Gray matters for Lions
Chelmsford junior ace has set lofty goals
Braydon Gray burst onto the scene as one of the top pitchers in the Merrimack Valley a season ago and is quickly becoming one of the more high-profile arms in the region.
DIAMOND NOTES
Chelmsford’s Gray is 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. The poised junior has a fourpitch mix highlighted by a fastball that creeps into the high 80s. Through three starts this year, Gray is 2-0 with a 0.74 ERA, including 13 consecutive scoreless innings to start the season.
“Braydon has always had that strong sense of confidence in himself,” Chelmsford coach Lou Distasi said. “He is able to present himself in a non-cocky sense while also possessing his command that he knows he has something in him to be the best player on the field.”
Gray’s initial baseball memories are waking his grandparents while pitching in the backyard. As high school approached, Gray was largely an afterthought on summer baseball teams but determined to improve. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled his freshman baseball season, Gray spent four months during the pandemic working out, gaining 45 pounds and 12 mph. He went from throwing 72 to the mid-80s.
And he became a student of baseball, taking copious notes and watching the fellow top arms from the Merrimack Valley go onto to play at the next level, including North Andover’s Matthew Sapienza (Georgetown) and Chelmsford’s Griffin Green (Virginia Tech).
“Things really took off for me after that work I put in during COVID,” Gray said. “That’s when I realized I could play in college.”
Gray returned for his sophomore and first season and quickly developed into the Lions’ ace, throwing complete games against Lowell and North Andover, appearing in the state tournament against St. John’s Prep, and earning MVC AllConference with a 1.48 ERA and just two walks over 33 innings.
Gray was a two-sport athlete working on the bump in the spring while an all-state swimmer in the winter. Gray found himself losing weight and as a result velocity in the winter, causing him to abandon the pool this past year to focus on refining his development on the mound.
“I’ve seen enormous strides from being able just to have an actual offseason of training,” Gray said. “I used to lose 10 pounds and struggle to put it back on for the baseball season.”
In the lead up to this spring Gray worked on refining his mechanics, developed a little more velocity to generate swing and miss from his fastball, and increased the sharpness of his slider. He flashes a fastball that consistently hits 86-88 mph but gets up to 89 to go with a slider, changeup, and curveball. He can throw them all consistently for strikes while exuding confidence that one day he can play at the highest level.
“The ultimate goal is to be drafted one day,” Gray said. “It’s been the goal since day 1 and I believe I still have that in me. I think I see more in my future ability than others do. I want to be able to play at the highest level and dominate.”
Friendly Fenway
Medfield and Hopkinton is always a game that both TriValley League foes circle on the calendar, but this season the game will carry a bit of extra weight.
When the two sides meet on Friday, April 29, the game will take place at Fenway Park. The game is free admission for all spectators with donations accepted for
the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Foundation.
Hopkinton coach Steve Simoes said the Hillers are simply fortunate to be Medfield’s opponent at “America’s Most Beloved” ballpark.
“We’re certainly looking
forward to this opportunity,” Simoes said. “Even though it’s a league game and it’s certainly a meaningful one at that, I will not bypass on the chance to make sure everyone gets a chance to experience and step on that field.”