Young yet poised boys baseball team looks for development, success in new season

Last year featured a devastating loss to Danvers in the Conference Championship. This year debuts a young, ambitious squad looking to capitalize on a drop to Division III.

These players are not trying to live in the shadow of last year’s team, and with the graduation of numerous key players, Gloucester sees this an opportunity to make a new name for itself and assert themselves in the new division.

This past Saturday was the first appearance of Gloucester’s new ace, Captain John John Mondello. He had a shaky start being matched up against Austin Prep, who had a plate disciplined team that did not like to give the pitcher any extra strikes. Mondello let up three runs in three innings.

The double-header on Saturday presented plenty of opportunities for players to show that they belong, and a lot of them did just that. Junior Jake Mackillop had himself a day recording two doubles.

Freshman Zach “Slim” Abbott also stepped up to the plate, or mound rather. He pitched two shutout innings and bagged five strikeouts. Being the only freshman on the Varsity team, he caught the attention of many.

Gloucester has a well rounded team featuring strong defensive players scattered across the field, and hot bats at the plate. When these players take the field, the laser focus in their eyes is clear to any spectator. When they step into the batter’s box they maintain that level of focus while also being aggressive.

Having a Senior-dominated team last year there have been plenty of positions open. And these past two scrimmages provided a rough idea of who will take the field as a starter on Friday’s season opener against Newburyport.

Players are starting to get an idea of who will fulfill each position, but it’s still only the preseason and time will grant further development to many players.