From Wareham to Orleans, teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League this summer are being supported by Merrimack College students working in some of the most coveted internships in the sports industry.
“It’s been a great experience,” said Cormac Woods ’25, a game day intern for the Falmouth Commodores. “An internship with the Cape Cod Baseball League is a great thing to have on your resume, especially for someone like me who wants to coach baseball or work in a front office someday.”
Considered the nation’s premier collegiate summer baseball league, the Cape League features 10 teams with college players from around the country. According to the Cape League website, there are annually more than 370 active alumni playing in the major leagues and over 1,600 all-time.
Teams are run and operated by volunteers and student interns, handling duties from roster management to game broadcasts to merchandise sales and social media. Woods, who works during home games, said his responsibilities can range from working in the concession stand to selling raffle tickets.
“I’ll be honest, the 50/50 raffle was something I was not expecting to enjoy because I didn’t want to have to go out and scream ’50/50′ and have people look at me and not buy anything,” said Woods, who graduated this spring from the Girard School of Business. “But honestly, it’s been fun to be able to interact with the fans.”
Thomas Waldron ’28 serves in a similar game day role with the Wareham Gatemen and said he has enjoyed how much he gets to interact with fans and players alike.
“There is always a crowd,” said Waldron, a marketing major. “We have regulars who come to every home game and then you have the bigger crowds during the weekends.”
Over in Hyannis, Caitlin O’Connor ’27, M’28 works more closely with the players of the Harbor Hawks as an athletic training intern. She sets up water and ice for both the home and away team as well as gets the table ready for treatments such as soft tissue cupping and scraping. But she says her most important responsibility is to learn.
“I am able to observe all treatments and taping, while asking questions and practicing my own skills with the other athletic trainers,” said O’Connor, who will get her undergraduate and graduate degree in just five years as part of Merrimack’s master of science in athletic training program.
She added she has learned more about athletic trainers’ responsibilities beyond injury prevention and treatment. For the Harbor Hawks, athletic trainers create emergency action plans, provide insight for when injured players can return to play and even monitor the weather to ensure players and spectators safety.
“I am thoroughly enjoying the internship thus far,” she said. “Not only has it taught me a lot about working with Division I athletes, but it has also allowed me to connect with others far beyond what I had anticipated. From the other athletic trainers, to the staff, to the athletes themselves, I have been able to learn so much about what being an athletic trainer is, beyond just the treatment aspect.”
Anyone who has perused social media channels this summer for the Orleans Firebirds has seen the work of Wynne Drucker ’26, a digital media team intern. She has done “mini mic” videos with Firebirds players, asking them questions like what their favorite beach on the Cape is. She also produced a video featuring the sights and sounds of Eldridge Park, the Firebirds’ home field.
“I grew up going to Cape League games and it was always a dream of mine to intern for one of the teams,” said Drucker, a communications and media major. “I knew it was a super competitive opportunity, so I was thrilled when I got it.”
Drucker added the digital media team has received great responses to the content they have posted this summer, and social media allows them to reach larger audiences of people visiting the Cape who may not be familiar with the league.
