It was no ordinary offseason for Brian Murphy and his Merrimack Warriors.
Following eight years as William & Mary’s head coach, the Easton, Mass., native returned to his alma mater after newly named UMass Lowell pitching coach Nick Barese (Braintree, Mass.) was fired in July, only weeks before the fall semester began.
Murphy’s mid-September arrival in North Andover began a fast track towards the team’s February opening at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. Throughout the non-traditional season, he was the only coach on the Warriors’ staff.
“It was great to be able to get back on the field and start to lay the groundwork,” Murphy, a 2003 Merrimack graduate, said. “The timing pushed us back a little bit because there was a gap between when (pitchers) stopped throwing for the summer and when they knew exactly what was going on with my arrival, so we took it slower to start. …
