North County Baseball Preview: Building on Experience
 Hoosac Valley downed Drury 4-1 on Thursday. Hurricanes coach Bob Rivard is pitching for another Western Mass. title this year.  |
The Hurricanes' skipper has guided his team to three Western Massachusetts titles since 2001 and hasn't missed out on the postseason in the past 11 years. During that time, no other Berkshire County squad has won more than one sectional title. Rivard's strategy is quite simple. He works his team's kinks out during the regular season before getting all of his ducks in a row for a playoff run.
Rivard's recipe for success was shown perfectly last season, when Hoosac caught fire toward the end of the season on its way to winning the Division 2 Western Mass. tourney as the No. 4 seed.
"We played well down the stretch," Rivard said. "We won five out of six games heading into the tournament.
"Our goal is to get better as the season goes on. I like to win ballgames and if that means we're in the running for the Berkshire County title, then that’s good. But the goal is Western Mass."
It should be an achievable goal for the Hurricanes, who won WMass. titles in 2006 and 2008, with a trip to sectional semifinals mixed in between. Rivard lost five players to graduation from last year's 15-9 team but still has a number of pieces returning to help him make another run.
At the top of that list is a trio of senior pitchers that give Rivard the rare option of having three experienced starters on his staff. Dalton Larabee, Josh Gould and Ben Kleiner are all reliable hurlers who will also contribute in the field when they're not on the mound. Larabee, a captain who has been pitching on varsity since his sophomore year, came up huge for Hoosac in its WMass. title run last year.
"Dalton was excellent in the first game against Mohawk," Rivard said. "We have confidence in all of them as starters. They did it last year, but they’ll have to do it again this season."
Junior Justin Tworig will also help out the pitching staff from the bullpen, while classmate Garrett Alibozek returns to his catching role after a breakout sophomore campaign.
Rivard's concern isn't as much with pitching as it is with hitting. Last year's MVP Andrew Rinaldi is gone, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the lineup. Rivard said in his 16 years of coaching at the school, he's never seen a player have such a complete year as Rinaldi did in 2008.
"He played a huge impact," he said. "He never had a game when he was in a slump."
Rivard said he expects Larabee and Alibozek to swing the bats well this season, along with sophomore Nick Bourdon and senior captain Dan Barrett. Bourdon made a big impact playing third base as a freshman last year, while Barrett returns to his starting shortstop role.
Larabee will start at first when he's not on the hill, with Tworig taking his place when he gets the start. The only infield position that is not set is at second base, where three different players have a chance to play.
Gould and junior Justin Pelczynski appear to be locks to start in the outfield, while youngsters Zach Larabee and Nate Alibozek will get the chance to play out there as well.
If all goes well the 'Canes will be lifting up their third trophy in the last four years. But as Rivard pointed out, anything can happen once you get into the second season.
"We expect to make the tournament but after that it's a crapshoot," Rivard said. "Last year the biggest part abour our run was our seed and where we were put in the bracket."
Mount Greylock
Another team that finished the 2008 season strong was Mount Greylock. Steve Messina's club went 10-10 in the regular season to break a recent postseason drought. The Mounties then made a lot of noise in the WMass. tournament, beating defending champion Wahconah in the first round before losing 2-1 to top-seeded Greenfield in the quarterfinals.
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The Mounties finished strong last season and are hoping for another at Western Mass.
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With only one player lost from last year's team, Greylock is hoping that momentum carries over to this season. Like Hoosac Valley, the Mounties also return three starting pitchers. Seniors Dylan Dethier and Jeff Romejko are consistent performers, while junior David Jones might have the best stuff on the squad. Jones is coming off a solid sophomore season, which included a no-hitter against Mount Everett.
Besides the experience on the mound, Messina is also fortunate enough to have 12 upperclassmen on this year's squad. Many of those players have paid their dues in recent seasons and this could finally be the year when Greylock's youth and talent reaches its full potential.
Dethier, a captain and gutty performer on the mound, is one of five seniors on the squad. He will replace the departed Corey Nichols at shortstop when he's not pitching, while Romejko will fill the same role at third base. Romejko and fellow seniors Than Finan (center field) and Chris Geannelis (right field) are also captains and will start at their respective positions. The other senior on the team is Cary White, who will see some time in left field.
Jones leads a talented junior class and will play first base when he's not on the hill. He'll have another talented classmate to throw to with All-Berkshire catcher Chris Koch returning for his third year behind the plate. Other juniors who will also see significant playing time are Hayden Kuhn at second base, Keith Martin at third base, Collin Young at first base and Jeff Kucka and Charlie Besnard in the outfield.
A pair of sophomores will also see time, with Tommy Nowlan doing a little pitching and playing middle infield, while Brandon Decelles will also pitch and see some time at first base. Freshman Mike Geanellis is also on the squad and will be counted on to pitch and play the infield.
Add it all up and Messina has one of his most complete teams in years.
"We have a lot of depth and a lot of guys that can throw the ball, which doesn't always happen for us sometimes," he said. "It's a refreshing change to have so many options."
McCann Tech
The cupboard is still very full for McCann Tech as well. Just like the Mounties, the Hornets only lost one player from last year's squad that went 10-11 and qualified for the WMass. tournament for the first time in eight years.
Still, McCann head coach George Canales is quick to temper expectations.
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The Hornets are starting the year with a seasoned squad that helped end the teams Western Mass. drought. |
Helping Canales accomplish that goal are three senior captains that already have several varsity seasons under their belts. Sean Cota, who is a big hitter and a vacuum at first base, will pair with Art Zander and Andrew Champagne to lead the Hornets in 2008. Zander brings his strong bat and solid glove to third base, while Champagne returns to guide the McCann pitchers from behind the plate.
Canales also has his top hitter back this year in junior Ben Zieba. A starter since his freshman year, Zieba hit .374 a year ago and is also expected to be at the top of the rotation this spring.
"That kid can play all nine positions," Canales said as he explained Zieba's versatility.
Classmates Ben Raimer and Corey Briggs can also help score some runs. Raimer, a speedy centerfielder, was successful on 34 of 35 steal attempts last season, while Briggs batted .333 from the right field position.
Helping Zieba on the mound will be senior relief pitcher Matt Bak, junior starter Bryce Horsfall, junior reliever Jake Twomey and sophomore starter Colton Primmer. Horsfall will also see time in both the outfield and infield, while Twomey will also play in the field on days when he's not on the mound.
Juniors Tyler Lefebvre (first base), Kevin Cota (catcher) and Justin Perreault (starting shortstop) provide depth to the Hornets' roster, while sophomores Jimmy Novak (starting second basemen), Chris Hilchey (outfielder, catcher) and Matt McCarthy (outfielder) hope to make an impact as well.
Hilchey is just one of the McCann players with good speed, and Canales believes the quickness of his team and the eight pitchers he has to choose from should be strengths this season.
Drury
To say last year was a tough one for Drury would be an understatement. The Blue Devils, rich with a great baseball history, stumbled to a 4-16 record in 2008. A number of players were either injured or were suspended because of discipline problems, forcing head coach Al Marceau to have to make up for a total of 64 lost games.
 This year's Blue Devils are hoping to overcome last year's stumble. |
"Last year, we had a lot of stuff going on," Marceau said. "A lot of things weren't even baseball related, so that was really hard on everyone. The goal this year is take it one game at a time. That is the oldest cliche there is, but with a young team, we're really trying to win every inning. We'll try to build on the good stuff from game to game and build their confidence more than anything else."
The good news about last season is that a lot of younger players were thrown into the fire and should come out more experienced this time around. Two players that perhaps learned the most last year were sophomores Tyler Benoit and Mike Tatro. Benoit will be back after pitching and playing first base last year as a freshman, while Marceau said Tatro is talented enough to play just about anywhere.
Three players that are looking to atone for last season's failures are senior captains Mike Bullett, Jake Cantoni and David Button. Bullett could easily be the ace of the pitching staff as well as a very solid centerfielder. Cantoni will make the move from third base to shortstop and has one of the best bats in Berkshire County. Button is a basher, who will be counted on to play first base and be the designated hitter.
Marceau said he likes sophomore Chase Preite to start at second base, with Tatro taking over for Cantoni at third. Rounding out the infield is junior catcher John Erdeski. Don't be surprised if you see him throwing some balls this season instead of catching them, though. Marceau said new pitching coach and former Drury standout Matt Rodovick has been working with Erdeski on the mound and so far the results have been good.
"If he keeps developing the way he is on the mound, it will be hard not to use him," Marceau said. "We're going to have a lot of kids coming in and out. The pitching will determine a lot of the rotation and will depend on how their arms feel."
Junior Mike Cantoni will split time between the corner outfield spots and will even take over in centerfield when Bullett gets the start. Marceau said Bullett and Cantoni are right on par with each other defensively and he is also confident in the abilities of junior outfielders Kyle Aubin and Hayden Parsons.
"It should be interesting," he said. "We have a good nucleus, but we're young."
