New coach, new team for Riverside Post 10
EAST PROVIDENCE – The offseason has hardly been kind to the Collette/Riverside Post 10 contingent.
That’s why new assistant coach/mentor Ken Aldridge is unable to predict how the club will do when R.I. American Legion Senior Division League play begins Monday night, and has multiple outstanding reasons as to why.
Collette lost seven instrumental starters due to “graduation” (they became ineligible due to age restrictions), and they include catcher Dylan Boisclair, shortstop/ righty closer Adam Duarte, first baseman Ray Aponte, shortstop/outfielder Patrick Fleming, center fielder Matt Conrad, right fielder Derek Geiger and pitcher Jared Cardosa.
Even worse, two young men who would’ve returned sustained season-ending injuries this spring – among them shortstop/third baseman Shung-Wen Pappas (torn ACL while playing for Williams College in Pennsylvania) and middle infielder Riley Cronin (torn labrum while representing Curry). Neither will be able to don a uniform this summer.
Despite those critical losses, Aldridge remains cautiously optimistic about this upcoming campaign, and it’s easy to see why. The team’s backbone comes in the form of five returning starters, and 2017 St. Raphael Academy graduate Brenden Aldridge, the coach’s son who made the Franklin Pierce University varsity squad as a frosh last fall, tops the list.
The tall, lanky righty will start on the hill, but also see plenty of action at either first or third base, while former Moses Brown standout Jared Schott and recent Bishop Feehan graduate Colin Gauthier, both crafty southpaws, will join Aldridge in the starting rotation.
Other returnees include Brenden Aldridge’s high school teammates, Elliott Vadnais in center and Peter Spetelunas in a variety of positions, especially the outfield and DH.
Despite his tender age, Boisclair will head the coaching staff, which includes the elder Aldridge and Dan Silva; the general manager/chief administrator will be Kevin Lethbridge.
Last season, Collette finished with an overall record of 10-11 and made the playoffs, but ultimately yielded a semifinal decision to state finalist Upper Deck Post 86/14.
Boisclair and Co. will try to surpass that with a host of key newcomers. They include 2017 Tolman grad, righty starter/shortstop Peter Microulis; ex-Tigers’ classmate Aaron Massey (1B/DH/P); recent EP graduate Nick Lemire (CF); Saints’ seniors-to-be Jake LeFort (LHP/1B/OF) and James Coleman (LF); and three Townie student-athletes – Connor Carey (C/1B), Sam Budnick (2B/SS) and Cole Poissant (C/INF/P).
Coach Aldridge indicated Massey “hasn’t played for a while, and he had a couple of arm issues, but we’re going to try to work him in as a spot reliever besides his playing at first.”
As for Poissant, he noted, “He’s looked really good to me behind the plate the other night (at practice). He’s got a really strong arm down to second and he can block the plate.
“These kids know how to play baseball at this level, so my personal goal is get them to play together as a team, as a unit,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of new pieces to the puzzle, and hopefully we can fit those pieces together into a winning team.
“It’s going to be a challenge because we lost so many guys to ‘graduation’ or, I should say, ineligibility because they’re now too old. Then we had those two injuries. Still, our goal is to make the playoffs; obviously, the kids who want to win, as do I. We’ll see what happens.
“But what I’ve seen in practice so far, all of these kids are looking really gritty and determined. I’ve loved the energy I’ve seen so far. It’s going to be a learning process not only for the players but us as coaches, too.
“We’re going to have a really busy start to the season (Post 10 will host Scituate/Ponaganset at 5:30 p.m., Monday at Pierce Field, then play another game before traveling to an invitational tournament next weekend), and we’re going to be thrown right into the fire.
“All of us, we’re looking forward to it.”