Last spring, the Holliston baseball squad qualified to participate in the Division 3 South Tournament for the first time in 11 years. Posting a 10-10 record, the Panthers ventured into an area Holliston has not seen in over a decade. Unfortunately, the trip was way too short, and Holliston was sent back home after falling to Falmouth (the team that lost to Dedham for the Division 3 South Championship), 4-1 in the first round.
Getting back to the State Tournament was a long time coming, but this spring brings another possible roadblock in getting back. Panther Coach Joe Santos lost seven of his nine starters from last year’s squad, but on the bright side will be returning his entire pitching staff.
Senior tri-captains Sean Jewett (catcher), JP Pessin (outfielder) and Ben Fink (pitcher) will be the looking to steer the ship in the right direction and get the Panthers back to the post season once again.
Of the two only starting position players from last year’s playoff team Jewett is the vocal leader of the captains. According to Santos, he is the heart and soul of the team and took the lead as an underclassman. He is a hard-working individual with a good understanding of the game.
“Sean plays the game with a chip on his shoulder,” the Panther coach said. “He may not be the most athletic individual, but he makes up for it with his instructs.”
On the other hand, Pessin is the longest tenured player for the Panthers with three years already under his belt. Last spring, Pessin saw the majority of his playing time in the outfield, with the occasional game in the infield or on the mound. With the lack of bodies coming into camp this season, Santos is looking to move him to another position.
“JP is our Swiss Army knife, and I’m hoping that he’ll be playing second base or possible some third base this year,” Santos said. “He’s a very coachable kid, and I’m looking for him to improve his role on the team this season.”
Pessin hits in the 2-hole for the Panthers and is very patient at the plate. While the senior is mostly a singles hitter he does have some explosiveness in his bat and Santos is hoping that shows up more on a regular basis.
Rounding out the captains is Fink, last year’s third or fourth starter in his first season on the varsity team. Although he showed great promise at times on the mound, he also struggled at times. Santos believes that he has a good feel for pitching and is hoping that with a year under his belt, he will have much more success this spring.
In addition to Fink on the mound, Santos will also have seniors Owen Ward and Matt Tomacelli throwing the ball as well as juniors Owen Radcliffe and Dylan Fonseca.
Ward posted the most innings pitched last season and was consistent on the mound, sometimes too consistent allowing the opposition to know that he was going to pound the strike zone on a regular basis. Tomacelli was second on the team in ERA as a reliever and will most likely see time as a starter this spring. At 6’2” and only 140 pounds, he could be a legitimate college prospect if he had put on some weight a year earlier.
“Matt is just learning to pitch, he was a corner infielder originally,” the Holliston Coach said. “Near the end of his sophomore season playing for the junior varsity squad he got a start due to the team’s lack of numbers. I happened to be at that game and heard the pop in the catcher’s mitt and was surprised. The next year I got him on the mound and he jumped at the idea.”
Junior Fonseca was called up to the varsity squad during his freshman season to get into a couple of games. He’s a crafty left-hander with four different pitches that all move. Although he struggled from time to time as a sophomore, Santos is looking for the junior to help the team get back to the playoffs. Due to an arm injury, he’ll see limited time at the beginning of the season.
One of the biggest names to take to the hill this season for the Panthers will be Radcliffe, who as a sophomore was given the ball in Holliston’s playoff game last year.
“We didn’t help him in that game committing four errors behind him, but he has a future pitching in college,” Santos said. “He’s already had schools show interest in him. He’s probably the hardest worker on the team, and if he can get his velocity up he could pitch for a Division 1 school.”
Looking to fill some of the other gaps on the field Santos has junior Matt Arvanitis slated to play shortstop, while Sam Farrell will most likely be in centerfield and Dylan Ibbitson should be patrolling one of the outfield corners. Ibbitson, a running back / outside linebacker on the football team, will also be the team’s back-up catcher.
As for the rest of the team, it’s a mystery and will all come down to tryouts.
“Having lost the best player to come through the school’s program in some six or seven years, we are going to miss Ben Thomas,” the coach said. “However, while we will not be the same team as the one that got into the tournament last year in terms of power, we do have some good athletic kids.”
Santos is quite sure that the team will compete with the best of them in the Tri Valley League despite having to manufacture runs with a more aggressive approach on the base paths this year.
“Our goal is to get back to the tournament once again and play where we belong. Once back, stay there,” Santos said.