Austin Prep’s departure to the NEPSAC after rolling to an undefeated season and the Div. 3 state title final 12 months has left a void that many MIAA colleges are hoping to fill.
One group who needs to be thought of a contender is Newburyport. The Clippers superior to the state finals the place they gave Austin Prep all it might deal with earlier than falling, 2-1. Harvard-bound Owen Tahnk might be a pressure on the mound and when he’s enjoying first base. Charlie Forrest is an skilled arm and Connor Stick returns at second.
Pitcher Hayden Bessette and shortstop Benjamin Miller are the highest returnees for a Dighton-Rehoboth group which superior to the Div. 3 state semifinals. UMass-Lowell-bound third baseman Sean O’Leary and pitcher Nolan Gordon are among the many key gamers again for state semifinalist Foxboro.
Medfield has been a Div. 3 energy the previous two seasons and pitcher Jack Collins and catcher Scott Donahue lead a bunch hoping to take care of the latest custom of excellence. Aiden Cardoza figures to be one of many high pitchers within the Catholic Central League, whereas catcher Ryan Jones is again within the fold. Pitcher/first baseman Zach Morris returns for Gloucester.
Others seeking to crack the higher echelon are East Bridgewater, Norwell, Middleboro, Ashland and Dedham.
Manchester-Essex merely is aware of the right way to win within the postseason as evidenced by their robust postseason run to a different Div. 4 state title. Catcher Mike Deoreo, outfielder Henry Otterbein and third baseball Troy Flood will present the offense, whereas a slew of younger arms ought to present the Hornets with high quality innings.
The Cape Ann League is without doubt one of the perennial higher leagues round and along with Manchester-Essex, look ahead to Hamilton-Wenham and Amesbury. Sophomore ace Gian Gamelli and outfielder Connor McClintock are again for the Generals, whereas Amesbury will look to outfielders Drew Scialdone and Trevor Kimball.
Boston English needs to be the group to beat within the Boston City League as pitchers David Castillo and Nanfer Duarte, center infielders Justin Peguero (Dayton commit) and David Ballenila and catcher Braylin Gonzalez return. Shawsheen will look to pitcher Aiden McLeod, shortstop Mavrick Boudreau and first baseman Mike Maselli.
Seekonk had a storybook run to the Div. 4 state finals and have pitcher Kevin Crowe and third baseman Jaden Arruda again. Case superior to the quarterfinals and can depend on third baseman Jacob Poitras and shortstop Adam Gracie.
Over within the South Shore League, Abington has catcher Spencer Merrick and pitcher Steve Madded again, whereas Mashpee returns shortstop Colton Colleran, second baseman Robert Ryder and first baseman Sean Fancher.
Bourne needs to be among the many high EMass opponents for a Div. 5 state title. Back for the Canalmen are pitchers Chris Klueber, Luca Finton and Damon White. Others to look at embody state finalist Georgetown, Rockland and St. John Paul.
PLAYERS TO WATCH IN DIV. 3
P: Dylan Amaral (Diman), Hayden Bessette (Dighton-Rehoboth), Jack Birtwell (Norwell), Aiden Cardoza (Bishop Stang), Jack Collins (Medfield), Colby Correia (Fairhaven), Nick Cross (Weston), Charlie Forrest (Newburyport), Luke Gomes (Fairhaven), Nolan Gordon (Foxboro), Jared Graca (Southeastern), Jimmy Hanney (Dedham), Austin Harper (Wilmington), Gabe Knudsen (Hanover), Jaden Lovell (East Bridgewater), Harry Lynch (Essex Tech), Tyler Nelson (Arlington Catholic), Orlando Justino (Latin Academy), Trevor Kamuda (Pentucket), Ty Letichevsky (Ashland), James McConnell (Greater Lawrence), Cam Napior (Martha’s Vineyard), Ray McNaught (East Bridgewater), Luis Ortiz (East Boston), Brennan Shapiro (Latin Academy), Jake Torpey (Greater Lowell), Justin Tullish (Middleboro), Nate Tullish (Middleboro), Colin Wilbur (Bristol-Plymouth), Casey Williams (Watertown)
C: Byron Bell (Diman), Eddie Correia (Bristol-Plymouth), Scott Donahue (Medfield), Ryan Jones (Bishop Stang), Mitchell Norkevicius (Sandwich), Nate Rodrigues (Greater New Bedford), Kyle Ventura (Pentucket)
1B: Zach Morris (Gloucester), Brian Olson (Dover-Sherborn), Owen Tahnk (Newburyport), Nick Villano (Bishop Fenwick)
2B: Anthony Musto (Southeastern), Connor Stick (Newburyport)
SS: Alex Carucci (North Reading), Aidan Hassey (Fairhaven), Nathan Levesque (Apponequet), Benjamin Miller (Dighton-Rehoboth), Joel Valera (East Boston)
3B: Cam Cabral (Greater New Bedford), Connor Cowern (Ashland), Sean O’Leary (Foxboro)
OF: Costa Beechin (Bishop Fenwick), Aidan Blake (Pembroke), Joseph Celli (Stoneham), Alex Gentile (Lynnfield), Anthony Jorajuria (Weston), Griffin Link (Norwell), Devin Rocheleau (Greater Lowell), Jack Shapiro (Latin Academy)
PLAYERS TO WATCH IN DIV. 4/5
P: Tim Adams (St. John Paul), Hunter Alten (St. John Paul), Christian Bates (West Bridgewater), Braden Brophy (Wareham), Tavis Burns (O’Bryant), David Castillo (Boston English), Morenel Castro (KIPP), Andrew Clifford (Monomoy), Kevin Crowe (Seekonk), Ruben Diaz (Snowden), Nanfer Duarte (Boston English), Luca Finton (Bourne), Gian Gamelli (Hamilton-Wenham), Matthew Griffin (O’Bryant), James Hereford (Sturgis West), Chris Klueber (Bourne), Carter Lucido (Georgetown), Aiden MacLeod (Shawsheen), Steve Madden (Abington), Ryan Maiorano (Bellingham), Eoin McDonagh (Blue Hills), Joseph McGrath (Northeast), Matt McGuiggan (Old Colony), Sean McNamara (Lowell Catholic), Patrick O’Rourke (Upper Cape), Damon White (Bourne), Ian White (Rockland), Josh Wiggin (Cape Cod Tech)
C: Mike Deoreo (Manchester-Essex), Braylin Gonzalez (Boston English), Chanel Gutierrez (KIPP), Colin Kinsella (Winthrop), Spencer Merrick (Abington), Argelis Nunez (Nantucket), Brady Prindle (Lowell Catholic)
1B: Sean Fancher (Mashpee), Mike Maselli (Shawsheen), Will McCafferty (Lynn Tech), Joshua Stover (Mystic Valley)
2B: Michael Murphy (Rockport), Robert Ryder (Mashpee), Connor Travis (Bishop Connolly)
SS: David Ballenila (Boston English), Mavrick Bourdeau (Shawsheen), Colton Colleran (Mashpee), Adam Gracie (Case), Tyler Kutil (Upper Cape), Colin Lynch (Nantucket), Justin Peguero (Boston English), Edward Santana (O’Bryant). Peter Silverman (Winthrop), Jamison Steck (Sturgis East)
3B: Jaden Arruda (Seekonk), Alberto Curet (Charlestown), Troy Flood (Manchester-Essex), Luc Nivaud (Cohasset), Jacob Poitras (Case), Drew Raphel (West Bridgewater), Yonael Valerio (Snowden)
OF: Eamon Godzik (Rising Tide), Jack Guelli (Rockport), Finn Hyora (Monomoy), Trevor Kimball (Amesbury), Anthony Lum (Tri-County), Connor McClintock (Hamilton-Wenham), Henry Otterbein (Manchester-Essex), Drew Scialdone (Amesbury)
Source: www.bostonherald.com