The 2024 local high school baseball season brought a lot.
The season brought Pinkerton Academy: The New Hampshire Division 1 state champions.
The season brought an incredible amount of talented ballplayers from Division 1 college commits including Brendan Horne (Vanderbilt), Leo Boucher (Penn State), Chris Jaillet (UMass) and Josh Florence (Stonehill).
This season also brought a handful of unexpected stars such as Stephen Carroll (Gr. Lawrence), Yorbi Franco (Methuen), cousins Matt and Jeremy Aquino (Haverhill), Henry Paquette (Pelham) and Sean Napolitano (Andover).
There were incredible walk-off victories, come from behind wins, extra-inning thrillers and a bragging rights victory with Whittier Tech taking down Haverhill in the state tournament. There was a controversial game between Andover and Lawrence, there was a 55-pitch no-hitter, and there were lots and lots of home runs, including an area-leading six by The Eagle-Tribune’s Player of the Year, Jackson Marshall.
Here’s a recap of each team’s season, while looking a bit into what to expect next year.
New Hampshire
Pinkerton Academy
Back in early April, it was no secret that Pinkerton Academy was absolutely loaded. How often do teams have players already committed to play at Vanderbilt and Penn State, among other strong Division 2 and 3 collegiate programs?
Paper can have all of the talent in the world, but it doesn’t win ballgames.
Pinkerton head coach Steve Campo said that as long as the team played together, stayed healthy, the pitchers attacked batters and the batters came through with some clutch hits, the team would be competitive.
All of that certainly happened.
The Astros finished the season with a 21-1 mark, including three state tournament victories over Bedford, an epic 9-inning battle with Nashua North, then blowing out Exeter, 9-0 in the state final.
The kid who is going to Vanderbilt was part of the team’s state championship win two years ago, but also part of the team’s state final loss last year. Winning is something he has never seemed to take for granted.
“Wow, just, wow,” said Horne after the state championship win. “This is amazing! We’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, and we got it done. This is what we’ve been working for, for so long, and being a champion is the best feeling in the world.”
Horne will be among a handful of very talented players who will return next year, along with returning three stud pitchers Boucher, Michael Cioffi and Hunter Brasier, and four other starters with Horne, Preston Libby, Anthony Caruso and John Hanlon.
Pelham
While the Pythons finished 9-8 and competed in the Division II tournament, head coach Scott Paquette says looking back, he thought his team should have won a few more games.
“Our record could’ve been 13-3 or 14-2. We lost four games by one run and two games by two runs,” he said. “All of our games were close and I feel like we could play against any team in Division II.”
His son Henry came back after missing all of last year’s season with a broken foot, and he was terrific on the mound including a memorable eight-inning, 2-1 loss to Plymouth, striking out 10 batters.
He will be among a handful of talented seniors who will be leaving the program along with Zach James, Justin Desmarais and Kyle Henry.
Salem
The Blue Devils finished 4-15 on the season, including a dramatic win over Concord.
“We were up 4-2 in the sixth inning and Concord tied it up on a questionable home run call,” recalled head coach Dan Keleher. “We ended up scoring three in the top of the eighth inning. They scored two and had the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and Kris Cornacchio came in and got the save.”
Despite the struggles, the team pitched fairly well. Junior Aaron Masson was selected to the NH Division I All-State third team, and Jack Quinby, who sported a 2.16 ERA, was named to the honorable mention squad. The two of them along with Dominic Toscano highlight the returners for the 2025 season.
Timberlane
The Owls continue to slowly climb up the mountain, going from one win in 2023 to five wins this season. Timberlane will lose its big bat, senior Ryan Kontos, but will return almost the entire team including pitcher Myles Peetz, catcher Liam Kelley and current sophomores Matt Fitzgerald and Mikey Santosuosso.
“We finished the season strong,” said head coach Alex Horgan. “Kelley won his last two starts on the mound, Fitzgerald threw well in his last two appearances and freshman Shaun Ingram was a tough out, going 6-for-8 with eight walks and three doubles over his last four games.
“The future looks bright and we bring back the majority of our roster. We hope to continue to improve.”
Windham
For the second straight year, the Jaguars finished the regular season slightly under .500, qualified for the state tournament but lost in the first round. Last year Windham was 9-11 overall, and this year was 8-12 with a 9-0 loss to Londonderry.
The Jaguars were led by two All-State players, senior pitcher Jake Sullo and junior outfielder Paul Armstrong. Senior catcher Alex Arinello also enjoyed a big season.
Next year, Windham will have most of its pitchers back including Sullo, Jack Koutrobis, Jack Murphy and Eddie Charity — the latter tossed 3.2 scoreless innings of relief with six strikeouts in the tournament loss.
Massachusetts
Andover
It was an up-and-down season for the Golden Warriors, who finished with a 13-8 overall record including a first round state tournament loss to Wellesley. Andover at times struggled to score runs, but on the flip side, the team’s pitching was sensational with six shutouts. Ben Workman threw three of those, and he will be one of four seniors leaving the program, with infielder Teddy Gibson as another big piece.
That being said, the 13-win Golden Warriors should be a legitimate contender next year with the likes of twin batterymates Chris and Ryan Jaillet, pitcher Drew Pulsifer (4 wins) and two-time All-Conference outfielder Will Norris. Both Chris Jaillet and Norris have been selected to play for Team Massachusetts this summer. They will play games from the University of Nebraska, facing off against other states from within the country. The games will be broadcasted on ESPN.
Central Catholic
The Raiders lost a lot of talent from last year’s team and it showed as Central was inconsistent at times.
“Our season finished at 12-11. We pitched pretty well. We didn’t hit and we didn’t play well in the infield all year. Very frustrating,” said head coach John Sexton.
Down the stretch Central played better, including a 4-2 loss to Catholic Memorial in the first round of the Division 1 state tournament.
The Raiders will be losing five key seniors, who will all continue to play in college including Josh Florence (Stonehill), Brady Rickenbach (Endicott), Jack Savio (Worcester State), Jake Bartlett (Wentworth) as well as Zander Iannessa, who was a gutsy performer all season long.
Greater Lawrence
It was a tough season for the Reggies, finishing with a 6-14 record and the majority of the wins coming in the latter part of the season.
“We struggled with pitching early on and dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of,” said head coach Chris Cyr. “Throughout the season we had some great offense, solid defense and pitching but, unfortunately, getting that combination in enough games eluded us.”
Senior outfielder Stephen Carroll had a tremendous season batting .415 after missing his junior year and playing JV before that. Another senior, Jehu Rosario, had three of the team’s six wins on the mound.
Next year, the team will look to junior captain Brad Familia, who had a monster season at the plate which included three home runs, four triples, 20 runs scored and 19 stolen bases.
Haverhill
The Hillies went from finishing 6-14 in 2023 to 11-10 this season, which included reaching the state tournament but losing in the preliminary round to town rival Whittier Tech.
Haverhill will be losing a handful of key players, including pitchers Nick Terrilli and Jack Kelleher, as well as catcher Colin Snyder and infielder Zach Hurrell.
The Hillies will be returning a lot of experience – in the field and at the plate – with the likes of cousins Matt and Jeremy Aquino and infielders Brandon Piriano and Tucker Grant.
Lawrence
The Lancers went from 7-13 to 12-9, which included a first round state tournament loss to the 2023 state finalists of Franklin.
“This year was a step in the right direction,” said head coach Alberto Abreu. “We had our ups and downs, and we were able to mesh together as a team, and coaching staff. The plan is to use this as our base to continue to develop Lawrence into state contenders consistently (every year).”
The Lancers will sorely miss the leadership of Angel Castillo and Jose David Abreu, but return a handful of experienced players including current sophomore pitcher Jayden Minaya.
Methuen
A year ago, the Rangers enjoyed the Cinderella Story and advanced to the Division 1 Final-4. But the entire pitching staff – minus two innings – all left, and trying to compete in the Merrimack Valley Conference without any experienced pitchers is nearly impossible. The Rangers found out this season and finished 2-18.
“This season was highlighted with consistent hard work,” said head coach Cam Roper. “Although the results in the win/loss columns weren’t what we were looking for, the boys improved throughout the season. We will return much more experience next season and should see that continued improvement.”
The Rangers will lose Yorbi Franco, who led the team in hitting, as well as three other seniors, but will return a handful of promising players including pitcher Kyle Notenboom and fellow juniors Nolan Smith, AJ Guillermo and Joey Tavares, as well as sophomore shortstop Alex Santiago, who opened up a lot of eyes.
North Andover
After losing to Springfield Central in the second round of the Division 1 state tournament, North Andover head coach Todd Dulin said that in order for his program to take the next step, the individuals and the team need to get stronger physically and mentally.
Although the Scarlet Knights are losing two of the top local players around in pitcher Dom Pefine and outfielder David Johnson, there will be plenty of talent returning next year with the likes of pitchers Cole Mullen, Dylan Lawrence, Luke Yorba and Zach Faro, who also plays a terrific shortstop.
Catcher Mike Phelps, who was clutch with a couple of game-winning hits, and infielders Jake Jackson and Jeff LaVolpicelo will also be back.
Whittier Tech
It was a crazy up-and-down season for the Wildcats. First the MIAA moved Whittier to Division 1 for the playoffs. Getting there, the Wildcats had to clear some hurdles which included a walk-off win against Shawsheen, dramatic wins over Ipswich and Northeast Tech. That pushed the team into post-season play, where they knocked off Haverhill 6-1, before getting trounced by Taunton in the second game to finish 11-11 on the season.
“Although we’re losing six seniors, we’re looking to stay strong and continue to move forward next year,” said head coach Peter Arsenault. “We’ll be losing ace pitcher Ben Hadley, our four-year catcher Nate Dietenhofer, as well as our power hitting first baseman Will King.”
Among the top returners will be two-time CAC All-Star shortstop Corey Deziel, and Brandon Fasulo, who can pitch and really swing the bat.
New England Prep
Brooks
Brooks finished with a 10-9 record under first-year head coach Matt Antonelli. That was a seven-win difference from the previous season. Five of the team’s losses this season came by one run and two more came by two runs.
“I am extremely proud of all of our players for their hard work and dedication throughout the season. We were very lucky to have great leadership, not just from our seniors, but from our entire team,” said Antonelli.
Two local players took home some post-season hardware as Griffin Bucci, a junior infielder from Andover, was named to the All-ISL and All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention teams, and Joe Bucci, a senior catcher from Andover, was selected as an ISL Gold Glove winner.
“Griffin started every single game at shortstop and played phenomenal defense throughout the season. He also hit in the middle of our order and was one of our biggest run producers,” said Antonelli.
Twitter: @JamiePote