make an impact in his time at UMass Lowell.

“I want to help the team in any way I can, out of the pen or starting games” Doney said. “I still have time to progress and hopefully help the team with whatever I can do.”

There is more that he is looking forward to at college.

“Playing at the highest level for my age, being D-I, I think the environment will be different,” concluded Doney, who carries a 4.1 GPA at St. Mary’s and is planning on a major in finance at UMass Lowell. “Waking up and going to practice every day, my dorm room is only two minutes away, and playing college baseball is going to be fun.”