EAGLE EYE: Jake Alu takes a swing in action this spring during his sophomore season for the Boston College baseball team. Former Princeton Day School standout Alu enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in 2017, leading the Eagles with a .331 batting average, producing 55 hits, a double, 23 RBIs, 15 walks, and 12 stolen bases. Alu earned third-team New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-New England honors.  (Photo provided by Boston College Athletics/John Quackenbos)

Jake Alu was a star from day one of his baseball career at Princeton Day School.

Alu started at shortstop as a freshman in the spring of 2012, hitting at the top of the order for PDS. He was a fixture in that spot all four years, exceeding the 100-hit mark in his career, becoming the program’s all-time hits leader. Along the way, Alu earned All-Prep B accolades each season of his career, included first-team honors as a senior.

After graduating from PDS, Alu headed to Boston College and joined its baseball program.

In his freshman season, though, Alu got a rude awakening as he rode the bench for much of his debut campaign.

“Freshman year was a huge struggle,” said Alu, who got into 10 games with two hits in four at-bats.

 “Your whole life you are used to being one of the better guys, you are so used to being run out there and playing every game. When I didn’t play, it was mentally and physically hard on me.”

This spring, Alu emerged as one of BC’s better players, leading the Eagles with a .331 batting average with 55 hits, a double, 23 RBIs, 15 walks and 12 stolen bases.

“Just because the name on the front of the jersey is a big name in the ACC, you can’t look at it that way, said the 5’10, 177-pound Alu, who earned third-team New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-New England honors for his exploits.

 “You are just playing baseball, the game I was playing since I was seven years old. It is just play, that was my biggest transformation in my sophomore year started getting comfortable. I stayed within myself. I don’t try to get too big, I am not a power guy. The coach just wanted me to have a good, quality at-bat every time I went up. If I struck out and it was an eight-pitch at bat, I let the other guys see the pitches. My approach was the same, let them give the power and just find the barrel and hit it somewhere.

In addition to his big year with the bat, Alu displayed his versatility, playing in the infield and the outfield as well as handling relief pitching duties.

“We had an injury-filled year, poor second baseman got hurt and for 10 or 12 games, I played second base,” recalled Alu.

“I started at third for a little while and then I was back in left field for a little bit. Everyone thinks that would be hard on me mentally but the way I see it, I just want to be one of the nine guys on the field. I just want to play baseball.”

For Alu, getting the chance to pitch helped sharpen his focus as the plate.

“He knew that I had pitched a little bit on my travel team so he tried to work me in just to get me in the game,” said Alu, who made nine appearances on the mound with eight strikeouts and five walks in 8 2/3 innings.

“It was definitely a good time. It was a little different, you can’t just blow it by them. You learn the ins and outs of pitching. I think that was good for me because looking at the way you have to pitch some hitters helps me see how pitchers are going to try to pitch me.”

Earning All-New England honors gave Alu a coveted spot in program tradition.

“Seeing all the older guys my freshman year and all the people in the past they have on the wall in the locker room winning awards, it instills that in your brain,” said Alu.

“Every day when you walk in the locker room, you see all those names and to be part of that is something very special. Everyone is trying to work for their opportunity to get to that point. You want to keep moving forward and maybe make first team next year and do even better.”

With Boston College slipping to 25-28 record this spring after going 35-22 and advancing to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2016, Alu believes the team will do much better in his junior campaign.

“Our whole team, me included, has our sights set on Omaha and being in line for a national championship next year,” said Alu, who started the summer in the storied Cape Cod Baseball League, playing eight games for the Bourne Braves, collecting five hits, four runs, four walks, an RBI, and two stolen bases before getting sidelined by injury.

“We are returning a lot of great guys and I think it will be something special next year. We are going to be really, really good. We were playing a lot of young guys this year and we thought we were losing two or three guys to the Major League Baseball draft and they are all coming back so that was good.”