Sports: Baseball
Favorite athlete: Derek Jeter
Favorite team: New York Yankees
Favorite memory competing in sports: Finishing third out of 65 teams at an international baseball tournament
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My skintight baseball pants splitting while running around the bases
Music on your iPod: Dubstep
Future plans: College and become a Physical Therapist
Words to live by: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog
One goal before turning 30: Make a million dollars
One thing people don’t know about me: My dream is to live in California
Late in his freshman year, Paul Gosselin received the call. Due to injuries, Gosselin was needed to move up to play on the varsity team.
Memories of his first varsity game remain clear … though not because it was a triumphant debut.
“I came up against Council Rock South, which was one of the top teams in the state,” said Gosselin, who played third base in his first game. “They crushed the ball. I think I made three errors in that game. I got hit in the throat, hit in the head with ground balls a couple times. It was rough.”
Gosselin shrugged off that first game, as well as a knee injury that forced him to miss half of his sophomore season, and has gone on to become a key member of the Pennsbury baseball team. A senior captain, Gosselin has proven to be a threat on the mound, at the plate and at third base for the Falcons.
Shrugging things off is nothing new for Gosselin. Known for a laid-back approach, Gosselin possesses a remarkable ability to avoid the highs and lows that so often affect ballplayers. He has been able to maintain a high level of production, no matter where he stands on the diamond.
His production on the mound has been crucial for the Falcons. And he’s been successful, despite the fact that his approach is not typical for pitchers, who are known for their extreme intensity.
“Paul’s a little bit laid-back, maybe a little more than I would like,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci. “But he goes out there and he gets the job done on the field.
“He has that attitude, that drive, that competitive edge. He’s comfortable and confident on the mound now. He knows he’s good enough to go out there and get a win.”
As far as Gosselin is concerned, that attitude only helps him. It allows him to shrug off a bad inning, but it also ensures that he won’t rest on his laurels following a good inning.
“I don’t take things too seriously, but when I’m on the field, when it’s time to be serious, I get very serious,” he said. “I’m very serious on the mound, but at the same time, it’s easy for me to put it aside and refocus if I give up a hit.”
Gosselin’s focus was evident in a complete-game, eight strikeout victory he pitched on April 12 against Abington.
“Paul’s got good stuff,” Pesci said. “He throws hard enough to keep people on their toes, and has a good curveball to keep them off-balance.”
Gosselin got the job done at the plate that day as well. His two-run home run in the third inning proved to be the difference in the Falcons’s 3-1 win, the team’s first league victory of the season.
But while the Abington game may have been a highlight, it was by no means Gosselin’s only stellar effort of the week. He had blasted a grand slam in the Falcons’ 8-6 loss to Neshaminy on April 10, and doubled and knocked in three RBI in the team’s April 13 game against undefeated Council Rock South.
For the week, Gosselin went 5-for-9 from the plate with a pair of doubles, three round-trippers and eight RBI.
“I started out the season kind of slow, but I hit a home run against Central Bucks East a couple weeks ago, and I think that’s what really got me going,” Gosselin said. “I had two home runs on Tuesday and came out and threw a complete game, hit a home run that game. I think since then my confidence has really shot up and I’m seeing the ball really well.”
“Paul had a great week,” Pesci said. “That was huge for us because we aren’t scoring a lot of runs. With his bat, he was the one that was producing the most, and then he got us the win on the mound, too.”
As far as Gosselin is concerned, he’s simply doing his job to help out the team. A second team All-SOL designated hitter and third-team third baseman, Gosselin knows that such honors demand a higher standard of play … and that standard is something he – and his teammates – are looking for him to provide.
“I feel like everyone expects me to come through with the big hit, or pitching, or making the big play in the field,” Gosselin said. “But I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far. Everyone has confidence in me, which gives me more confidence in myself. I expect to go out there and do my job.”
As a captain, part of his job is helping to make his teammates better players. It’s a role Gosselin said he was honored to receive, and one that Pesci believes he excels at.
“You have some captains who fire the guys up, get loud and intense, where Paul’s the kind who would lead by his play on the field,” Pesci said. “I’ve noticed him starting to get on guys if they make a mental mistake or if they’re not hustling. You see him developing that leadership. He’s never going to be that intense, fire-you-up guy, but he’s learning how to be intense because he knows what it takes to win and he expects everyone else to do the same.”
It seems to be working. On Wednesday, the Falcons picked up their second league win, a 7-2 victory over Harry S. Truman. Gosselin believes that the Falcons have the talent to turn things around from their slow start and make a run at the top teams in the division and shoot for a district berth.
“It’s been frustrating at times this season, but the past three years I’ve been on varsity we’ve started out real slow and in the middle we started to get hot,” said Gosselin, who will play at Mercer County Community College in the fall with plans of transferring after a year or two and hopes of becoming a physical therapist. “I think we’re going to turn it around. If we can win a few games we get back on track.”
And as he and his teammates look to get over the proverbial hump, Gosselin will do what he’s been doing since he came up to the varsity team – playing the game the right way and trying to be a leader and role model to his teammates.
And having fun along the way.
“We make fun of Paul because he smiles too much,” Pesci said. “(In a recent game), we thought he was smiling at the pitcher, but he was just squinting because of the sun. But it was an honest mistake … he’s always like that. He just enjoys being out on the field and playing.”
