English baseball tuning up for the season

LYNN – English High baseball coach Joe Caponigro has some holes to fill this season and plenty of guys who would be more than happy to fill them.The Bulldogs just missed qualifying for the tournament last year with a 9-11 record. Several players from that team graduated, including shortstop Jairo Valdez, catcher Santiago Pena, left fielder Chris Cole, pitcher David Burke (a 4-game winner), center fielder Corey Enquist and outfielder P.J. Holey.”There are a lot of spots open,” Caponigro said, adding it’s too early to tell just how things will shape up.Caponigro will have plenty of opportunities to evaluate the talent, particularly the newcomers and potential pitchers, once the weather improves enough to start scrimmaging. The team will be heading to the Cape next weekend, where the Bulldogs will have three scrimmages in a 24-hour period. The competition includes Nauset Regional and Brookline.”We’ll need a lot of pitching for that (the three games). We’ll throw them right into the fire and see what they can do,” Caponigro said.Although nothing is set in stone yet, the Bulldogs have a solid group of returning players, led by senior infielder Jonathan Santelisses, junior pitcher Jonathan Surette, and a couple of already seasoned sophomores in pitcher Pat Cullen, infielder/outfielder Eric Bransfield, pitcher/outfielder Brendan Carritte and pitcher/outfielder Brian Maynard.Caponigro is also encouraged by the play of Anthony Ortiz, a junior transfer from Classical who can play shortstop and outfield, and Gabe Smith, a middle infielder.Caponigro has to find a new catcher, but that shouldn’t be a big problem with four sophomores and a freshman vying for the job. The sophomore stoppers include Andrew Hunter, Roberto Reyes, Sam Hill and Angelo Codispoti. Cory Burt is a freshman.”I think we have to solidify the rotation and the catching,” Caponigro said. “But I think we have enough athletes on the team. Hopefully, we’ll be able to plug them into the vacated spots we have because of graduation.”Caponigro said he’s been encouraged by what he has seen so far, but the true test will be once they get outside.”It’s hard to accomplish a whole lot in the gym. You’ can’t get a true gauge until you get outside,” he said. “We’ve set up a bunch of scrimmages. Hopefully, we’ll get to play them to help us make decisions.”Caponigro’s coaching staff hasn’t changed, with the exception being the loss of Bill Devin, who is the new athletic director at Classical. The returning contingent includes assistant varsity coach Joe Raffa; Doug Spofford, who helps out when his job allows; and Tom Day, a teacher at English and an English graduate. Joe Conlon, an English graduate, teacher and assistant hockey coach, will coach the junior varsity, and Rob Upton, another English graduate and a teacher at Classical, will coach the freshmen.