April 22, 2011
Prep preview: BC-bound aces power BB&N
by Mike Zhe/
BB&N left-hander Andrew Chin went 7-0 with a 0.78 ERA last year, striking out 68 batters in 45 innings. (photo: Buckingham, Browne & Nichols)
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Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the April 2011 issue of New England Baseball Journal.
In the Independent School League, the bar has been set pretty high in recent years by Buckingham, Browne & Nichols.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based school shared the ISL title with Thayer in 2009, then ran the table last spring to win it outright, going 23-0 overall.
Opponents might want to stop reading here.
The Knights return the bulk of that team, including five Division 1-committed players: pitchers Andrew Chin and Devin Perry, infielders Robert Krentzman and Bob Pease, and center fielder Rhett Wiseman.
“We expect to have another good year,” coach Rick Foresteire said. “Most of our guys are back, and it’s a talented group. If we keep working and stay healthy, we’ll be in the mix for sure.”
The first challenge for weekend opponents will be trying to scratch runs off Chin and Perry, who are both headed to Boston College next year. Nobody had much success doing that a year ago.
Chin, a left-hander, doesn’t throw quite as hard as Perry, topping out around 90 mph, but he’s been every bit as effective. He was 7-0 last year with a 0.78 ERA, striking out 68 batters and walking just 19 in 45 innings.
“He’s very consistent in his velocity and location,” Foresteire said.
Perry received plenty of Div. 1 interest before settling on BC, in part because he wanted to play a position as well as pitch. As BB&N’s shortstop, he batted .388 with two home runs and 14 RBI. On the mound, where he throws in the low 90s, he was 6-0 with a 0.51 ERA, striking out 65 and walking 15 in 41 innings.
“Devin’s stuff is completely electrifying when he’s on,” Foresteire said. “He has to continue to mature”
Krentzman, who will play third base and shortstop and is headed to Bucknell, is coming off a season in which he hit .391 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Pease, another senior infielder, is committed to Holy Cross. Senior Pat May is the third man in the pitching rotation.
One player to keep on eye on for the next two springs in Wiseman, who is an early commit to Vanderbilt. A junior, he batted .422 last year with two homers and 13 RBI.
The ISL challengers begin with Lawrence Academy, 10-9 last year, which boasts a formidable 1-2-3 pitching punch of its own with Tyler Beede (see Page 21), Joe Napolitano and Max Tishman. Beede is committed to Vanderbilt, and Napolitano and Tishman have both committed to Wake Forest.
Belmont Hill boasts another Wake Forest commit in shortstop Colin Egan, while St. Sebastian’s has a staff topped by ace John Nicklas, a hard-throwing righty who’s headed to Boston College.
After winning or sharing two straight ISL titles, Thayer took a step back last year, going 7-12 overall. Senior outfielder Matt Lerner, a Lafayette commit, headlines a list of key returners that includes infielders Joe Ferrara, Jay Matthews, Sam Falkson and Sam Valentine; outfielders Connor Fallon and Matt Parent; and Justin Lloyd, who will pitch, and play infield and outfield.
Central New England
The past three years have produced three different champions in the CNEPSBL — Phillips Andover in 2008, Deerfield in 2009 and Cushing in 2010.
Throw in an improved Worcester Academy team, keep an eye on Tabor, Phillips Exeter and Northfield-Mount Hermon, and this could be the most exciting title chase in New England.
Andover went 10-8 last year and returns nine players, including 6-foot-9 junior Tom Palleschi, a left-handed throwing pitcher/first baseman who batted .344 as a sophomore and posted a 1.26 ERA, working both as a starter and out of the bullpen.
“Our biggest losses were on the mound,” Andover coach Kevin Graber said. “Hopefully, he’ll emerge as our No. 1 pitcher.”
Newcomer Rory Ziomek is a pitcher to watch, not just because of his size (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) but also because of his bloodlines; older brother Kevin is playing at Vanderbilt.
Corbin Lee will be used at a variety of positions, including pitcher, and senior infielder Chris Cameron figures to be a fixture on the basepaths after batting .318 as a junior and .340 as a sophomore.
Cushing (17-3 last year) boasts perhaps the league’s best pitcher in senior right-hander Tim Cassidy, who is headed to UMass. He capped off the Penguins’ title last spring in style, shutting out Exeter, 1-0, in the CNEPSBL championship game.
Deerfield bounced back from a 1-8 start to go 9-11 last season, but it wasn’t enough to make the postseason tournament. Behind players such as Matt DeNunzio (.328) and pitcher Nolan Doyle, it can be expected to crack the top four.
Worcester Academy has plenty back from a 6-12 team that went through some growing pains and is looking to bounce back. Exeter (10-6) graduated lots, but has a star-in-the-making in Hunter Carey, who led the team with a .452 average as a freshman. He and Charles Nutter are two options on the mound.
The top four finishers advance to the league tournament at Holy Cross. And then we’ll see who’s celebrating the most in 2011.
Colonial League
Plenty of good players back in this circuit, with defending champ Avon Old Farms the favorite heading in but Loomis-Chaffee and Taft among those poised to challenge.
At Avon, coach Rob Dowling graduated nine players from a team that went 17-2 and won the league title, with seven of them playing college ball this spring. But he does return five-tool outfielder Christopher Madera, who was named the top pro prospect in Connecticut by Perfect Game.
Senior Cam Hatch is the staff ace after going 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA. He’s committed to Maryland.
“Hatch is the hardest-working player I’ve coached in 16 years,” Dowling said. “He is so dedicated and an absolutely fierce competitor. He pitched most of our big games last year.”
The staff will be bolstered by senior lefty Adam Spracklin, who’s headed to North Carolina-Asheville; righty Mike Gibbons, who went 4-0 last spring; and David Kent, who won seven games pitching for Falmouth (Mass.) High a year ago.
Offensively, it starts with infielder Andrew Coffey, who hit .355 last year and gives the Winged Beavers speed at the leadoff spot. Senior Connor Doyle is coming off a .330 season, and newcomers John Boland and Dan Palazzo are expected to make big contributions.
“I expect the league to be very well-balanced again this year, with Avon Old Farms fielding another strong team that should make them one of the favorites at the outset,” Loomis-Chaffee coach Jeff Ross said.
Loomis was last year’s runner-up to Avon, going 12-6 overall, and has holes of its own to fill. First baseman Christian Smoolca had a breakout year as a junior and will be expected to put up big numbers, and center fielder Aaron Barrett is headed to Union College.
On the mound, Mike DeLalio — last year’s No. 2 — gets a bigger role. Lefty Kevin Caba will also get the ball, and Loomis will rely on some reinforcements from last year’s JV team, which went 11-2.
Taft went 15-4 a year ago and figures to win its share, and Choate is another traditionally strong program.
Western New England
Salisbury graduated a pair of Div. 1 players in shortstop Brookes Townsend (George Washington) and pitcher Brian Eggleston (Stetson), but it has plenty returning to make another title run.
The team went 16-1 last year, 14-0 in league play, and returns its top two pitchers — James Lynch and Jerry Silvey — who accounted for eight of those wins. Lynch was 4-0 with a 2.66 ERA, while Silvey (4-1, 3.18 ERA) has won nine of 10 decisions over the past two years.
The offense will come from players such as junior catcher Patrick Mazeika, a left-hander who batted .544 with three homers and 35 RBI, on his way to earning All-Western New England honors; center fielder Mike White, who’s committed to Louisville; and junior first baseman Oliver Powers, who batted .436 with power and will vie to be the third starter after going 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA on the hill.
Suffield bounced back from a 6-10 season in 2009 to go 11-6 last spring, and returns three all-league players from that squad: seniors Ben Rakus, Matt Gianoni and Lorenzo Bernardez.
The Gunnery is another team looking to get back on top after winning its third title in a six-year span in 2009.
“The league, as a whole, from top to bottom, is pretty good,” Salisbury coach John Toffey said.
Eastern Independent League
Same old story in the EIL. Until someone unseats Pingree, that’s still the team to beat.
This year, that doesn’t look very likely. The Highlanders return every member of last year’s starting lineup, plus their first two players off the bench.
“The outlook is promising, for sure,” coach Chris Powers said.
Leading the way offensively are center fielder Kevin St. Pierre, who’s headed to Bentley, and third baseman Brendan Oliver. Catcher Chase Gordon, second baseman Nick Antonucci and outfielder Will Walfield also can provide offense.
On the mound, Jack Whelan, Oliver and Brian Rogers form the front end of the staff, which Powers believes should be a strength.
“Much like last year’s team, there’s definitely a defense/pitching strength to this team,” he said. “They take a lot of pride making sure they don’t give guys extra outs or give up free passes with the walk.”
The top two challengers could be Berwick Academy and Portsmouth Abbey, each of whom boasts a hurler good enough to stop a potent offense in its tracks.
Berwick has a strong arm in senior righty Alex Tobey, who went 7-1 last spring. The last of those wins was a no-hitter against Lexington Christian in the NEPSAC Class C tournament.
Abbey returns senior Liam O’Farrell, who will pitch and play first base. The team will test itself right out of the gate, opening against strong ISL teams Thayer and St. Sebastian’s.
Best of the rest
Dexter went 13-1 last year as an independent — that’s 27-2 for coach Dan Donato’s club over the past two years — and gave BB&N its biggest scare in a 2-1, 12-inning loss that features a sterling pitchers duel between juniors Chin and John Magliozzi of Dexter.
Magliozzi, who’s committed to Florida, is the No. 2-rated Massachusetts prospect by Perfect Game after going 7-0 with a 0.95 ERA a year ago, striking out 73 batters in 42 innings, and batting .426 at the plate. Teammate Barrett O’Neill (Virginia) gives Donato a second Div. 1 arm in his rotation. …
In the Lakes Region League, Tilton has won or shared three of the past five league titles, but dipped to 8-7 last spring and will be looking to improve.
Vermont Academy, Holderness (9-6) and Kimball Union (6-5) are also in the mix.
NEBJ Top 10 Teams
1. Buckingham, Browne & Nichols (Independent School League)
2. Avon Old Farms (Colonial League)
3. Lawrence Academy (Independent School League)
4. Salisbury School (Western New England)
5. Dexter School (Independent)
6. Cushing Academy (Central New England)
7. Loomis Chaffee (Colonial League)
8. Suffield Academy (Western New England)
9. Belmont Hill (Independent School League)
10. Pingree School (Eastern Independent League)
NEBJ Top 10 New England Players to Watch
1. Tyler Beede, Lawrence, sr., P
2. Andrew Chin, BB&N, sr., P
3. Christopher Madera, Avon Old Farms, sr., OF
4. John Magliozzi, Dexter, sr., P
5. Mike White, Salisbury, sr., OF
6. Tim Cassidy, Cushing, sr., P
7. Tom Palleschi, Phillips Andover, jr., 1B/P
8. Patrick Mazeika, Salisbury, jr., C
9. Devin Perry, BB&N, sr., P
10. Cam Hatch, Avon Old Farms, sr., P
Mike Zhe can be reached at feedback@baseballjournal.com
