Austin Prep eyes repeat
DIV. 3-4 BASEBALL
Austin Prep broke through by winning its first Division 3 North sectional title, but the joy quickly ended when the Cougars were stunned by Dover-Sherborn in the state semifinals.
If there was any consolation, it’s that many of those players are back for one last run at the elusive state title. Catcher Peter Burns and shortstop Logan Bravo are among the best at their position, while first baseman Josh Bartnicki, second baseman Jon Gilbride, third baseman Alex Martinez, outfielder Dylan Arnold, and ace Cam Seguin all return with Colin Jaena.
The toughest challenge could come from Wilmington. The Wildcats return 11 players, including Middlesex Freedom All-Star pitchers Dan Gracia and Chris Grecco, first baseman Jared Aucoin as well as outfielders Tom Worob, Graham Smith and Matt Rideout.
Lynnfield reached the sectional final and will lean heavily on outfielder Cooper Marengi and catcher Nick Giammarco. Pitcher Tommy Lapham leads an experienced group of returnees for Triton.
Weston will be tough every time ace Saajan May takes the ball. Peter Messervy could be one of the premier outfielders in the Dual County League.
There will be a different landscape in Div. 3 South as several teams moved down from Div. 2. One is Middleboro, which returns catcher Harrison LaPierre and outfielders Shawn McCarthy and Evan Gwozdz from an 18-win team
Hanover returns pitcher Liam Flynn, third baseman Aidan Henderson, outfielder Steven Simon and shortstop Andrew Carroll.
Falmouth has catcher Gates Kelliher, pitcher Matt Liebkemann and outfielder Eli Harris back. Sandwich returns pitchers Nick Heyer and Tyler Wudyka as well as outfielders Kevin Carrera and Nick Carr.
Ashland is looking for big things from shortstop Jackson Hornung and pitcher Lucas Gustavson.
Old Rochester has pitchers Mike Kennefick and Dave Arruda back along with shortstop Jake Asiaf. East Bridgewater will lean on ace Liam LeVangie.
In Div. 4 South, Archbishop Williams made a nice run to the state final. Returning are shortstop James Dolan as well as pitchers Myles McDermott and Sam Hamer. Mashpee won 20 games a year ago and have pitcher Zach Landry, second baseman Michael Fraser and catcher Kyle Puchol back.
Ryan Soares takes over the highly-successful program at St. John Paul. He will look to pitcher Devan Harrison and shortstop Connor Jones. At Blue Hills, Andrew Bryant and Mike Fiorino anchor a good pitching staff.
West Bridgewater has one of the top pitchers in Div. 4 in Craig Dunn.
Lowell Catholic won the Div. 4 North title and have five Catholic Central Small all-stars back paced by league MVP catcher Kyle DeRoma and pitchers Zach Gitschier and Alex Graves, shortstop David Gill and outfielder Mikas KulbisMarino.
Look for the Cape Ann League to make some noise in this sectional as Manchester Essex, Georgetown and Hamilton-Wenham all have quality players back. Manchester-Essex will look to catcher Robbie Sarmanian, first baseman Jackson Levendusky, shortshop Bennett O’Leary, second baseman Mitch Paccone and pitchers Ryan O’Connell and Cosmo Pallazola. H-W has pitcher Jake Lanciani and outfielder Adam Parady returning. Georgetown has a strong cast back led by pitcher Kyle Greenler and J.P. Kibbee, shortstop Brendan Willis, infielder Tommy Long and outfielders Tommy Petrie, Scott Petrie, Ethan Block and Jacob Adamsky.