PROUD MENTOR St. Raphael legend Sorretine couldn’t be prouder of Iannetta’s 14-year Major League career
• With the trademark purple bus safely parked following another successful sojourn where he was behind the wheel, Tom “Saar” Sorrentine walked up to the North Providence High entrance where a fellow coaching veteran of the varsity high school baseball ranks happened to be collecting admission fees.
Night had descended with the eventual 2019 Division III champion St. Raphael boys soccer team on hand to face the host Cougars. Before Sorrentine could find a viewing spot along the sidelines, he shot the breeze with former North Providence dugout boss Dean
Garganese, who happens to be good friends with Chris Iannetta.
Garganese relayed word to Iannetta that his high school head coach from SRA was present. Immediately, Iannetta made his way to the North Providence field. At the time, Iannetta was in baseball limbo and wondering what his next step might entail after the Colorado Rockies designated him for assignment with a month and half left in the 2019 Major League Baseball season.
“At that point, I think it was either Pittsburgh or someone else was going to pick him up,” said Sorrentine. “He said if he got picked up, great. If not, he was good.”
Nearly two weeks have passed since Iannetta called it a career at age 37 following a 14-year ride in the majors. He never recorded an official at-bat while wearing the pinstripes of the New York Yankees, the club that signed him last winter and included the catcher’s name in the player pool prior to the start of last month’s Summer Camp.
“I was hoping he would hook on with someone, but if he’s retired, he’s retired,” said Sorrentine when reached one day earlier this week. “When you see how many years he played, you don’t even think it’s been that long.”
The biggest adjustment as far as Sorrentine is concerned is that conversations at St. Raphael’s Alumni Hall will no longer begin with, “Did you see what Iannetta did?”
“It was always fun to see what he accomplished,” noted Sorrentine, who made several trips to Fenway Park to check out his former pupil in-person. “He gave the school some good PR.”
Reflecting on the high school version of Iannetta, Sorrentine remembers there were many instances when packs of curious onlookers would show up before games. Scouts arrived to watch Iannetta take cuts with a wooden bat and stick around to see how he fared behind the plate.
“He called the pitches and ran the defense. The pitchers kept baserunners close, but he kept them even closer. He had a pickoff move to first base where he would throw from his knees. He was tough,” said Sorrentine. “He was a worker, an old school guy. Baseball was his thing. He was into it. He led by example.”
Wherever Iannetta decides to go from here, Sorrentine expressed that he would like to see him stay involved in baseball as a coach.
“He has a lot to offer,” said Sorrentine. Sorrentine hinted that St. Raphael was in the process of firming up plans to retire Iannetta’s baseball jersey before the pandemic struck. It’ll be an occasion to look forward to once we’re in a better spot.
• On the strength of five scoreless innings that featured no hits, seven strikeouts, and three walks, Pawtucket native Mike Webb was the winning pitcher for the Kettlebottom LLC entry that claimed Wednesday night’s deciding game of the inaugural Newport Collegiate Baseball League. Logging at-bats for Kettlebottom during the season were Cumberland native Dante Baldelli and St. Raphael alum Nate Vigeant.
• Mount St. Charles baseball head coach Paul Jacques passed along that several players with ties to the program’s 2019 Division II title managed to remain busy on the diamond during the current summer. Everett Misto played for Scituate in the R.I. Independent League. Meanwhile, A.J. Cook, Alex Gonfrade, and Danny Johnson hooked on with the same Milford entry that competed in the Worcester Baseball League. With AAU’s Evolution Baseball, Trey Bourque went down to Richmond, Va., helped the program win a championship, and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
• Jim Whalen, head athletic trainer of the Patriots and a Cumberland resident, “is really our point person on all the COVID protocols and so forth,” says head coach Bill Belichick.
• Next up for St. Raphael speedster Darius Kipyego is an event called the Labor Day Showdown that’s scheduled for Monday, Sept. 7 in Newton, Mass. Similar to previous appearances in West Hartford and Nashville, Kipyego will square off against pros in the 800-meter race.
• More ink for Tolman High football junior-to-be Devin Ward. Last Saturday, he was selected as Underclassmen Preseason First Team Offensive Lineman by New England 6 Select, a social media group that’s on a mission to bring national exposure to the region.
• If Mass. Governor Charlie Baker was a bit more forgiving, I would be on board with Upper Deck – winners of the 19-20 R.I. Elite Baseball League – squaring off with Team Callahan – champs of the nearby Mass. Sandlot League – for a one-game, winner-take-all contest.
• “He was a special guy in my life. He was the first guy in the big leagues who gave me a chance to play every day,” said
PawSox hitting coach Rich Gedman when asked about the impression left by former Red Sox manager John McNamara, who died three weeks ago at age 88. “It’s sad to see him go. What’s probably even worse in this day and age is that you don’t have a chance to pay your respects by going to a wake or funeral. He had a great baseball life.”
• Look up the definition of snakebitten and chances are you’ll see a picture of the Celtics’ Gordon Hayward, scheduled to be out the next few weeks with a right ankle sprain. It’s the latest injury for a player who has a hard time staying healthy.
• Last year, the PC basketball Friars ranked first in the Big East in offensive rebounding and last in defensive boards. If you’re head coach Ed Cooley, tightening up on the glass figures to be a priority with only one true big man on the roster in senior Nate Watson.
• Not going to lie: College sports are pretty depressing these days.
• Still believe the R.I. Interscholastic League would have been better served in moving baseball and softball to the fall and shifting football, soccer, field hockey, and girls volleyball to early 2021.
• One perk of no fans allowed at Fenway Park is that as a media member, you can park off Jersey St. and not have to fret about taking out a loan. Ten dollars on Sundays and $20 during the week.
• The Red Sox aren’t very good, but you wouldn’t know that when tuning into WEEI and listening to former PawSox broadcaster Will Flemming, who has been a breath of fresh air amidst a trying season with his blend of baseball facts and witty banter.
• This column would have been longer, but thanks to headlines made at this week’s Democratic National Convention, I have a craving for calamari that needs to be addressed.