One metal you can’t deaden with BBCOR standards? The gold gloves and silver sluggers that wrap up every high school baseball season here at ‘Around the Horn’.
First given out in 2017, these annual awards honor the top fielders and hitters from the baker’s dozen teams in The Salem News coverage area — and even though it has been almost 10 years, they still hit like the juiced aluminum of the late 90’s. Dig in, enjoy and stay tuned for team gems.
CATCHER
Gold glove: Chase Cann, Hamilton-Wenham. Governor’s Academy’s loss was Hamilton-Wenham’s gain in a major way. Cann was immense behind the plate for the Cape Ann League Baker champs, making a mere two errors in 152 1/3 innings and allowing just one stolen base per game on average. He handled a pitching staff that had a team ERA of 2.51 and won 20 games — and hit pretty well, too, going .367 with a .996 OPS.
Silver slugger: Shea Christel, Salem. An on-base machine, Christel led the Witches in hitting (.391), scored 18 runs, and posted a healthy OPS of .868 while also leading his team in stolen bases (11). A true athlete behind the plate and catalyst of a dangerous offense.
FIRST BASE
Gold glove: Cole Waterman, Essex Tech. A leader in every sense of the word, Waterman hit an even .400 for the Hawks and earned a second team All-Cape Ann League nod. An electrical student, Waterman was tremendous at catching pickoff moves from his brother, Liam, to nab runners leading too far off first, and could always flash the leather for a timely scoop.
Silver slugger: Gian Gamelli, Hamilton-Wenham. Is there really any other choice? The Notre Dame-bound CAL co-MVP put together a rare 30-30-30 season with 34 hits, 37 runs and 30 steals, all tops on the North Shore. He batted .453 with an OPS of 1.283 and 13 extra base hits. That’s while hardly ever being pitched to, mind you, since he drew 19 walks. It was a season for the ages for the big lefthander.
SECOND BASE
Gold glove: Danny Pierce, Beverly. A repeat performance from last season for this all-star athlete from the Garden City. Pierce bounced back in a big way for the Panthers after missing most of the hoop season with an injury. On the diamond, he fielded at a .900 clip with 12 assists and helped Beverly reach the Division 1 state playoffs.
Silver slugger: Galen Clark Goldfeld, Hamilton-Wenham: Sensing a theme yet? In all honesty, the Generals could have just about every spot in this batting order after averaging nine hits and eight runs per game and batting .323 as a team. Yet how does one argue with the slash line ‘GCG’ put up: a .342 average, .824 OPS, 24 RBI, 23 runs scored, 13 steals and just three looking K’s all season.
SHORTSTOP
Gold glove: Jariel Tolentino, Peabody. Two-time All-Northeastern Conference choice was a wizard with the glove. It probably won’t take him long to carve out a role in the infield at UMass Boston given how strong Tolentino is defensively. The leadoff man did a ton for the NEC Dunn champs, leading the Tanners in runs (21), steals (17) and extra base hits (6). He also only struck out five times in 80 plate appearances.
Silver slugger: Caden Ross, Swampscott. One of the season’s breakout performers, Ross hit .344 while getting on base at a .456 clip and led the Big Blue in just about every offensive category. He was chosen for the Mass. Baseball Coaches Association’s Junior Select all-star game alongside teammate Jami Ford.
Silver slugger: Kevin Soto, Salem. We’re giving out two silver bats at some spots this season, because it’s impossible not to recognize Salem’s stud in the middle. Soto hit two home runs this spring and slugged at a pretty incredible .500 rate while also being about the NEC’s leaders in total RBI with 24.
THIRD BASE
Gold glove: James Willett, St. John’s Prep. A mainstay guarding the line at Frates Diamond, few seniors had as impressive a final campaign as the Bowdoin bound Eagle from Hamilton. Besides his uncanny instincts for playing bounces off the turf, Willett led St. John’s in both hits (26) and batting average (.391).
Silver slugger: Chase Richmond, Danvers: Hitting safely in 16 of the 17 games he played, Richmond emerged as a big-time run producing threat for the Falcons. Leading Danvers in hitting at .302, Richmond also paced the Royal Blue-and-White in RBI with 14.
OUTFIELD
Gold gloves
Andrew Kiricoples, Bishop Fenwick. Certainly a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year in the region, Kiricoples led Fenwick in hitting (17 hits, 2.93) and also wound up pitching 32 1/3 innings with a 2.81 ERA. He patrols the outfield grass really well, too, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for him on Margin Street.
Nic Lembo, St. John’s Prep. It’s hard to be a multi-time Catholic Conference all-star, but that’s exactly what this High Point (N.C.) bound standout from Danvers accomplished in a great career for the Eagles. Whether tracking balls down or throwing hoses home, Lembo could always be counted on.
Jack Curcuru, Danvers. Twi-Field in Danvers remains one of the region’s most spacious outfields, and Curcuru always handled with it aplomb. On top of fielding at a .967 rate, he led Danvers in runs (20), stolen bases (19) and had one of his team’s two homers this season.
Silver sluggers
Rocco Ryan, Salem. Not many players did more with less in terms of the quality of pitches they saw. That’s because Ryan’s reputation preceded him; he walked 17 times, which pushed his on-base percentage to an even .500. Ryan posted a .996 OPS and wound up scoring 21 runs, coming through with big-time production even while being pitched around.
Cole Scanlon, Hamilton-Wenham. Perhaps best described as the Johnny Damon of the CAL, Scanlon hit .326 with 28 hits, including a number of infield singles. His 31 runs scored were among the region’s highest totals and any time he got on base (which was a lot), it was trouble for the opposition.
Cam Quigley, Marblehead. The smooth swinging Quigley wound up batting .358 to lead the Magicians offensively, thanks to a .469 on-base and .846 OPS. A tremendous natural athlete, Quigley began the season on an 8-game hit streak and never looked back.
PITCHER
Gold gloves
Micah McManus and Graham Gavin, Beverly: It’s just impossible to separate Beverly’s twin aces, one left-handed and one right-handed. Gavin was the North Shore’s leader in strikeouts (80) and McManus was just about first in ERA at 0.77. They both pushed the other to be his best each time out, and the Panthers were better for it.
Carter Sahagian, Marblehead: The North Shore’s leader in wins with eight, Sahagian took the Magicians on his back in the final two weeks of the season. He posted three straight complete game wins, two to get Marblehead in the playoffs and one to prevail in the Division 2 preliminary round, over his last three starts. He finished with a 1.00 ERA plus 67 strikeouts.
Silver sluggers
Will Shaheen, St. John’s Prep. As cerebral a hitter as you’ll find in Massachusetts, Shaheen focused on doing whatever job was called for each time he was at the plate. If that was going deep (he led the area in homers) or going the other way to move a runner over, he got it done while batting .321. He’s currently suiting up for the Nashua Silver Knights in the Futures League.
Cormac Heney, Hamilton-Wenham. The other half of the Generals’ CAL co-MVPs, Heney put together one of the best dual-threat season we’ve seen in the last several years. Aside from hitting .418 with 15 extra base hits and an otherworldly 31 RBI, he posted a 1.87 ERA and 76 strikeouts. Heney had five double-digit strikeout games in nine starts and was untouchable in the Division 4 playoffs.
nnn
Now for each team’s gems: memorable ballplayers, personal favorites and glue guys that won’t be forgotten.
Beverly: Connor Connolly put together a really impressive season and was at his best in the big games.
Bishop Fenwick: Anthony Herbert was a mainstay for a very young team that had some bad luck injury-wise.
Danvers: You’d be hard pressed to find a better leader in any sport than catcher Josh Henry.
Essex Tech: Fun fact: Jacoby Casinelli Tarasuik was the first Hawk to earn First Team All-CAL in baseball.
Hamilton-Wenham: Watch out next year: Owen Waddell might be the region’s next big thing at both shortstop and closer.
Ipswich: You simply can’t overlook the season graduating senior Jake Petradelis had, leading the Tigers in offense and stolen bases.
Marblehead: Off to play football at Union, Colt Wales was as consistent a hitter and baserunner as there was.
Masconomet: You won’t find many better Rookie of the Year candidates than pitcher Cruz Zizza.
Peabody: Pick a Crocker brother, Noah or Jake, but don’t forget about Joey Smith, whose relentless competitiveness drove Peabody to believe it could win the NEC.
Pingree: Limited by injury or not, there was no stopping Drew Mullaney, who won the area batting title. He’ll be even better next year.
Salem: Quietly one of the best players in the region was Jack Tsoutsouras, who hit .339 with a .906 OPS.
St. John’s Prep: Look out next year, Part 2. There’s a reason some teammates call Jimmy DiCarlo ‘Himmy’ (after Jimmy Butler). He led the Prep in RBI as a sophomore and could be the school’s next breakout star.
Swampscott: We’d be remiss not to mention Nick Berube, who missed some time with injury but will no doubt find time quickly for the MASCAC champs at Bridgewater State.
Salem News assistant sports editor Matt Williams has penned Around the Horn, the North Shore’s preeminent high school baseball column, each spring season since 2008. You can contact him at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter @MattWilliams_SN #StrikeOutALS