The 2023 baseball season in the Merrimack Valley Conference was pretty special.
Methuen shocked the Division 1 world by knocking off league rivals Andover and Central Catholic sandwiched between a thrilling win over Xaverian. The Rangers advanced to the Final 4, losing to Franklin. Both Central Catholic and Andover had tremendously talented teams. Central Catholic won 21 games and Andover won 15.
Gone from last year’s season includes a handful of very talented pitchers including Central’s Frankie Melendez and Lukasz Rondeau, Methuen’s Matt Pappalardo, Owen Sullivan and Owen Kneeland and several outstanding hitters in Central’s Nathan Kearney and Andover’s Braeden Archambault and Chase Lembo.
That being said, there’s still plenty of individual talent and strong teams on the diamonds for this spring season. Andover and Central Catholic are the clear cut favorites for the top two spots in the MVC. Methuen did lose a lot and will need its younger and inexperienced guys to fill those voids, while, Haverhill should be much improved. The dark horse will be North Andover, who returns two strong pitchers in Dom Pefine and Cole Mullin.
Andover once again loaded
The Golden Warriors, which finished 15-6 last year, enter this year as one of the more talented teams in the state. Returning All-Conference pitcher Chris Jailet will anchor the staff after finishing 4-1 with a 3.87 ERA last year. Ben Workman (1-1, 1.45 ERA), who was the MVP of last year’s James Genoulis’ Memorial Tournament, will provide as tough of a 1-2 punch as there is in the league.
Andover got a big boost to its team when Will Norris, an All-Conference selection who batted .469 at Central Catholic last year, transferred in and he’ll provide a big stick in the order to go along with the very talented Teddy Gibson (.409 average) and Ryan Jailet (.333 average). Chris Jailet, Norris, Workman and Gibson all were selected in either the sophomore or junior all-star state games last summer.
“I feel that the MVC is one of the top leagues in the state from top to bottom,” said head coach Dan Grams. “This team has worked extremely hard in a short period of time and we have very good team chemistry.”
Central lost a lot, but still have talent
Besides losing three Eagle-Tribune All-Stars and then Norris to Andover after its 21-win season, Central Catholic still should be very dangerous this upcoming season led by four college commits including Josh Florence to Division 1 Stonehill, and Division 3 commits Brady Rickenbach (Endicott), Jack Savio (Worcester State) and Jack Bartlett (Wentworth). Florence was 3-3 with a 2.37 ERA on the mound as a junior and also batted .310. Rickenbach batted .303 with nine extra base hits and Savio batted .394 and had 17 RBI and scored 17 runs.
“We graduated a very strong class that played a lot of baseball here. We were also hurt in the transfer portal so this year’s group is very green and inexperienced,” said head coach John Sexton. “We will lean on a large senior class that had a good winter in the weight room. The schedule is very competitive and the league is strong again so we need to get organized in a hurry.”
Hillies on their way up
Haverhill won just two games last year but certainly seems like the Hillies should be much improved returning 15 players with varsity experience including league all-stars Jack Kelleher and Colin Snyder.
“We have had excellent leadership so far from our two captains Jack Kelleher and Colin Snyder,” said head coach Paul Sartori. “And we’re expecting big things from our four-year seniors Nick Terelli and Zach Hurrell.”
Manon to lead way for Lancers
Lawrence finished 7-13 a year ago and head coach Alberto Abreu certainly thinks and expects the team to do much better this time around, led by reigning all-conference selection David Manon.
“We have added experienced ball players and we have great pitching in the mix. I am looking forward to competing, and developing great student athletes,” said Abreu.
Calling all arms
Methuen lost a lot of talent from last year – including 158 of the 160 innings pitched.
“We’re looking for guys to step up and fill that role,” said head coach Cam Roper. “Kyle Notenboom, Joey Tavares, Adriel Guillermo and Logan Baez have all thrown well early on. Our goal as a program is to qualify for the state tournament year in and year out. We have a bunch of guys that are inexperienced at the varsity level, but hungry to go out and compete for a starting job.”
Scarlet Knights more experienced
Last year North Andover was very young and finished with a 6-14 record. This year’s team will have that year under its belt and head coach Todd Dulin has four talented ballplayers returning to build around. They include UMaine commit Dom Pefine, who is 7-2 on the mound in his career, strong arm pitcher Cole Mullin, as well as hitters David Johnson, who was a league all-star and has a career average over .350, and Josean Rios, who is coming off batting .372 a year ago.
Reggies look strong in CAC
Greater Lawrence will be returning five players who have been starters either the past two or three years including league all-stars Jose Rosario and Brad Moya. Rosario batted .347 a year ago and posted a .903 on-base percentage. His twin brother Jehu Rosario is a three-year starter between on the mound and in right field.
“The Rosario twins look ready to lead the way on the mound this year. This season looks to be a promising year with four pitchers who throw hard and have good command. Junior Eddie Abreu has worked hard to take over the reins as the team’s primary catcher,” said head coach Chris Cyr.
Wildcats roaring to go
Whittier Tech won 12 games a year ago and will return four of the better players in the league with catcher Nate Dietenhofer (.365 average) and shortstop Corey Deziel (.323), as well as a pair of pitchers, Ben Hadley, who worked 58 innings and posted a 3.98 ERA and Brandon Fasulo, who posted a 2.28 ERA in 27.2 innings of work.
“We have some players that have really matured over the off-season and I think our program is in a good spot. Add the new guys in and it makes me excited to coach this group,” said head coach Pete Arsenault.
Antonelli new guy at Brooks
Former big leaguer Matt Antonelli has taken over the reins at the Brooks School, after serving previously at Bishop Fenwick High School. The team will get a boost with transfer student Henry Hebert, who left St. John’s Prep, while hard-thrower Connor Herlihy will be one of the top pitchers. Offensively, Ethan Simpson, Joe Bucci and Shayne King will provide the big bats.
“I am extremely excited to begin coaching this group of players and learning more about them,” said Antonelli. “We have many players back from last year’s team, and overall our starting lineup was very young last year. We had a number of sophomores and a freshman start last year, and this year they are bigger and stronger. They have been working hard in the weight room. We have a great strength and conditioning coach at the high school. Andrew Vanhorn runs the weight room after school. He has been working them all year.”