Early life
Gorneault was born to Gary and Darlene Gorneault on April 19,1979,in Springfield,Massachusetts, [2] and attended Cathedral High School in Springfield,where he starred in baseball and basketball. As a senior,he posted the strongest year of his high school career with 12 home runs,41 runs batted in,and a .369 batting average. [3] He was a member of the Western Massachusetts Championship basketball team,and was a first-team All-Western Massachusetts baseball star,receiving MVP honors for leading the team to a 1997 Western Massachusetts title. [2]
Gorneault attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst,the same school attended by legendary California Angels' shortstop Gary DiSarcina, [4] and went 2-6 in his first college start against Vermont. As a sophomore in 1999,Gorneault started in 17 of the team's 19 games,hit .333 in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament,including hitting the game-winning two-run double against Temple. In the Beanpot Tournament semifinals,Gorneault collected a career-high four hits and five runs batted in,including a walk-off two-run home run in the ninth inning to defeat Harvard. [2]
In his junior year in 2000,Gorneault started 47 of the team's games,leading the team with 10 home runs,42 runs batted in,and a .595 slugging percentage. In the season opener,Gorneault went 4-5 with three home runs against Florida. He also had the team's longest hitting streak of the season,recording a hit in 13 consecutive games,hitting .327 during the stretch. [2]
Professional career
Gorneault was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 19th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball draft,and was signed to a minor league contract on June 7,2001. [5] In 2001,he played for the Provo Angels of the rookie Pioneer League. He hit .315,with 6 home runs and 30 runs batted in. [6] However,in only 54 games,Gorneault led the team in strikeouts with 65. [7] In 2002,Gorneault played 103 games for the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League. He recorded a .289 batting average and a .465 slugging percentage,both which led the team. [8] In 2003,he split his time with the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Double-A Arkansas Travelers. [5] In total,he hit a career-high .326 in 126 games,with 16 home runs and 91 runs batted in. With the Quakes alone,he led the team with 72 runs batted in. [9]
In 2004,Gorneault spent the bulk of the season with the Travelers. He led the team with 21 home runs,81 runs batted in,91 runs,and 128 strikeouts. [10] His success earned him a spot with the Triple-A Salt Lake Stingers,now the Salt Lake Bees,at the end of the season. He hit .316 in only six games,with five runs batted in. [5] In 2005,Gorneault finally had a full-time spot on the Triple-A roster. He led the Stingers in most offensive categories,including home runs,runs batted in,runs,hits,and slugging percentage. [11]
In 2006,Gorneault struggled,hitting only .283 and leading the team in only one offensive category;he recorded a team-high 78 runs batted in. He hit 15 home runs in 107 games,second on the team. [12] In 2007,Gorneault hit .261 with only 19 home runs and 59 runs batted in. [13] Midseason,due to a minor injury to Reggie Willits,Gorneault finally got the call to the major leagues. He made his debut on June 30,2007,going 0-2 with a walk,in a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. [14] After a second 0-2 performance the following day, [15] he was sent back down to Salt Lake,where he would finish his season.
Following the season,on October 29,2007,he was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers. [16] Gorneault was not offered a new contract and was non-tendered on December 12,2007.
On January 17,2008,Gorneault signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Houston Astros. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in February 2009.
On August 8,2009,Gorneault recorded his 1,000th minor league hit in a game against the Altoona Curve at Merchantsauto.com Stadium in Manchester,New Hampshire. At the time,Gorneault was playing for the Blue Jays double-A affiliate,the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The hit was recorded off of Curve pitcher Daniel Moskos. [17]
On December 22,2009,Gorneault signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
