Lorin Ball

Lorin Ball
Biographical details
Born	1898; Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	1969 (aged 70–71); Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Massachusetts Agricultural College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1921–1925	Massachusetts Ag. (freshmen)
1946–1952	Massachusetts
Baseball
1922–1924	Massachusetts Ag. (freshmen)
1925–1931	Massachusetts Ag.
Ice Hockey
1924–1939	Massachusetts State
Head coaching record
Overall	35–57–2 (.383) [baseball]; 26–74 (.260) [basketball]; 47–61–7 (.439) [hockey]

Lorin Earl "Red" Ball was an American baseball, basketball and ice hockey player and coach. He led all three programs at his alma mater University of Massachusetts Amherst at various times during his 40-year tenure at the university.

Career

Born and raised in Amherst, Ball graduated from Amherst High School in 1916 and began attending Massachusetts Agricultural College (later the University of Massachusetts Amherst) the following fall. From the start, Ball was involved with many of the school's sports teams, playing on class teams in baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey.^[1] Ball joined the varsity baseball and basketball teams as an upperclassman and was remained with the two until his graduation. Though originally a member of the class of 1920, Ball took a year off after his junior season and returned to finish his degree in 1921. After receiving a bachelor's in Agricultural Education, Ball was hired by the school's athletic department to coach the freshman baseball and basketball teams.^[2] While working in that capacity, he filled up his free time by working at various camps and sports academies.

In 1924, Ball agreed to take over as the head coach for the ice hockey team, despite playing just a few games on the freshman class team. After pulling double-duty with the freshman basketball and varsity ice hockey teams, Ball was promoted to varsity baseball coach as well.^[3] Now a full-time faculty member, Ball decided that his commitment to the varsity teams was too great and had to end his tenure as freshman basketball coach. Over the next six years, he coached the baseball and hockey teams. on the field, his teams never produced a winning record, though some came close, and he agreed to step down after the 1931 season.^[4] On the ice, however, Ball found more success. Though his tenue got off to a rough start, (including a winless season in 1928), Ball's hockey teams produced five consecutive winning seasons in the early 30's.^[5] Due primarily to the lack of a permanent, enclosed home rink, the team could not sustain that level of play and the latter half of the decade was mired in subpar records and shortened seasons. With no home venue on the horizon, the hockey program was shuttered in 1939.

After the suspension of the hockey program, Ball remained at the school as an instructor of Physical Education and eventually found his way back to the basketball team. After World War II, Ball took over as head coach on the court and remained in that position until 1952. Similar to his stint with the baseball team, none of basketball teams finished with a winning record. While coaching basketball, Ball was promoted to assistant professor of physical education and also worked part time as an assistant on the varsity football team. Ball retired in 1954 but remained at the school as an emeritus professor afterwards.^[6]

Head coaching record

Baseball

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall
Massachusetts Agricultural Aggies Independent (1925–1931)
1925	Massachusetts Agricultural	6–8–2
1926	Massachusetts Agricultural	4–12
1927	Massachusetts Agricultural	7–8
1928	Massachusetts Agricultural	2–9
1929	Massachusetts Agricultural	3–11
1930	Massachusetts Agricultural	7–9
1931	Massachusetts Agricultural	6–10
Massachusetts Agricultural:		35–57–2
Total:		35–57–2
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Ice hockey

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall
Massachusetts Agricultural Aggies Independent (1924–1931)
1924–25	Massachusetts Agricultural	2–5–0
1925–26	Massachusetts Agricultural	3–4–1
1926–27	Massachusetts Agricultural	2–4–1
1927–28	Massachusetts Agricultural	0–6–0
1928–29	Massachusetts Agricultural	7–5–0
1929–30	Massachusetts Agricultural	7–4–0
1930–31	Massachusetts Agricultural	9–4–0
Massachusetts State Aggies Independent (1931–1939)
1931–32	Massachusetts State	3–1–0
1932–33	Massachusetts State	5–2–1
1933–34	Massachusetts State	0–8–0
1934–35	Massachusetts State	3–3–1
1935–36	Massachusetts State	1–4–1
1936–37	Massachusetts State	3–3–0
1937–38	Massachusetts State	2–4–1
1938–39	Massachusetts State	0–4–1
Massachusetts State:		47–61–7
Total:		47–61–7
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

Basketball

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference
Massachusetts State Aggies Independent (1945–1946)
1945–46	Massachusetts State	4–8–0
Massachusetts State Aggies (Yankee Conference) (1946–1947)
1946–47	Massachusetts State	4–5 ^†
Massachusetts Aggies (Yankee Conference) (1947–1948)
1947–48	Massachusetts	2–14
Massachusetts Redmen (Yankee Conference) (1948–1952)
1948–49	Massachusetts	6–12	2–2
1949–50	Massachusetts	8–11	2–3
1950–51	Massachusetts	6–14	1–3
1951–52	Massachusetts	4–17	0–6
Massachusetts:		26–74
Total:		26–74
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

† Ball finished the year after Walter Hargesheheimer began the season 0–7.

References

^ "Index 1919". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Index 1923". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Index 1926". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Baseball_Record_Book_2023_FINAL" (PDF). UMass Minutemen. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "UMASS HOCKEY 2022-23 RECORD BOOK" (PDF). UMass Minutemen. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "Index 1956". University of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[1] "Index 1919". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[2] "Index 1923". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[3] "Index 1926". Massachusetts Agricultural College. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[4] "Baseball_Record_Book_2023_FINAL" (PDF). UMass Minutemen. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[5] "UMASS HOCKEY 2022-23 RECORD BOOK" (PDF). UMass Minutemen. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[6] "Index 1956". University of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

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v t e UMass Minutemen baseball
Venues	Alumni Field (1882–1965) Varsity Field (1966–1970) Earl Lorden Field (1971–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National Championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics

v t e UMass Minutemen basketball
Venues	Drill Hall (1899–1931) Curry Hicks Cage (1931–1993) William D. Mullins Memorial Center (1993–present)
Rivalries	Boston College UConn
Culture & lore	Sam the Minuteman "Fight Mass"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e UMass Minutemen ice hockey
Formerly the Massachusetts Agricultural Aggies, Massachusetts State Aggies and UMass Redmen
Playing venues	Campus Pond (1908–1939, 1947–1951, 1953–1979) Mullins Center (1993–present)
Head coaches	Elton J. Mansell (1917–1922) Herbert Collins (1922–1923) Howard R. Gordon (1923–1924) Lorin Ball (1924–1939) Thomas Filmore (1947–1949) Walter Fitzgerald (1949–1950) Bill Needham (1950–1951) Mel Massucco (1953–1954) Steve Kosakowski (1954–1967) Jack Canniff (1967–1979) Joe Mallen (1993–2000) Don Cahoon (2000–2012) John Micheletto (2012–2016) Greg Carvel (2016–present)
Seasons	1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Independent (1908–39, 1947–51, 1953–61, 1993–94) ECAC Hockey (1961–1964) ECAC 2 (1964–1979) Suspended program (1939–47, 1951–53, 1979–93) Hockey East (1994–present)
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Pat Keenan (180 Points) Pat Keenan (105 Goals) Matt Murray (52 Wins)
National championships	2021
Frozen Four appearances	2019 2021
NCAA Tournament appearances	2007 2019 2021 2022 2024
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC 2: 1972 Hockey East: 2021 2022
Hobey Baker winners	Cale Makar (2019)
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA