Baseball | 6/25/2015 2:10:00 PM

ROCHESTER, NY – Former RIT baseball standout, 2015 graduate Skip Flanagan (Framingham, MA/Bishop Feehan), signed a professional contract on June 10 with the Old Orchard Beach Surge for their inaugural season in the newly formed North Country Baseball League (NCBL).
 
A four-year member of the squad and three-year starter at first base, Flanagan capped off a tremendous RIT career in 2015, finishing second on the team with a .355 batting average, .486 slugging percentage, and .463 on-base percentage. He hit his first three collegiate home runs to go along with 38 RBIs, fourth most in one season at the university. His 41 runs scored tied for second most in one year at RIT, while his 29 walks were one shy of a school mark. In addition, Flanagan had a sparkling .990 fielding percentage in 381 chances.
 
"We are so happy for Skip to be playing pro ball," said RIT head coach Rob Grow.  "Every day he has worked to be a better player in college with the goal of playing pro ball.  His hard work has paid off and will continue to pay off for him in the years to come."

A graduate of RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf as a psychology major, Flanagan ended his excellent career second all-time at the university with 72 walks, third with 106 RBIs, fifth with 478 at-bats, tied for fifth with 151 hits, and tied for eighth with 27 doubles. He is RIT's all-time leader with 1,097 career putouts. He was a career .316 hitter with a .410 on-base percentage and a .425 slugging percentage.
 
Flanagan was named a 2015 D3Baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-New York Region third team pick and All-Liberty League first team selection. He was also a 2014 All-Liberty League second team pick, 2013 ABCA/Rawlings third team selection, and All-Liberty League honorable mention honoree. Flanagan was also selected to play in the 2014 Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game and won the 2013 FCBL Adam Keenan Memorial Sportsmanship and Scholarship Awards.
 
Flanagan is the first Tiger to play professionally since Dylan Rees did so for the Utica Brewmasters of the New State Professional League in 2007.

RIT finished the 2015 season with a 23-15 record and advanced to the Liberty League Championship game for the first time in program history.