Boys, now men, of summer
Bryant’s Wright, Palmieri excel with summer teams
Bryant duo finds success in area college leagues
SMITHFIELD — What a difference a year makes for Cumberland’s Chris Wright and Lincoln’s Mason Palmieri.
Twelve months ago the duo was returning from Shelby, N.C. where the Upper Deck Post 86/14 American Legion baseball team was playing in the Legion World Series.
While Wright was the standout player for the state and Northeast regional champions, Palmieri had to watch from the dugout as a coach after his freshman campaign at Bryant was short-circuited by a right arm injury.
This summer, the Blackstone Valley standouts found themselves playing in two differ- ent collegiate baseball leagues. And both succeeded, helping their respective teams claim regular-season titles before frustrating playoff exits.
“The summer went really well and I hit the ball well and played first base for the majority of the summer,” Wright said recently. “On the mound, I felt a lot better than I did during the season. I felt a lot more in control, so it was a really good summer.”
Wright, who had a superb freshman campaign as Bryant’s starting first baseman and middle-of-the-order bat, reprised his role with one of the top summer teams in the nation, the Ocean State Waves of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The Waves, who play their games at Old Mountain Field in South Kingstown, won the NECBL’s Southern Division title with a 3113 record and advanced to their first NECBL title game series. Wright’s presence at first base and in the middle of the lineup was a big reason for the team’s success.
“He’s going to pitch for us, whether that is as a starter or a guy we use at the end of games, we don’t know that yet.” – Steve Owens on Wright
The 2016 Cumberland High graduate led the team in run scored (23) and was second on the squad in hits (39), home runs (4) and RBIs (17). He also led the squad in walks (23) and he was hit by a teamhigh nine pitches.
Wright said his success at the plate this season goes back to last fall when Bryant’s coaches fixed his swing.
“It’s really all about hard work. I put in the time,” Wright said. “We broke down my swing right when I got to school. They fixed my timing and made sure I got my (right) leg up early so I could see the pitch coming in. It helped me adjust to off-speed pitches better. Repetition of that has really propelled me to go from high school to this level.”
Bryant coach Steve Owens also recruited Wright to be a weekend starter, and there were positive signs on the mound. After walking 27 batters in 26.2 innings in the spring, Wright struck out 15 and walked 11 in 11.2 innings. He had a 3.86 ERA.
“The big thing was making sure I stayed tight to the plate with my delivery and making sure that with my stride foot I wasn’t coming out and around,” Wright said. “I used to do that before. I needed to get over my front leg because a lot of the time in high school I was pitching with a bent knee. It’s hard to command my pitches that way.”
Owens said the plan is to have Wright throw plenty of innings this fall with the hope of getting him ready to be either a weekend starter or closer in the spring. Bryant lost ace James Karinchak to the MLB Draft, but lefties Steve Theetge and Vito Morgese are back in the fold.
“We’ll throw him a lot this fall because he is in the plan to pitch a lot for us,” Owens said. “He’s got a great arm and he’s lefthanded, so we’re excited to see him throw. He’s going to pitch for us, whether that is as a starter or a guy we use at the end of games, we don’t know that yet. There aren’t a lot of lefthanders with an arm like his.”
It would be easy for Wright to forget about pitching and just focus on becoming an MLB draftable first baseman, but that’s not in the former Clipper’s DNA.
“It’s definitely not easy, but it’s something I really want to be able to do,” Wright said. “I don’t want to do just one thing. I want to help the team in as many ways as possible. I just have to work harder than everyone else and I have to put in more time every day than most other people will be able to.”
Palmieri went into the summer trying to prove to Owens and pitching coach Brenden Monaghan that he should be a starter. Palmieri appeared in 15 games as a redshirt freshman and picked up a save in 19.2 innings of work – but all of that work came out of the bullpen.
This summer, with the Futures League’s Brockton Rox, the 6-foot-5 2015 Lincoln graduate started 10 games and compiled a 5-3 record. In 43 innings, Palmieri struck out 41 batters and allowed 43 hits while producing an ERA of 2.09.
“Basically, I was able to get ahead of hitters,” Palmieri said. “I kind of struggled with command this past season after coming back from the injury. I was able to get ahead of hitters and pitch in good counts. It’s easier to pitch when you’re ahead of hitters all the time.”
“Mason had a really good summer,” Owens said. “I only saw him pitch once, but he had a very successful summer. He had a good summer as far as statistics go and he stayed in a good routine and was able to continue lifting and working on the campus there. He feels good and he threw a lot of strikes.”
Palmieri said a big reason for his success was the play of the Rox, who went 31-21 and won the league’s East Division title by six games over the Nashua Silver Knights.
Ocean State and Brockton’s struggles in their respective league tournaments mirrored Bryant’s postseason performance. The Bulldogs entered the NEC tournament as the No. 1 seed, but the reigning league champions lost games to Sacred Heart (32) and Wagner (6-5).
Central Connecticut State won the league title and Blue Devils catcher Nick Garlandjust happened to be Palmieri’s catcher this summer.
“The NEC Tournament left a bitter taste in my mouth and I’m ready to get back out there,” Palmieri said. “I know the attitude of our team is to get back and get another ring. Me personally, I played with a couple of guys from the NEC and it was tough. My catcher for the summer went to Central Connecticut and they won the NEC. They went to TCU for the regionals, so it was tough to hear about that experience.”
“I was able to get ahead of hitters and pitch in good counts. It’s easier to pitch when you’re ahead of hitters all the time.” – Lincoln’s Mason Palmieri