The boys of summer are set to head out to fields across the region.
Opening Monday, the Lunenburg Phillies will begin their defense of their Central New England Baseball Association title, hosting Ronnie’s of Worcester at Marshall Park with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
As previously reported, the CNEBA season will be compacted to 18 games for each team in order to wrap up in early August, with the Phillies hitting the road on Aug. 2 to close out the regular season with a game against the Clinton 76ers. From there, all eight teams in the league – including the newly formed Fitchburg A’s, comprised of both current Fitchburg State players and alumni – will take part in the playoffs.
The Phillies have captured the past two CNEBA titles, winning three of the last four and four of the last six league crowns. Led by manager Joe Ruth, the team has plenty of experience, with veteran players Jonathan Belliard, Pat Gilman, Nathan Ginsberg, Alex Heroux, David Mason, Matt Morissette and Kevin O’Connor – the league’s pitcher of the year last season after going 7-0 with a 0.42 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 49 innings – all among those boasting plenty of CNEBA experience.
The A’s will kick off their first season on Tuesday evening, hosting Clinton at St. Bernard’s in Fitchburg. The team, led by FSU class of 2020 Matthew Pingitore, features 14 current college players, 13 of whom are Falcons.
Familiarity in Westfield
As anchors of the Leominster High baseball team’s pitching staff, Patrick Gallagher and LT Pare had plenty of success in Blue Devils uniforms.
Pare graduated from LHS in 2018 and headed to Merrimack College, seeing limited action last year during his freshman campaign and slowly gaining ground before his sophomore season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Gallagher, a 2019 Leominster grad, barely had his collegiate career at Uconn underway before everything stopped due to the coronavirus.
Now, the two former Blue Devils are set to again appear on the same pitching staff.
Both are slated to play for the Westfield Starfires of the six-team Futures Collegiate Baseball League, set to open play this week. The Starfires open their 39-game schedule on Friday evening at the New Britain Bees.
Pare previously played summer ball following his freshman season for the Staunton Braves of the Valley Baseball League in Virginia.
