Call them the region’s ‘Lucky 7′ … and they’ll be hoping that the baseball gods roll the dice their way over the next several weeks.
A total of seven teams from The Salem News coverage area earned spots in the state baseball tournament when the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association released its final power rankings and brackets Wednesday.
The highest ranked among those was Cape Ann League Baker champion Hamilton-Wenham, the No. 3 seed in Division 4. The Generals have a formidable offense and pitching staff, which you’d expect when you tie for the best regular season record in school history.
Their depth is downright impressive. Headlined by Notre Dame bound Gian Gamelli (the local leader in hits, runs and steals), H-W has five players with at least 20 hits (Gamelli, Cormac Heney, Chase Cann and Cole Scanlon), four who have scored more than 22 runs (Gamelli, Scanlon, Caden Schrock and Heney) and four with at least 18 RBI (Heney, Gamelli, Schrock and Galen Clark-Goldfeld). Heney (5-1, 2.54 ERA) leads the pitching staff along with Chris Feron (4-1, 1.37) and Jack Cooke (2-0, 3.33).
Hamilton-Wenham will open the playoffs Monday at Patton Park against the winner of No. 30 Blue Hills and 35th ranked South Hadley. Looking ahead, they could face CAL rival Lynnfield, the No. 2 seed, in a Final Four matchup.
Salem (9-11) is the No. 13 seed a year after making a surprise run to the Final Four in Division 4. The Witches will host a battle tested CAL squad in 20th ranked Manchester Essex (9-10) next Monday at Salem State University, with a 4:30 first pitch.
Senior righty Jordan O’Malley leads Salem’s pitching staff along with Kevin Soto, who also plays shortstop and leads the club in RBI with 23. Catcher Shea Christel and center fielder Rocco Ryan are also big-time weapons for Salem, which would likely travel to No. 4 Saint John Paul II on Cape Cod with a first round win over the Hornets.
The only other local squad hosting in the opening round is St. John’s Prep (12-8), which earned the No. 10 seed in Division 1. It’s the 24th consecutive playoff appearance for the Eagles, who will play Newton South (14-6) Sunday at noon at Frates Diamond.
Led by Harvard signee Will Shaheen both at the plate and on the mound, St. John’s Prep has state title aspirations and can never be overlooked given its depth, talent and history. Senior Braden Hurley is another reliable pitcher, while classmate James Willett has enjoyed a breakout year offensively. The Eagles would face either No. 7 Attleboro or No. 26 Wachusett in the second round. A rematch with No. 2 St. John’s Shrewsbury, who they split with this season and ousted the Prep from the tourney in extra innings in 2024, looms in the quarterfinals.
Northeastern Conference representatives Beverly and Peabody will each hit the road for preliminary round matchups in Division 1.
The No. 33 seed Panthers (12-7) enter the tourney winners of three straight and nine of their last 11, led by aces Graham Gavin (5-0, 1.64 ERA with an area-best 77 strikeouts) and Micah McManus (4-2, 0.84 ERA). They’ll travel to face No. 32 Winchester (12-8) Friday at 5 p.m.; the winner moves on to face top-seed Taunton (16-6) in the Round of 32.
The NEC Dunn champion Tanners (14-6) will face No. 31 Lincoln-Sudbury (13-9) Friday at 4:30 p.m. in a matchup of traditional North powerhouses. It’ll be the two programs’ first postseason battle since the 2007 Division 1 North final (a classic won by the Warriors). This year’s victor goes to face No. 2 St. John’s Shrewsbury.
Captain Joey Smith leads Peabody on the hill, as does senior righty Joey Sinibaldi. Offensively, UMass Boston-bound Jariel Tolentino stirs the drink as the leadoff man, with Jacob Crocker and Noah Crocker in the RBI spots.
In Division 2, No. 35 Masconomet will be the first local team in action as it opens open with a preliminary round game at No. 30 Burlington (11-9) Thursday at 3 p.m. The Chieftains just beat a Middlesex League opponent (Melrose) on the road to finish 9-9 and earn their 18th straight state playoff berth in head coach Bryan Duplissie’s first season at the helm. Junior captains Drew Gustafson and Cal Weidman are the squad’s leaders along with senior captain Chris Porfido, who carries a big bat in the middle of the order.
An upset win would send Masco to No. 3 North Attleboro for the Round of 32.
Marblehead (10-10) won its last three regular season games, all via shutout, to earn the No. 37 seed in the 40-team Div. 2 draw. The Magicians play at No. 28 Marshfield (6-14) Friday at 4 p.m., with the winner heading to Mansfield, the No. 5 seed, in the first round. Righty Carter Sahagian (7-2, 1.14 ERA) is a bona fide ace for the Magicians while Colt Wales (.355), Cam Quigley (.354) and Stefan Shepard (13 RBI) lead the offense.
In Division 3, both Swampscott (9-11, No. 36) and Bishop Fenwick (7-14, No. 37) narrowly missed out on the draw with only the top 32 and those with .500 or better records qualifying.