Seniors set tone for perfect Georgetown
As Georgetown finished off its 13th win in 13 games, the Royals’ three seniors from a year ago looked on, fresh off their first years of college. When coach Phil Desilets talked things over with his team after the final out, he invited
Zach gilmore, Jake Thompson, and Elijah Ryan to join them, breaking down the huddle with a shout of “family.”
From youth ball through the last days of their high school career, kids in Georgetown look forward to donning the uniform. And as waves of studentathletes come and go, sometimes one comes in like a tsunami — one that creates the last unbeaten team in the state, and the arrival of which was forecast years ago.
“When they were in middle school, I kept telling people, ‘Just wait, this group’s coming,’ ” Desilets said. “they’re locked into doing something special this year.”
From coaching these players through the youth ranks, Desilets knew that the arrival of this group — a roster with seven seniors on a 14-player varsity roster — was on the horizon. through consistent playing time through their first years of high school (five started as freshmen, and they all played consistently as sophomores) and deep runs in each of the past two state tournaments, the Royals are reaping the rewards.
Georgetown’s perfect 14-0 start, the program’s best mark once they eclipsed 10-0, isn’t the full culmination of years of work — senior captain carter lucido makes it abundantly clear that the “job’s not finished” — but it is a result of the effort and energy that the program has put in to developing talent over the past few seasons.
they’re beating teams by 17 runs, with walkoffs, and with no-hitters. they’re outscoring opponents by an average of eight runs per game. the Royals pitching staff recorded its fifth straight shutout in thursday’s 1-0 win at pentucket, with senior Tyler gilmore throwing a one-hitter.
“It’s just an amazing group of people,” said senior captain Jake gilbo. “I’ve been playing with these kids since I was in tball. I don’t really look at the record too much. It’s great that we’re [14-0], but it’s always on to the next game.”
lucido, Gilmore, and junior Hayden Ruth have excelled in the rotation. the three have a combined 1.25 earned run average in 66„ innings. Ruth has no-hit two opponents and surrendered just four hits in four starts.
six everyday Royals have an Ops above 1.000 — Ruth, Gilmore, senior Jake gilstein, senior Jason gioia, lucido, and Gilbo. Gilstein, the starting catcher, has become a master of the strike zone.
Desilets lauded his captain’s pitch calling abilities, jokingly referring to their pitchCom setup as a “waste of money,” with Gilstein leading all Royals with 22 walks.
to Gilstein, it’s the wisdom he and his classmates gained from their first year on that led to this point where they know every game matters.
“When we made the final four as sophomores, we were just naive,” Gilstein said. “But now, in our senior year, we’re excited, experienced, and we’re ready to go.”
the Royals are the top team in the MIAA’s Division 5 power rankings. Ask them and they’ll tell you the “job’s not finished” — so unfinished that they all agreed before the season to make this their year.
“everything clicks when everyone knows their role, and we made a pact this year for everyone to drop their egos and play a role because we’re a talented team,” lucido said. “When everyone can buy into that camaraderie and understand that they’re not going to be the guy every game, it just makes the team that much better.”
Extra bases
R In tuesday’s MIAA power Rankings update, the top seeds in each division were: BC High (D1; 6.4978), Walpole (D2; 5.8652), st. Mary’s (D3; 4.9432), Uxbridge (D4;
4.5505), and Georgetown (D5; 3600) . . . leominster peaked at no. 4 (5.0378) in the D1 rankings and has won 11 straight since a season-opening loss to defending D3 champion Oakmont. led by pitchers Angel baez and Nick Massa, the Blue Devils clinched a third Mid-Wach title in four years with tuesday’s 2-0 win over Algonquin, and are emerging as strong contenders from Central Mass . . . the Merrimack Valley Division 1 title race will be decided this week. Central Catholic, Andover, and north Andover are tied atop the standings at 7-3, and lawrence is one game back at 6-4. the four teams play each other one more time, starting with Friday’s clash between Andover and nA.
R east Bridgewater coach Jeff ghiloni earned his 100th career win in tuesday’s 6-4 victory over Mashpee . . . Hanover righthander gabe knudsen recorded his 200th strikeout during a 13-strikeout performance in Monday’s 2-1 loss to pembroke . . . seekonk lefthander Tyler kropis continued his dominant season Monday, striking out 16 batters over six innings in an 8-1 win over Apponequet. Kropis, a Globe Allscholastic who committed to east tennessee state on April 30th, has allowed two runs and struck out 56 over his last 25 innings . . . Austin prep improved to 15-0 with a 6-5 win over Dexter southfield in nine innings Monday in Reading. the Cougars are in their second year as a nepsAC school after winning the 2022 MIAA Division 3 title . . . Former Walpole and northeastern standout cam schlitter threw five no-hit innings with seven strikeouts tuesday pitching for the Hudson Valley Renegades, the High-A Affiliate of the new York Yankees . . . taunton’s Dawson bryce earned neC player of the Week honors for Merrimack after collecting 10 hits and hitting a walkoff tworun homer. Bryce was the Globe’s Division 1 Athlete of the Year last spring for the state-champion tigers.