As Milton gears up to defend its Div. 2 state title, Brendan Morrissey is seeing the same poise in his club he saw from a year ago.
While the Wildcats graduated the likes of Charlie Walker, Brian Foley, and Shea Donovan, they are still the clear favorite in Div. 2 as the 2023 MIAA baseball season gets underway. Elon-bound junior left-hander Tommy Mitchell and two-way standout Owen MucHugh front the rotation while Jimmy Fallon and sophomore budding star Scott Longo spearhead the lineup.
“I’ve been impressed with our mindset so far coming into the season. It’s really no different than last year,” Milton coach Brendan Morrissey said. “Our guys know they have the talent to get to where we want to get to, but they also have a lot of work to do to get there.”
The Div. 2 state finalist from a year ago, King Philip, will be in contention to finish the job this time around. Brendan Senjac is one of the best pure hitters in Eastern Mass and when healthy, Tommy Martorano is one of the premier southpaws. Mansfield will be back in the mix led by junior arms Connor Curtis and Jake Maydak.
Dwayne Follette’s Plymouth North crew should be a contender with left-hander DC Brown emerging as an ace. Norwood holds the biggest star in flame-throwing right-hander Jack Cropper. Marblehead returns senior outfielder Shane Keough and right-hander Ian Maude while NEC foe Danvers will rely on Mike Moroney to man the staff.
Westwood and Holliston are two teams to keep an eye on.
Div. 1 is set to be a dogfight with defending champion Taunton and perennial contender Franklin leading the pack coming into the season. The Tigers return Dayton bound slugger Ryan MacDougall to go with Dawson Bryce. Franklin holds four Div. 1 players in ace Alfred Mucciarone, shortstop Henry DiGiorgio, and outfielders Ryan Gerety and Esig Chin.
Merrimack Valley Conference foes Central Catholic and Chelmsford will contend via strong starting pitching. The Raiders have a top three punch of Lukasz Rondeau, Joshua Florence, and Francisco Melendez. Chelmsford, meanwhile, has ace Braydon Gray to go with Matthew and Caleb Stuart. Andover and North Andover are sleepers behind young talent.
Walpole has ace Alex Hee to go with a strong positional core of catcher Corey Kilroy, shortstop Jake Preto, and center fielder Jason Finkelstein.
The rest of the Bay State Conference has plenty of star power. Wellesley has Yale commit outfielder Tate Bannish while Braintree holds Dayton signee Jack Fitzgerald. Weymouth will be no slouch with front of the rotation right-hander Sean Zaslaw to go with sophomore talent Andrew Daley.
The Catholic Conference is set to be up for grabs. St. John’s Shrewsbury enters the season as the proverbial favorite in the league but Xaverian coach Gerry Lambert is confident his young group will steadily improve as the season goes along due to strong pitching depth. St. John’s Prep has Maryland commit Aidan Driscoll at the center of its lineup. Steve Healy’s BC High team is headlined by Cole Bohane and ace Ryan Kane.
Westford Academy is set to make serious noise as they have two-way standout Matt Morash to go with Ben Mulgrew and Jake Cullen on a talented roster.
DIV. 1 PLAYERS TO WATCH
P: Drew Anderson (Waltham), Luke Barry (Bridgewater-Raynham), J.J. Blanchard (Framingham), Matt Blanusa (Newton South), Nick Bonica (Westford), Dominic Boudreau (Revere), Chris Cassidy (Revere), Charlie Collins (Natick), Evan Cornelius (Milford), Jake Cullen (Westford), Kyle Cummings (Revere), John Florence (Central Catholic), Ryan Gerety (Franklin), Douglas George (Boston Latin), Braydon Gray (Chelmsford), Cam Grindle (Xaverian), Ben Hamilton (Waltham), Alex Hee (Walpole), Jack Keane (Marshfield), Ryan MacDougall (Taunton), Brendan McMahon (Malden), Francisco Melendez (Central Catholic), Matt Morash (Westford), Alfred Mucciarone (Franklin), Cole Mullen (North Andover), Connor Murphy (Newton South), Dom Pefine (North Andover), Mike Popp (Revere), Lukasz Rondeau (Central Catholic), Jake Schulte (Hingham), Matthew Smart (Chelmsford), George Sukatos (Bishop Feehan), Dylan Walsh (Arlington), Joe Williams (St. John’s Prep)
C: Steven Diaz (Lawrence), Aiden Driscoll (St. John’s Prep), Brendan Falasca (Lynn English), Will Fosberg (Natick), Corey Kilroy (Walpole), Ian LaForest (Waltham), Ian Moser (Bishop Feehan), Michael Oates (Xaverian), Dan Surette (Braintree), Cooper Tarantino (Lincoln-Sudbury)
1B: Gabe Albertson (Wellesley), Jack Fitzgerald (Braintree), Nathan Kearney (Central Catholic), Jack Kelleher (Haverhill)
2B: Almani Medina-Guerrero (Lynn Classical), Logan Petrosino (Beverly)
SS: Jeremy Aylward (Hingham), Dawson Bryce (Taunton), Jack Byrne (Natick), Damien Carter (Milford), Anthony DiGiacomo (Barnstable), Jeyden Espinal (Durfee), Jake Haarde (Lincoln-Sudbury), Cam LaGrassa (St. John’s Prep), Jimmy Mitchell (St. John’s Shrewsbury), Ben Mulgrew (Westford), Blake Newcomb (Concord-Carlisle), Myles Oo (Newton North), Brady Warren (Lynn Classical), Sean Zaslaw (Weymouth)
3B: Tate Bannish (Wellesley), Cole Bohane (BC High), Giovani Guglielmo (Peabody), Chase Lembo (Andover), Matthew Pappalardo (Methuen), Sebastian Reis (Durfee), Braden Sullivan (Taunton)
OF: Jon Adams (Newton South), Josh Boria (Durfee), Andrew Cali (Taunton), Aiden Devlin (Hingham), Charlie DiMartino (Braintree), Jason Finklestein (Walpole), David Johnson (North Andover), Jase Lyons (Franklin), Josh Martel (Durfee), Cam Morrison (Bridgewater-Raynham), Elijah Rivera (Chelsea), Reymi Medina Rosario (Lawrence)
DIV. 2 PLAYERS TO WATCH
P: Cam Champney (Plymouth North), Andrew Chenevert (Dracut), Jack Cropper (Norwood), Connor Curtis (Mansfield), Riley Fenerty (Salem), Michael Matta (Falmouth), Ian Maude (Marblehead), Tommy Mitchell (Milton), Michael Moroney (Danvers), Dylan Paulding (Tewksbury), Charlie Simulis (Hopkinton), Mitch Simulis (Hopkinton)
C: Matt Elwell (Wakefield), Mark McKay (Plymouth North)
1B: Jack DiGirolamo (Canton), Jack Doyle (Salem), Mike Fabiano (Reading), Sean Garvin (Norwood), Chase Lackie (Dartmouth), Braeden O’Connell (Masconomet), Daniel Zizza (Malden Catholic)
2B: Ben Wright (Reading)
SS: Ethan Beer (Nauset), Joe Carrazza (Hopkinton), Kevin Hurley (Norwood), Nick Larche (Holliston), Owen McHugh (Milton), Tyler O’Neil (Danvers), Cole Spellman (Falmouth), Mike Sullivan (Tewksbury), Chris Walsh (Duxbury)
3B: Nick Ayres (Duxbury), Matt Chafin (Canton), Will Curtin (Burlington), Jimmy Fallon (Milton), Kodie LeGrand (Tewksbury), Connor MacKenzie (Plymouth North), Brendan Sencaj (King Philip)
OF: Owen Derocher (Somerset Berkley), Chase Fenio (Dartmouth), Jack Finnegan (Milton), Shane Keough (Marblehead), Tad Giardina (St. Mary’s), Derek Maceda (North Attleboro), Jackson Powers (Woburn), Derek Roberts (Wayland)