June 14, 1967: Houston homer ends Boston College’s ‘dream’ at the College World Series

The 1967 season remains a magic year in Boston baseball history. The Red Sox, ninth-place finishers in 1965 and ’66 and owners of a combined 499-624 record since 1960,1 won the American League pennant under new manager Dick Williams and took the World Series to seven games before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals. Their intoxicating run was dubbed “the Impossible Dream.”2

Remarkable things happened on the college scene, too, as the Boston College Eagles posted a run of never-say-die wins to earn their first College World Series berth since 1961.3 That was a much shorter postseason drought than that of the Red Sox, who hadn’t reached the World Series since 1946—when BC’s coach, Eddie Pellagrini, played for the Sox.4

BC had won a game and lost one in the double-elimination College World Series when they faced the University of Houston Cougars on June 14. Like the resilient Red Sox, the Eagles hung on for 13 innings, sidestepping several jams, before their own dream ended on a walk-off homer by future big-leaguer Tom Paciorek.5

Pellagrini had been coaching the Eagles since 1958 and had led them to the College Series in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1960 and 1961.6 His ’67 squad showed little sign of magic at first. The team played its first game on three days of practice, and the season began amid cold spring rain that forced the Eagles off campus because of the poor condition of their home field, Shea Field.7

The Eagles’ 13-5-3 record8 got them into the New England regional playoffs, playing for a College Series berth. In the first round, BC fell behind top-seeded Dartmouth College 13-3 in the deciding third game, then roared back for a 10-run sixth inning and a 15-13 win.9 The second round also went a full three games. The University of Massachusetts opened a 6-2 lead in the third game before BC rallied to force extra innings. A pair of two-out, 12th-inning doubles gave the Eagles a 7-6 win.10 “This has to be the toughest, fightingest team I’ve ever coached at BC,” Pellagrini declared. “These kids just don’t know how to quit.”11

At the College World Series, BC beat Rider College 3-1 with another three-run ninth-inning rally, then lost, 8-1, to eventual-champion Arizona State University.12 This brought them head to head with Houston, who’d gone 16-8 in the regular season under Lovette Hill, the Cougars’ coach since 1950.13 Hill had skippered the Cougars to their only previous College Series spot in 1953, when the team dropped its first two games—including one to BC.14

The ’67 Cougars had beaten the powerhouse University of Texas in a best-of-three series to win their trip to Omaha. In their own Cinderella story, Houston scored four runs when down to its final out to take the deciding game, 4-3.15 They’d been skunked, 12-1, by Stanford University in their first game, then rallied to beat Ohio State University, 7-2.16

Houston boasted a powerful weapon in junior outfielder Paciorek, the younger brother of John Paciorek, who’d gone 3-for-3 in his only game for the 1963 Houston Colt .45s before a back injury ended his big-league career.17 Tom Paciorek hit a school-record .45318 with eight home runs in 1967, landing him on The Sporting News’ All-American team.19 This contrasted with the Eagles, who boasted no outstanding pro prospects—and whose leading threat, .325-hitting left fielder Mike Finnell, had been lost with a shoulder injury.20

Houston played as the home team, and junior Wayne Hill, who served the Cougars both as a pitcher and a third baseman, got the start.21 Hill ended his Houston career as a three-year letterman, and as of 2026, he still ranked among the program’s all-time leaders in earned-run average.22 Still, BC took a lead against him with two out in the first. Right fielder Mick Amick singled and advanced on a passed ball. After a walk, center fielder John Salmon’s single—his first of three hits—scored Amick for a 1-0 lead.23

BC’s starter, senior left-hander John Brazilian, had worked 5⅔ clutch innings in the wild win over Dartmouth.24 He didn’t have much on this day, though. Brazilian hit center fielder Ike Lucas, walked first baseman Ken Hebert, and gave up a bunt single to third baseman G.J. Cantu.25 The pitcher got Paciorek to ground into a force at home, then threw a wild pitch to allow Hebert to score.26 Perhaps mindful of not falling behind in a win-or-go-home game, Pellagrini beckoned left-hander Pete Ford,27 who shut down the rally.

After a scoreless second, each team added a run in the third. For BC, second baseman Max Robertson drew a walk, and one batter later, center fielder Dan Zailskas doubled off the left-field wall for a 2-1 BC lead.28 For Houston, Cantu drew a walk and stole second base. Second baseman Ronnie Baker doubled to left field to knot the score at 2-2.29

Houston manager Hill pulled starting pitcher Hill after three innings.30 The new pitcher, Carroll Moore, a senior chemical engineering major from Oklahoma, had led the Cougars in strikeouts with 55.31 The pitching change might have been the deftest managerial decision of the long afternoon. Left-hander Moore dominated, working nine innings of three-hit shutout relief, walking just one and striking out 11. In the fourth he retired BC on seven pitches. He struck out the side in the fifth, then struck out three more hitters in the sixth, sandwiched around a single.32

Meanwhile, BC’s pitching staff danced into and out of trouble. In 7⅓ innings, Ford allowed six hits and seven walks,33 but no runs. Houston loaded the bases in the third, fifth, and ninth innings; through nine innings they stranded 17 runners, compared to five for BC.

Senior Bill O’Brien, a sidearming righty who’d pitched a complete game two days earlier in the win over Rider,34 relieved Ford in the eighth and struck out Paciorek with two runners aboard to end the inning. In the ninth, Houston filled the sacks with one out but couldn’t score. The Cougars had two on with one out again in the 12th, and again O’Brien stifled the rally.35

The game, lopsided in everything but score, almost lurched the Eagles’ way in the 13th. The Cougars had pinch-hit for Moore, so senior Rick Brewer came on in relief.36 A walk, an infield hit, and an error loaded the bags for BC with one out.37 Zailskas, who had driven in BC’s second run 10 innings earlier, tapped a grounder in front of the plate for a forceout at home. Tom Sarkisian, pinch-hitting for catcher Marty Joyce, lined out.38

Paciorek, suffering through an 0-for-6 day, led off the bottom half. Later, manager Hill told reporters about an exchange he had with Paciorek: “I asked him, ‘Mistaah Pee-chore-ruk, do you really think you’re an All-American?’ He told me, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I said I sure would like for him to prove it.”39

O’Brien’s first pitch was a waist-high curveball. It was the only pitch of the game called by BC’s new catcher, Larry Marino, who never caught it.40 Paciorek drilled it 380 feet over the wall in left-center field, ending the game and BC’s impossible dream after 3 hours and 58 minutes.41 Paciorek noted later that O’Brien had been throwing him breaking pitches outside, but this curveball was inside. “All I had to do was wait for the ball, which I hadn’t been doing all day,” he said.42

Pellagrini said his team had missed Finnell’s offensive contributions, but added, “I’m not ashamed of these kids. They did a great job. They fought every minute of every game, right from the start of the season.”43

Houston went on to beat Arizona State 3-0 on June 16, then lost the final, 11-2, to the Sun Devils to finish as Series runners-up. Paciorek and Lucas were named to the all-tournament team.44 As of 2026, neither Houston nor BC had returned to the College World Series.45

Both coaches completed distinguished careers. Hill remained Houston’s skipper through 1974; as of 2026, his 25 seasons managed were the most in program history, his 673 games ranked third, and his 343 wins ranked fourth.46 Pellagrini stayed at BC through 1988, with one season off for illness. His 30 seasons, 921 games, and 570 wins remained far and away the most in program history as of 2026.47 BC’s home ballpark is called Eddie Pellagrini Diamond.48

BC’s Ford pitched one game at Rookie level in the Baltimore Orioles’ system in 1969, while Zailskas played briefly in the Philadelphia Phillies’ system in 1970.49 Phil Rose, who played part of the game in right field for Houston, was a low-round pick of the California Angels in the June 1969 draft and played a single season in the low minors.50

The most impressive pro career belonged to Paciorek. The Los Angeles Dodgers chose him in the fifth round of the June 1968 draft, and he made his major-league debut in September 1970.51 He played parts of 18 seasons in the majors, making the All-Star team in 1981 and reaching the postseason twice.52 Paciorek spent part or all of 10 seasons in the American League. He hit .317 in 61 appearances against the Red Sox and .369 in 20 games at Fenway Park, suggesting that he continued to deflate Boston baseball dreams long after 1967.

Acknowledgments

This story was fact-checked by Joseph Wancho and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference and Retrosheet for general player, team and season data.

Neither Baseball Reference nor Retrosheet provides box scores of college games, but the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, and Houston Post published box scores in their editions of June 15, 1967.

Unnumbered 1946 Boston Red Sox picture pack photo of Eddie Pellagrini downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 With one tie.

2 The name originated with “The Impossible Dream,” a song from the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha that quickly became a popular standard. For more on the 1967 Red Sox, see The 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox: Pandemonium on the Field (Phoenix: Society for American Baseball Research, 2017), Bill Nowlin and Dan Desrochers, editors, https://sabr.org/latest/sabr-digital-library-the-1967-impossible-dream-red-sox/, accessed June 2026.

3 “NCAA Tournament,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book: 3, https://bceagles.com/documents/2026/3/30/2026_BC_Baseball_Record_Book.pdf, accessed June 2026.

4 Pellagrini, an infielder, appeared in 22 games for the 1946 Red Sox. He did not play in the World Series.

5 “NCAA Tournament,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book.

6 “All-Time Results,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book: 1.

7 Joe Concannon, “B.C. May Stage More Upsets,” Boston Evening Globe, June 5, 1967: 23. The condition of Shea Field is mentioned in “B.C. Ties U.R.I., 2-2, on Finnell’s Double in Ninth,” Boston Globe, April 12, 1967: 37.

8 Bob Monahan, “B.C. Opens NCAA Bid,” Boston Globe, June 12, 1967: 19.

9 Bob Monahan, “NCAA Pick: It’s Dartmouth,” Boston Evening Globe, May 23, 1967: 50; Joe Concannon, “Pitchers Emerge for Pellegrini,” Boston Evening Globe, May 31, 1967: 51; “Green Host to HC,” West Lebanon (New Hampshire) Valley News, May 31, 1967: 11.

10 Bob Monahan, “B.C. Tops UMass in 12, 7-6,” Boston Globe, June 4, 1967: 57; “B.C. Enjoying Cinderella Role,” Boston Globe, June 11, 1967: 69.

11 Monahan, “B.C. Tops UMass in 12, 7-6.”

12 Bob Williams, “ ‘I’m Not Really Surprised,’ Pellagrini,” Boston Evening Globe, June 13, 1967: 45; “1967 College World Series,” Baseball-Reference BR Bullpen, accessed June 2026, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/1967_College_World_Series.

13 “Year-by-Year Results,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book: 63, accessed June 2026, https://uhcougars.com/documents/2026/2/20/Record_Book.pdf.

14 “NCAA Postseason History,” University of Houston baseball record book: 15.

15 Bob Williams, “Houston Reaches Collegiate Finals with Last-Ditch Rally,” The Sporting News, June 3, 1967: 12. By 1967, the University of Texas had already appeared in the College World Series 10 times, winning championships in 1949 and 1950. As of 2026 the Longhorns had added another 29 tournament appearances and four titles to their resume. “University of Texas at Austin,” Baseball-Reference BR Bullpen, accessed June 2026, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/University_of_Texas_at_Austin.

16 “NCAA Postseason History,” University of Houston baseball record book: 15.

17 John Paciorek split 1967 between two Class-A Astros farm teams, trying to rekindle his career. He continued to play in the low minors until 1969.

18 News sources from the 1967 season, including the Sporting News article cited below, give Paciorek’s average as .453. The 2026 University of Houston baseball record book listed his 1967 average as .435 (57 hits in 131 at-bats), but reported that it remained a school record. “1967 College World Series Team,” University of Houston baseball record book: 60.

19 Abe Chanin, “Far West Corrals Six All-America Berths,” The Sporting News, July 8, 1967: 20. Other future major-leaguers on that season’s All-America team included pitcher Gary Gentry of Arizona State, shortstop Frank Duffy of Stanford University, and pitcher Jan Dukes of Santa Clara University. Arizona State manager Bobby Winkles, who later skippered the California Angels and Oakland Athletics, was the manager.

20 “Finnel [sic] Picked Captain of Eagles in Baseball,” Boston Evening Globe, June 15, 1967: 51. Although a few Eagles appeared in the low minor leagues, Baseball-Reference’s page for Boston College did not indicate that any of the BC players who appeared in the game of June 14, 1967, were drafted by a major-league team. “Boston College,” https://www.baseball-reference.com/schools/index.cgi?key_school=fc985c21, accessed June 2026.

21 “1967 College World Series Team,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book.

22 “Year-By-Year Lineups,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book: 37; “Career Leaders,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book: 27. Hill posted a career ERA of 2.55 as a Cougar.

23 “B.C. Eliminated in 13th, 3 to 2,” Boston Globe, June 15, 1967: 51.

24 “Eagles’ Rally Wins, 15-13,” Boston Herald, May 30, 1967: 41; “B.C. Enjoying Cinderella Role.”

25 Jerry Wizig, “Paciorek’s All-America Rating is Real,” Houston Chronicle, June 15, 1967: 5:1. The story does not specify how Lucas reached base, but the accompanying box score states that Brazilian hit Lucas with a pitch. Since Brazilian was only in the game for one-third of an inning, this could not have happened at any other point.

26 Wizig.

27 References to Ford as a lefty include “BC’s Ford Signs Orioles Contract,” Boston Herald Traveler, September 14, 1968: 16.

28 Hal Lundgren, “UH Soars on Paciorek’s HR,” Houston Post, June 15, 1967: 6:1. The Boston Globe reported that Zailskas tripled, but the box score and other news stories describe the hit as a double.

29 “B.C. Eliminated in 13th, 3 to 2”; Wizig, “Paciorek’s All-America Rating is Real.”

30 A newspaper obituary for Lovette Hill indicated that he was not directly related to Wayne Hill. The coach had two daughters, Linda and Donna, and a son named Lee. “Former UH Baseball Coach Dies,” Houston Chronicle, August 29, 1989: 7B.

31 Wizig, “Paciorek’s All-America Rating is Real”; “1967 College World Series Team”; “Year-by-Year Leaders,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book: 35. Wayne Hill led the team in strikeouts the following season.

32 Lundgren, “UH Soars on Paciorek’s HR.”

33 He also struck out nine.

34 Williams, “ ‘I’m Not Really Surprised,’ Pellagrini”; Monahan, “B.C. Opens NCAA Bid.”

35 Wizig, “Paciorek’s All-America Rating is Real.”

36 Brewer’s class year is listed in “1967 College World Series Team.”

37 Lundgren, “UH Soars on Paciorek’s HR.”

38 “B.C. Eliminated in 13th, 3 to 2.” Joyce’s full name is included in an Associated Press line score run in newspapers across the country, including “Arizona State Outlasts Stanford for 3-0 Mark,” Tulsa (Oklahoma) Daily World, June 15, 1967: 45.

39 This exchange, accent and all, was reproduced in Wizig, “Paciorek’s All-America Rating is Real.”

40 Marino had just entered the game because Sarkisian pinch-hit for catcher Marty Joyce in the top of the 13th. The Associated Press line score reprinted with “Arizona State Outlasts Stanford for 3-0 Mark” provides his full name. A player named Larry Marino is also listed on page 210 of the 1967 Boston College Sub Turri yearbook, accessed via the Internet Archive in June 2026, https://archive.org/details/subturriundertow1967bost/page/210/mode/2up.

41 Wizig; Lundgren, “UH Soars on Paciorek’s HR.”

42 Lundgren.

43 Bill Kipouras, “Pellagrini Proud of BC,” Boston Traveler, June 15, 1967: 33.

44 Jerry Wizig, “Sun Devils Hot, Cool Cougars,” Houston Chronicle, June 19, 1967: 2:2.

45 “NCAA Postseason History,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book: 15; “NCAA Tournament,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book: 3.

46 “Coaching History,” 2026 University of Houston baseball record book.

47 “All-Time Results,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book: 1; “All-Time Coaches,” 2026 Boston College baseball record book: 2. The season Pellagrini missed was 1969.

48 “Harrington Athletics Village,” Boston College athletics website, accessed June 2026, https://bceagles.com/facilities/harrington-athletics-village/22.

49 Ford’s affiliation with the Orioles is confirmed in “BC’s Ford Signs Orioles Contract.”

50 Specifically, the Angels drafted Rose in the 37th round. Also, one other University of Houston player who didn’t appear in the game had a pro career: Jim Sparkman, a sophomore in 1967, was a 16th-round choice of the Montreal Expos in June 1969 and played a single season at Class A.

51 Associated Press, “Mets Choose Californian First,” Houston Post, June 7, 1968: 4:3. Paciorek, a safety on the University of Houston football team, was also a 12th-round selection of the Miami Dolphins in the 1968 draft, but opted to play baseball.

52 Paciorek played in the 1974 National League Championship Series and World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost the Series to the Oakland Athletics. He also appeared in the 1983 American League Championship Series with the Chicago White Sox, who lost to the eventual Series champion Baltimore Orioles.