Feb. 9, 2007

Notre Dame senior catcher Sean Gaston (Brownsburg, Ind.) underwent shoulder surgery this morning and is expected to miss the entire 2007 college baseball season. Gaston was poised to direct the young Irish pitching staff but now must shift his focus to the rehabilitation process, in hopes of returning for a fifth year of eligibility in 2008.

“You always hate to see kids work hard in preparation for their senior season and then be unable to play due to injury,” says Notre Dame head coach Dave Schrage.

“Sean is a very strong defensive catcher and a clutch lefthanded hitter in our lineup. We will miss his daily presence tremendously and certainly hope that he is able to return in 2008.”

A .307 career batter with the Irish, Gaston struck out just 11 times in his junior season and would have been a leading candidate for 2007 Academic All-America honors due to his 3.38 cumulative GPA, as a double major in political science and history.

“It is greatly disappointing that I will not be able to compete with my teammates during this upcoming season,” said Gaston. “But I am confident with the combined work of my doctors and our great athletic trainer Mike Bean, and the support of the coaches and my teammates, that I will be back to 100 percent and ready to compete for the Fighting Irish next season. While unable to play this season, I will be with my teammates in spirit and hopefully cheering them on all the way to Omaha.”

In addition to being a starter with the Irish during the 2005 and ’06 seasons, Gaston also spent the past two summers playing with the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious wood-bat Cape Cod League. He was a 2005 Cape Cod League all-star and ranked among Cotuit’s top offensive players in each of his CCL seasons.

Two newcomers – graduate student Matt Weglarz and freshman Ryan Smith – now enter the 2007 season as Notre Dame’s primary options behind the plate. Infielders Ross Brezovsly and Eddy Mendiola also are in the mix for catching duties, as is junior Chris Soriano (a second-year walk-on).

Weglarz graduated from Missouri State in May of 2006 with a year of eligibility remaining and currently is enrolled in Notre Dame’s MBA program. He played for the Bears in the 2004-06 seasons (also injured in ’03) and was a .293 career hitter, earning second team all-conference honors in the rugged Missouri Valley Conference as a junior in 2005 (when he hit .333 with a team-high 49 RBI). Smith received third team high school All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2006 and made some key strides while working with the talented Irish pitching staff during the 2006 fall season and through the current preseason period.

(Note: plenty of preseason content is coming to und.com in the next few days, leading up to the season opener on Feb. 17. Updated player biographies will be posted shortly on und.com).