Deep pitching looks to lead strong NEFL team this season

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 6/23/15

New England Frozen Lemonade – Shields Post 43 legion manager Jim Dawber said his team treats every game like they are playing for a championship, and with the roster they have it could be a matter …

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Deep pitching looks to lead strong NEFL team this season

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New England Frozen Lemonade – Shields Post 43 legion manager Jim Dawber said his team treats every game like they are playing for a championship, and with the roster they have it could be a matter of time before they reach the real one.

Dawber has helped assemble a group comprised mainly of Warwick Vets, Pilgrim and Toll Gate stars from the past and present to bring together sort of a Warwick All-Star team.

With a long schedule and numerous doubleheaders this season, Dawber stressed the importance of pitching depth and NEFL certainly has it. Among post-grad hurlers are Pilgrim’s Steve Noti and Ryan Morris, both of whom attend CCRI, and Vets’ Dan Greaves, who pitches for RIC. Dawber said Noti and Greaves will more than likely form the top of the rotation.

“You can’t play 42 games without a lot of pitching,” Dawber, who has coached the likes of MLB veteran and Warwick native Dan Wheeler in the past, said. “The way that I’ve coached teams, we’ve been a team of pitchers. That’s been our forte. We’ve had graduates who have gone on to play collegiately and some of whom have been drafted, but really the success of this program historically has been our ability to polish our pitchers’ performances.”

Backing up the collegiate pitchers will be the aces of Pilgrim’s, Toll Gate’s and Vets’ staffs. Elijah Dressel dazzled on the mound for Pilgrim this year, helping provide stability at the top of the rotation. James Meizoso only posted a 2-5 record for Toll Gate during the Titans’ lackluster 4-14 campaign, but his 3.15 ERA was best on the team for pitchers that made at least five appearances and posted 30 strikeouts. Meizoso, also an outfielder, contributed at the plate, too, despite a .214 average, notching four doubles and 10 RBIs.

Vets’ Shane Kittila went 8-0 in the regular season with a 1.29 ERA to account for nearly half of his team’s wins.

The staff gets deeper from there, too. NEFL carries nearly the entire Vets rotation, as Dave Simmons, Jesse Holland and Austin Lamaire will also join the fold. Given the amount of pitching, Lamaire could take his talents to either of the infield corners, where he was solid defensively and hit .279 with 11 RBIs in the regular season. He was also 4-1 on the bump with a 3.27 ERA.

“We load up on pitching so when we play these tournaments, we don’t throw our second baseman, or left fielder,” Dawber said. “We’re actually giving some guys who maybe have fallen under the radar a little bit, not through any negligence of their high school coaches, it’s just high school doesn’t offer enough games. We have 42 games so we’re going to see how this thing plays out…everybody has commented on the number of pitchers and that hasn’t been accidental, but deliberate.”

Simmons went 3-1 for the Hurricanes and posted a microscopic 0.65 ERA while Holland went 1-0 in two appearances with a 0.88 ERA. If not selected to start a given game, all six of these Warwick pitchers can provide effective, long-term relief down the stretch.

In terms of hitting, NEFL (3-1 in-state) is not as loaded but presents some strong options. Outfielder Elvis Pimentel batted .340 for the Titans with seven RBIs, two doubles and two triples. Vets’ second baseman Chris Reid belted 23 hits in 63 at-bats for a .365 average and 16 runs scored.

Behind the plate could be one of the team’s stronger spots for power. The Hurricanes also provide catcher Tyler DiPetrillo, who nearly reached a .400 clip on the season with 12 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .479. Toll Gate’s Ryan Viti brings with him a .281 average with 16 hits, three doubles and five runs driven in.

Viti’s teammate Marcus Alexander will also provide depth at the catching position.

“I like the makeup of the team quite a bit,” Dawber said. “They’re very attentive. I’m enthused that they’re very excited to be team members themselves. They like one another, they seem to be open to instruction. They seem to play with great effort, so there’s a lot of qualities, a lot of intangibles that as a coach, as an instructor, make me heartened.”

Hendricken second baseman/outfielder Elijah Brown, who played with the squad last year, has come back to offer his services once again. The Moses Brown-turned-Hendricken infielder sat out half the season when he transferred, but he provides superb defense and will look to capture some offensive momentum as the season gets under way.

Also flashing the leather in the infield will be post-grads Alex Lefebvre and Zach Bacon, both of whom previously played for Toll Gate. If Brown ends up in the outfield, Lefebvre and Bacon can reunite up the middle as the shortstop and second baseman, respectively. Also competing for the starting job at shortstop will be Pilgrim’s Tyler Perry, who was excellent at fielding his position this year.

Dawber said he instills unselfishness and determination in his players, and that sense of camaraderie, combined with the deep pitching and some strong hitting, could catapult NEFL to the top.

“I try to be an educator myself,” Dawber said. “We actually have a handout to help our student-athletes manifest or display what it is we want them to learn or acquire. We would be disappointed if at the end, the final destination of their baseball train they got off the platform and they didn’t have some experience in the qualities that we try to teach.”

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