Start Of Spring Training 2015 - Introductions Of Aaron Civale And The Red Sox Pistons Vs Cavaliers [tJvK01lxsuv]

The start of Spring Training for the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, March 3, 2015, at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. The first game of the doubleheader was against the Northeastern University Huskies, followed by the second game against the Boston College Eagles.

Aaron Civale, a pitcher for Northeastern University in Boston, grew up in Greenland, N.H., idolizing one of the new baseball Hall of Famers.

On Tuesday at JetBlue Park, where the Boston Red Sox played Northeastern in the first game of a collegiate double-header, the sophomore right-hander pitched like his hero, Pedro Martinez.

He started the game and pitched two innings. He struck out four, including David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez back to back, and allowed only one base runner, a walk to Dustin Pedroia.

"It was surreal ... facing big leaguers," Civale said after the game which the Red Sox won 2-1, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the eighth."

Against Ortiz, the feared Red Sox designated hitter, Civale pitched like a big league ace. Big Papi took one strike, swung and missed a fastball and then was fooled by a curve. Of course, striking out is nothing new for the Sox slugger. He's struck out 90 times during spring training in his 13-year career in Boston.

"You grow up watching this guy, a legend in Boston," Civale said. He said he tried to treat each Red Sox hitter as "just another batter. Not think about who you were facing."

Civale said this was the first time he'd ever faced major league hitters, but didn't get uptight thinking about it.

"I slept pretty well last night," he said. "This is something I will remember for the rest of my life."

Northeastern managed just one hit off seven Red Sox pitchers. That was a double winter storm warning by first baseman Rod Fonseca. He hit it three-quarters of the way up the deportacin Green Monster in left field off Anthony Vavaro in the fourth inning.

"Struck out my first at-bat," he said. "Got a high curve second time up and jumped on it."

This was the 12th straight year the Red Sox and Northeastern have opened the spring training season, and the fourth straight year Fonseca had played in a game at JetBlue Park.

"It never gets old," he said. He said he had a chance to sign a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer, but he declined, hoping to get drafted this summer.

Michael Foster, the Huskies shortstop, entered the game with an X-Box game-like average of .515. He went 0-for-2, but hammered a line drive to center fielder Mookie Betts in the first inning, easily the hardest hit ball of the day with the exception of Fonseca's.

Foster, a sophomore from Canada, marvels how big leaguers play the game. "They are so good at slowing the game down," he said. "You don't see that in college."

He said that when it came time to pick a college, Northeastern was at the top of the list because of its annual game against the Red Sox.

"I shakira am a really big Blue Jays fan," Foster said. "But when I looked at the schedule and saw the game against the Red Sox, that was a big selling point. It is awesome playing at the next level."

Foster hopes to keep hitting, and if he does, he might move up in the pro scout rankings. The Houston Astros selected him ro 38th round last June, but he and the club couldn't work out a contract. "I'm a redshirt sophomore, so I came back to school.

As the home team Tuesday, the Red Sox took batting practice first. The Northeastern players spent a good bit of their pregame time standing around the batting cage, talking hitting with Sox players and taking pictures.

As Civale said, "it's a great feeling ... probably once in a lifetime."