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2011 NH Teams and Players to watch

S SMAN14100+ posts
Can Londonderry repeat? Is this the year Portsmouth is knocked off?

Last year I picked Nashua North in Class L and Bedford in Class I and was wrong on both.

Class L- Nashua graduated McGowan and Morency but Kyle Turner should be in the discussion with the best pitches in the state. Add Joe Breen on offense with speedy Louis Tarantino and solid Fortin behind the plate in his sophomore year and they should be tough again. BG is going to be good, they HAVE to be they have some many good players. Londonderry is always good and with Maloney, Kinnon, etc I'm sure will be in the mix.

Sleeper team: Merrimack! Ok, obviously I've been an assistant there so I'm biased but this team is legit in 2011. Franklin Pierce bound Spencer Damon had a rough 2010 but did shut down Salem with a CG performance and has showed a lot of flashes that he could be tough. Junior Timmy Michaud should have been on varsity last year and pitched pretty well in limited time for Showcase League this fall after being added to the roster to replace an injured player. Tom Hudon enters his junior year after back to back All-State selections as one of the top lefties. I like Chris Kinney offensively although behind the plate he has some work to do, they have a couple other catchers so maybe a position move is in the works? Chase Distasio is strong at the plate and at shortstop. Ryan Dupont hits for great average and plays a solid corner outfield. Pat Parker is my pick for first team All-State at 3B and could lead Class L in hitting.

I've talked myself into it, prediction: Merrimack Class L State Champs.

Class I: I'm going Bedford again: Maher and Olen are as tough a 1/2 punch as there is in NH. Gancarz has shown he is an offensive threat in the OF and also can pitch and might work his way into the rotation. Andy Lalonde is the sleeper, sophomore catcher rakes. Could wind up at first base/DH. Will start for varsity and will be an impact bat. I also like Souhegan with Dugdale and Shagrin, and the two top teams seem to always be St. Thomas and Portsmouth. St. Thomas has Jordan Bean, Alex Fredette and more and Portsmouth with Taylor and O'Leary etc wouldn't surprise me to continue the streak.
www.showcaseleague.com www.granitestatebaseball.org www.mainehits.com
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redsox8191redsox8191500+ posts
North only graduated 3 kids off of last years team, although two of them were starting pitchers in McGowan and Morency. Turner should slide right into the Ace role with Jake Mellin filling Morency's role in the starting rotation as well as at third base. My guess is Matt Lipkind will get the nod as the third starter. There are some talented juniors off of last year's highly successful JV team that will be competing for Varsity playing time. Be interested to see how Henderson handles the log jam.

I would agree that Londonderry should be the favorite going into the season as they are the reigning champs and still have a real talented team.

I do think BG will be more competitive this season under Coach Painter. Hopefully all the negativity of the past couple of years will be lifted and they can just go have fun playing baseball again!

South should be decent as well if the can get some solid pitching from their big lefty Maloney and others. They have Gendron at short and the Hughes brothers. They should be well balanced.

DII or class I or whatever it is called this year should be really good. Several talented teams and now the addition of Goffstown! I like Bedford or Goffstown to finally knock Portsmouth off of the top spot this year!
H Hardball110+ posts
Salem will be tough with Poore and Treff, but the problem lies with defense and hitting. Shortstop was an issue last season and will probably be a young player playing there this season. Hitters 6-9 will be unable to hit power pitching just like last season. A lot of pressure on the top of their line-up. Remember, you only have Poore for 2 playoff starts! Then what?
D devildad10+ posts
Salem will have Peters and Loguidice to follow poore. They also have Morin who can throw as well as Breen who was hampered by a bad back all last year and is now healthy. Bouvier has shown a lot of promise at short and can flat out hit the ball. Winter workouts have been going well and show alot of promise. By the way , didn't they play in the finals last year ? Just saying they should be better.
CC Coach Curt100+ posts
Well this is the year. I've been saying for two years now that Dover is getting better. They have a group of seniors and a couple of underclassman to help out, I feel they will be the cinderella team in Division I this year. Ian Seawards is a stud, Carlburg is a crafty lefty. They have some bats and alot of team speed. You heard it here first.
K kpc8910+ posts
"I also like Souhegan with Dugdale and Shagrin, and the two top teams seem to always be St. Thomas and Portsmouth. St. Thomas has Jordan Bean, Alex Fredette and more and Portsmouth with Taylor and O'Leary etc wouldn't surprise me to continue the streak."

Shawn....Alex Fredette goes to Dover H.S. not St Thomas.
Last edited by kpc89
J JJMJ10+ posts
Bedford has a lineup that will include:

Skilton,Gancarz,Husband,Maher,LaLonde, Harrington,Olen (all Showcase players at one time over the past few years). Pretty deep with experience but anything can happen in the 1 and done playoff sytem.

Seems pretty incredible that Portsmouth has found a way to win ALL of those games the past 3 years. I know they lost Jones and Montville, but I heard that they return the balance of the team. Can anyone from the coast confirm this?

Final four out of Portsmouth, Bedford, Souhegan, St Thomas, Goffstown.
N nhmonty100+ posts
One guys take on Portsmouth after watching them last year and without knowledge of JV team.

Pitching could be thin, Taylor very good, big game experience. Good breaking ball, excellent change and pounds the strike zone, all three make him sneaky fast. O'Leary pitched some last year and did fine but not a pitcher, jury out on how he holds up as part of the rotation. After that who knows, maybe Holt (jv as fresh last year). He is a big kid and heard he throws ok but I had not seen him pitch. Jones is a huge loss.

Catcher Trefethen (jr) returns rate solid, better defense in 2010 as season progressed will hit. Return Phinney(jr) at 3rd, love the kid, tough kid/gamer should hit, kind you want on your team. Hartman (jr) returns at SS, did well in field for first year, did not bat, hear he did ok hitting in legion. Right side of infield will be new. Lost Jones (2nd) and Montville (1st) they were pretty good in the field so that could be weakness. I'm betting MacCauley gets shot at 2nd, very good player, knows baseball and hit well for team last year in spot starts. No clue about 1st, last year backup was a sr., maybe the Holt kid, he has the size.

Lost Gonsalves in CF and he was a leader, think O'Leary will take his spot. No loss in speed as O'Leary can fly, should be their best hitter and their best all round player. LF is McCann and I think he is the key. Good athlete but loses focus. They need him to have a big year at the plate. No clue about RF, if MacCauley doesn't play 2nd, you will probably see him in right. Looks to me like they only have two spots that need to be filled by JV players.

Hitting wise they should be good but could have slightly less power production then last year. Another key to team will be leadership. Last two years there was plenty from both senior classes. Not sure how this year will shake out in that category.

I know there are some parents of Portsmouth players who visit here, maybe they can add some insight.

Bob Montville
JR john ryan10+ posts
I generally do not post to forums nor do I make comments about high school players to the general public but I would like to respond to some comments being made about the Salem baseball team players.

First, I can tell you the players are hitting three times a week and are progressing nicely with both their pitch recognition and power. I think Salem will hit from 1 to 9 in the batting order and I believe you will see that in this spring. A number of players are crushing the ball right now, Joe Dipalma, Joe Morin, Josh Treff, Trevor Bouvier and others.

Secondly anyone who saw the team play in the GSBA fall league would have witnessed the improvement in their team defense. This infield executed all the routine plays and turned a number of double plays rarely seen performed by high school level players.

Trevor Bouuvier is the young shortstop referred to in an earlier post who incidently can hit and provides good defense. Matt Lojudice plays second has a great release and strong arms and turns the double play well. The team does well in executing 31 defense also.

Pitching should good as Loguidice picthed well this summer in Legion and again this fall in the GSBA league, Peters pitched well in GSBA also. Joe Morin can pitch and so can't Evan Breen. Of course Nick Poore is back and is expected to be solid again this season.

Right now Poore and Treff have committed to DI programs, looks like Joe Morin is going DII and I have personally spoken to two DIII coaches about Dunn and Loguidice. We are working with our juniors to assit them in getting them connected with college coaches and get them in the college playing system this year.

Poore and Treff may be the ones who get most of the publicity and are great high school players whom I respect and love dearly but be aware Salem is deep this year and may surprise many in Class L.

Anyway I wish all the players in the northeast good luck this upcoming season and hope to see or hear about you playing baseball in college, it is a great experience for them.

Respectfully,

John Ryan
H Hardball110+ posts
I totally agree with you coach Ryan. I'm hoping that the play from this summer continues into this spring. I truly believe there is potential and hopefully the defense will be better this season. I think your coaching skills have put a huge positive on the program. Their approach to hitting has improved greatly through the summer and you were a big part of that. I still think there are many question marks as far as proven hitters, and will there be a #2 pitcher step up for them in the playoffs?, but hopefully these will turn into strengths. I see Salem as a top team and one that no one will want to face. You're a heck of a coach coach Ryan and they're lucky to have you part of the program!
B bl-baseball10+ posts
Check out the comments from the Wake Forest head coach regarding Nate Jones

Walter on Jones
"Nate has been the biggest surprise of the freshman class so far. He throws three quality pitches for strikes anytime in the count and pounds the strike zone. He fields his position well, holds runners and really knows how to pitch. He will help us out of the bullpen as a go to setup guy. Nate could easily get 20+ appearances this year coming into ballgames in any inning between 4 and 8."
GS Granite State Baseball Association500+ posts
I can not wait for this winter to be over,first pitch can not come soon enough. Still figuring out which teams are playing in which divisions, here are some of my points of view on the upcoming season.

Salem - Three seniors Treff, Morin and Poore. These guys are going to be solid again, I had the opportunity to see the up and and coming Blue Devila this past fall and do agree that this team should be strong.

Memorial - Coach Abood had a great first year at the helm, can't wait to see what he does in 2011. My opinion that NH baseball needs strong city teams. I feel like he has some good talent coming up, and has added some quality assistant coaches.

Hopkinton - They have a very solid group of Juniors, they will be dangerous in 11.

Winnacunnet - Keep an eye out for Kenny Smith.

Merrimack - I honestly feel these guys will be competitive this season, not a powerhouse but a solid program.

BG - Scott Painter will do good things with this program.

Nashua North - Tough again.

Souhegan - Shagrin and Dugdale will make this squad a contender.

Bedford - They have the pitching to win but do they have enough offense that will be the question

Winnisquam - Jordan Cote, this kid can bring it and Coach Caruso's use of him in the playoffs last year was brilliant. They will contend.

This should be a good season, can't wait for it to start.
B baseballswaggMember
quote:
Originally posted by Coach Curt:
Winnisquam lost their #2 pitcher, and 4 of the top 6 hitters. It's a good thing Cote got his championship as a Junior, because he won't get one this year. Hopkinton takes their spot to battle Somersworth for the state championship.


What top 4 hitters did Winnisquam lose if you dont mind me asking? They lost Nick Lyford and Justin Keith... looks like their 3, 4,5, and six hitters are all back... hmm
CC Coach Curt100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by baseballswagg:
quote:
Originally posted by Coach Curt:
Winnisquam lost their #2 pitcher, and 4 of the top 6 hitters. It's a good thing Cote got his championship as a Junior, because he won't get one this year. Hopkinton takes their spot to battle Somersworth for the state championship.


What top 4 hitters did Winnisquam lose if you dont mind me asking? They lost Nick Lyford and Justin Keith... looks like their 3, 4,5, and six hitters are all back... hmm


I'm sorry I was wrong it's only three. Your forgetting about Justin Dorr.
BobbyTewksBobbyTewks100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Granite State Baseball Association:
Any reports on Alvirne for 2011? I know they had a rebuilding year of sorts last year with so many seniors graduating in 2009. I imagine they will be a much stronger squad in 2011?



They are a veteran team, but not in the same way as 2009. I don't know enough about teams around the state to make any predictions other than this team will work hard and play ball the right way. Shouldn't be any wide eyes since most of the players got experience last year. As with any team, pitching will need to be there.
CC Coach Curt100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by baseballswagg:
Yeah it's pretty tough when you return your 3, 4, 5 hitters plus your number one and a solid two and three pitchers. But, it's not the first time somersworth has counted Winnisquam out of it.


I mean no disrespect, I'm just going by the fact that you sqeeked by in an extra innings game in the second round of the playoffs last year. You lost your #2 pitcher Lyford and three top hitters. I talked to one of the odds makers in vegas and he says you will not repeat. sorry
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