Baseball

On Monday afternoon I met with 16 returning baseball players along with Coach Gregoire, Coach Goldstein, and Coach Mariotti to talk baseball. I invited the legend Jay Pinsonnault to write this blog so that I could answer questions as a coach.

Coming off its first Division I tournament appearance since 2011, Aaron Abood had high expectations this season for his Winnacunnet High School baseball team.

The Warriors return Jake Bullard, the reigning Division I Player of the Year, and two top-line starters in Brady Annis and Joe Allen; a one-two duo that Abood calls the best in the state. These expectations heading into the season makes the unclear landscape for the upcoming season due to the COVID-19 pandemic more disappointing.

“I think we turned a huge corner last year, we got that playoff experience and now we are ready to win some playoff games,” Abood said. Bedford eliminated Winnacunnet from last year’s tournament, 10-0 in the opening round. Winnacunnet went 10-11 last season after winning just nine games in the previous three years.

“I think that was an eye opener for us - this is what it feels like, this is what one-and-done feels like,” Abood said. “It’s really disappointing. You feel for all these guys; this would have been my 10th year as a varsity head coach and I had never seen a group of kids who worked harder than this group has. I’ve never seen more kids dedicated to baseball, and I’ve never seen improvements like these guys have made in a year or two. I am thankful a lot of them will be coming back, but I really feel for our two seniors.”

Bullard and Christo Danos are Winnacunnet’s two lone seniors on this year’s team. 

“It sucks,” Bullard said regarding the delay to the season. “The whole team has been working their butts off in the weight room, it’s kind of a bummer. When (Danos) and I came here we had two or three wins a year, last year we were .500. Obviously, this year we were looking pretty good.”

Added Danos: “Where we started to what looks like where we could have been this year, if we don’t play, it stinks, but we’re hoping for the best.”

Bullard recently signed his National Letter of Intent and will further his academics and play baseball at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.

“I want a ring, that’s all I want,” Bullard said. “We’re looking forward to it, if we can get a season.  I don’t think anyone can beat our pitching staff.”

Danos plans on doing a post-graduate year at The Winchendon (Mass.) School, and “see where it goes.”

Annis, a junior right-hander earned second-team all-state honors during his sophomore season. He’s been working out at his Hampton Falls house keeping in shape and preparing as if there will be a season. “I’ve been keeping my arm and I'm ready to go whenever,” Annis said.

Sophomore Joe Allen, who gave a verbal commitment to the University of Michigan last December, got a taste of the varsity game last season. “I am just trying to throw as much as I would if we were in season right now,” Allen said. “I think last year was all about experience, and I have that experience now. I think this year could have been a good season for me. I just have to throw strikes, hopefully we can play.”

Junior Cam MacDonald has the luxury of catching Annis and Allen.

“They always hit their spots, every pitch they can throw for a strike,” MacDonald said. “Easily, top five, probably top three (pitchers in the state), easily. I thought we were going to be really good. Our hitting has gotten a lot better, and the pitching staff is unbelievable.”

Abood believes Bedford and Portsmouth were the top teams going into the season.

“I think you can add in Pinkerton, Londonderry, and BG - some of the teams that have that top end ace,” Abood said. “I think this would have been the best year overall depth wise in Division I, at least in the 10 years that I have been coaching.”

Where does Winnacunnet rank in the 22-team field?

“I think, overall as a pitching staff, 1-3, 4, and closer, I felt we had the best pitching staff in the state,” Abood said.

Is there a better frontline 1-2 duo than Annis and Allen?

“I don’t think so,” Abood said. “I don’t think there is a better trio if you add Junior Hayes Waddell in there, I don’t think there is a better four if you add Bullard as the closer, and then you have sophomore Zach Brasill as the 4 or 5. I don’t think anybody had a better overall staff. One could argue that Trevor Anibal, Nolan Lincoln, or Ryan Anderson is the best guy in the state, but I would argue that our staff is better.”

One challenge this spring has been the adjustment to online learning from home rather than being in a traditional classroom setting.

“It’s different, but you can get your stuff done faster and you have a lot of the day to do what you want,” Bullard said. “There are pros and cons. At home, it’s kind of hard to get motivated at times to do your schoolwork, and at school you can do it in class, that’s what I miss.”

Junior Hayes Waddell, according to Abood (a complete guess), has the highest GPA on the team.

“Online learning hasn’t been too bad for the most part,” Waddell said. “Some of the harder classes, it’s tougher to learn when you don’t have the teacher there to ask questions, but it hasn’t been terrible for the most part.”

Landon Harris said while missing baseball has been difficult, the academic adjustment has been hard as well. “Not being in school, you can’t talk to all your teachers for help,” Harris said. “We say we miss our friends, but I think it’s way bigger than that. Obviously, not all of us are going to live in the baseball world forever. For some of us that are going on and doing more academic-based things it’s harder because we don’t have that guidance if we need it from our teachers.”

Winnacunnet is currently in the middle of its fourth week of remote learning.

“I didn’t think this would be as difficult as it is,” Harris said. “My teachers set up Google meets and they can help us, but it doesn’t seem like enough. We get assignments every day and it’s different every day. It’s like getting new material every day and you don’t really understand sometimes what you’re supposed to do.”

Junior Drew Wyman was looking forward to going to practice and getting the season started.

“For that not to happen and for us to be home with a chance of no season just kind of bums me out,” Wyman said. “I’ve been hitting off a tee into a net in my backyard and going on little runs to stay active and stay in shape instead of sitting around."

Sophomore Zach Fredericks has been working out and doing baseball activities at home. “I miss seeing all my friends at practice the most,” said Fredericks, who is healthy after dealing with a back injury in the off-season. “I am 100 percent. It’s really good, I like where it is. I was really excited to get back to hitting and everything, but it is what it is. I feel great.”

Junior Ryan Eaton is adjusting the best he can. “I didn’t have any expectations for myself,” Eaton said. “I knew I needed to work harder to get to where I wanted to be, but I know we could be really good this year, and I am excited to see what’s going to happen. I’ve been saying for a year now, this was going to be our year. We have so much talent and so many good baseball players. We’re all playing baseball outside this team as well, this was our year.”

Sophomore Owen Bateman said the remote learning has been hard, but also “nice at the same time.” “We get to do the work when we want to and if we needed a break we can take a break,” Bateman said. “Baseball-wise, I’ve been hitting off a tee into a net, throwing with my dad, and getting as much work in as I can when I can. I had big expectations for this team, I thought we had the talent to go to the state championship."

I want to thank Jay and all the boys for joining in on our meeting. It was bittersweet as it was great seeing them all, but I could sense their extreme disappointment. This truly is a great group of young men and I felt that Coach Gregoire summed it up well - "No matter what happens here, your hard work is not a waste. You have become better players and better young men. Life is about dealing with adversity and that's what you're doing. You will be better for it in the long run."

I know I speak for all the coaches when I say it truly is an honor to be their "Coach." We are all very proud of how far they have come.

Next up is Boys Volleyball on Wednesday. I hope everyone is safe and healthy!