King Philip Baseball Looking To Qualify For The State Tournament

Last spring, the King Philip baseball team opened the season with only two returning starters.

The inexperience showed, as the Warriors went 8-12 and missed qualifying for the state tournament.

KP is hoping to improve upon their sub-.500 record and make it into the tournament this season, but playing in the Hockomock League won't make that easy.

“The Hockomock is a very hard league to compete in. With teams like Franklin, Attleboro, North Attleboro and Mansfield — not to mention Oliver Ames on the other side — there are no days off,” KP Coach Ed Moran said. “If that wasn’t enough, we have some quality non-league teams in Norton and Norwood. If we make it to the Division 2 Tournament, we’ll definitely be battle tested.”

If the Warriors are to extend their season, they’re going to have to do
something they had difficulty doing last year — hit the ball with runners on
base.

“We didn’t hit poorly last year; we just didn’t have any timely hitting,” the
Warriors skipper said. “We left a lot of runners stranded due to our
inexperience as well as our pressing at the plate.”

Senior captain Charlie Harrington will be looked upon to lead this year’s squad, as he is batting in the clean-up position for the second straight year. Although Moran knows where his left fielder will be batting, he’s still unsure about the rest of the lineup.

“There is an uncertainty in the leadoff position — we do not have a true leadoff batter,” Moran said. “Overall, we’re not a big powerful team at the plate, but we can hit the ball hard. I also believe that when we do get on the bases, we’re going to be a much quicker team than in the past.”

Although not a leadoff hitter, currently injured Rob Boulter will definitely give the KP lineup some quality at bats. According to the coach, the senior lefty has a nice swing and should find himself in designated hitter position at the plate.

On the mound, KP will mainly go with a three man rotation. Brian Crafton will make the jump from being a number three pitcher last year to the team’s ace this spring. Following Crafton will be junior Nick Malatesta and senior lefty Gavin Adams. Both arms saw limited varsity action last season.

While a valuable asset on the hill, Malatesta can also play multiple positions in the field. When he’s not scheduled to pitch the junior will most likely see action at the hot corner, although he would like to play elsewhere.

“Nick is a talented athlete and really wants to play shortstop when he’s not pitching,” Moran said. “Unfortunately shortstop consists of a lot of throwing during a game, and that’s just too much for a pitcher, so he’ll probably be at third.”

Sophomore Anthony Cerrone brings yet another arm to the table if need be. As a freshman Cerrone saw a lot of time on the junior varsity level and will need to take his game up a notch to play varsity ball this spring.

“Playing with kids who were older than him was a learning curve for him last year,” the coach said.  “And moving up to the varsity level, he’ll go through it again. This year, he’s going to see quicker pitches than he’s used to as well as more and better breaking balls and changeups.”

Despite being so young, Moran likes what he has seen from the youngster. His athletic ability and natural instincts should help him through his first varsity season, a season where he’ll see a lot of time in the shortstop position.

With the season set to start today (Tuesday April 3 against Franklin) Moran only has one infield position locked up and quite honestly may have a new face at each and every one of those positions. Adams has secured first base, while the other positions are still up for grabs. Seniors Matt Aucoin and Tyler Durant are battling at second; Cerrone and Owen Galvin at short; Malatesta and Mike O’Malley at third and Mike Walsh and James Wallace (last year’s starter) behind the plate.