Podcast: Leominster coach Rich Barnaby on MIAA D2 outlook

Rich Barnaby won a state championship with Leominster High in 2014. (Leominster Athletics)

Our most recent guest on The Base Path Podcast is the head coach of one of the top public school programs in Massachusetts — Leominster coach Rich Barnaby.

Barnaby currently has Leominster (13-1) ranked as the No. 2 team in the latest NEBJ ranking of the top 10 teams in the MIAA. Leominster is looking to win its first championship since 2014, Barnaby’s first year as head coach of his alma mater.

Leominster is ranked just behind Milton (14-2) in the latest MIAA power rankings for Division 2.

“It gives us something to work for at practice,” Barnaby said. “Milton deserves it. They knocked us out of the playoffs last year, and they were excellent. They’re well coached, super talented. We faced the kid who is now dominating at Northeastern (Charlie Walker). Top to bottom, it’s just a great baseball program. I think you really want to be in the top four. That way, you don’t have to make a two-hour drive to someone later in the season.”

Barnaby also took stock of the other state championship races in Massachusetts, recognizing some of the top teams and players that Leominster has seen this season.

“We’ve faced Central Catholic and faced all three of their top pitchers,” Barnaby said. “The game went 12 innings, so we saw Josh Florence, Lukasz Rondeau and Frankie Melendez. Every pitcher that came out was mid-80s with great breaking balls. Wow. Then we followed that up with Caleb Allen, who is at Oakmont. The game before he pitched against us, he struck out 18 guys against Tyngsboro. We saw Shrewsbury’s ace, David Escobar, who is also excellent. That’s going to get us ready to see good pitching down the line. When you see mid-80s twice a week, and you’re likely to see Milton down the line, hopefully you’re not shocked by it.”

Listen to the entire podcast with Rich Barnaby.

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