Early Life
Gorneault was born to Gary and Darlene Gorneault on April 19, 1979, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and attended Cathedral High School in Springfield, where he starred in baseball and basketball. As a senior, he posted the strongest year of his high school career with 12 home runs, 41 runs batted in, and a .369 batting average. He was a member of the Western Massachusetts Championship basketball team, and was a first-team All-Western Massachusetts baseball star, receiving MVP honors for leading the team to a 1997 Western Massachusetts title.
Gorneault attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the same school attended by legendary California Angels' shortstop Gary DiSarcina, and went 2-6 in his first college start against Vermont. As a sophomore in 1999, Gorneault started in 17 of the team's 19 games, hit .333 in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament, including hitting the game-winning two-run double against Temple. In the Beanpot Tournament semifinals, Gorneault collected a career-high four hits and five runs batted in, including a walk-off two-run home run in the ninth inning to defeat Harvard.
In his junior year in 2000, Gorneault started 47 of the team's games, leading the team with 10 home runs, 42 runs batted in, and a .595 slugging percentage. In the season opener, Gorneault went 4-5 with three home runs against Florida. He also had the team's longest hitting streak of the season, recording a hit in 13 consecutive games, hitting .327 during the stretch.
Read more about this topic: Nick Gorneault
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