Titans entering season with high expectations

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 3/31/15

The Toll Gate baseball team compiled just a 4-14 record last season in Division I, but with an experienced rotation returning for this spring, the Titans feel that they will be able to complete in a …

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Titans entering season with high expectations

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The Toll Gate baseball team compiled just a 4-14 record last season in Division I, but with an experienced rotation returning for this spring, the Titans feel that they will be able to complete in a big way.

“We have most of our pitching staff returning,” Toll Gate head coach Nick Durand said. “As long as we are healthy, our rotation should be a strength.”

Heading that pitching staff will be ace, James Meizoso, and Steve Foster.

Durand’s staff isn’t the only part of his team that is experienced, though. The Titans will return many of their starters around the diamond, as well.

Junior Ryan Viti will take on the duties behind the dish for the Titans, while first base is open, Austin Giard will play second and Foster, Manny Bjorklund and Kyle McGuire will split time between shortstop and third, as all three will log innings on the mound for Toll Gate.

In the outfield, Elvis Pimental, the returning centerfielder for Toll Gate, will provide some experience, as he’ll play in-between a freshman – Nick Cehelsky – in right field and junior Brendan Aunchman in left field.

In addition to pitching, Durand believes that the versatility throughout his lineup could pay dividends.

“Pitching and our athletic ability,” Durand said when asked what his team’s biggest strength will be. “If we run the bases well, we should score some runs. We have guys who can lay bunts down and get base hits. We don’t have a guy who is going to slug it out, but we will get guys on base.”

However, he did acknowledge the possibility of encountering some trouble scoring runs because of a lack of power in the lineup.

“We should have no problem getting on base,” Durand said. “Driving them in may be tough.”

It’s tough to definitively say where the Titans will stack up heading into this season without being able to practice outside, but there is plenty of reason for optimism heading into the season.

“Talking as a coaching staff and as a team, our goal is to win the division,” Durand said. “With the pitching that we have, there’s no reason why we can’t get to the top. We’ll need to keep our defense solid and score a few runs.”

The Titans’ season is scheduled to get underway on Thursday at East Providence, with first pitch set for 3:45 p.m.

Toll Gate’s first home game is scheduled for April 8 at Mickey Stevens, but that may be a long shot.

According to Durand, there are still mounds of snow as high as three feet in front of the dugouts on the ‘A’ field – the field where Toll Gate plays its home games.

Durand has been coaching for a number of years in freshmen, junior varsity and now two years at varsity, and this is the worst that he’s seen playing conditions to start a season.

He is hoping that the Titans will be able to start playing home games in mid-April, but that all depends on how the weather is from now until then.

In the meantime, Toll Gate has been doing whatever it can indoors to prepare for the start of the season. It has gone out to the practice football field to play long toss, and the Titans have even gone to the back parking lot at CCRI to take fly balls – doing anything they can to get ready.

No matter when the bulk of the season gets going, the Titans are hoping for a resurgent season – one much better than a season ago.

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