Classical baseball gearing up for season

The Classical High baseball team has some openings this season and plenty of talented underclassmen to help fill the gaps.Coach Mike Zukowski had 52 guys show up for the first day of practice, including 23 freshmen.?We?re pleasantly surprised with not only the numbers, but the talent coming in,” he said.The Rams lost eight seniors from last year?s 7-13 team, including catcher Kyle Devin, who is playing Division 1 baseball at Stony Brook this year.?He commanded the team in the field for the better half of four years,” Zukowski said.Also gone are Jorge Perez, a pitcher and outfielder; Joe Rose, an outfielder and pitcher who recently completed Marine boot camp; right fielder Michael Crisostomo; and pitcher Chris Hartford.Zukowski will be counting on big things from his three senior captains, Brad Scuzzarella, Raymundo Gomez and Brett Erelli.Scuzzarella will be back patrolling center field this season and hopefully seeing some time on the mound, Zukowski said.?Brad was an everyday starter last year,” Zukowski said. “Getting him on base is key. He can run.”Erelli could find himself at either corner, as was the case last year. Gomez is strictly a pitcher.?He pitched some big games last year,” Zukowski said. “We?re looking for him to play a huge role.”Justin Avery, a senior who threw some innings and played left field, “surprised us on the mound last year,” Zukowski said. “We?re hoping for him to continue that way.”Sophomores Brandon Devin and Andre Gaudet both saw time at the corners. Devin also did some pitching. Junior Damien Earp brings some experience to the infield, having started either at shortstop or at second last season, depending upon whether or not Perez was pitching.The veteran corps also includes senior Pat Finnigan, a potential pitcher or first baseman, and Erick Brazell, who played some second base toward the end of last year.?We?re going to be inexperienced. We?ll probably be young, but we?re hoping to put a competitive team out there. We?re hoping to improve on last year?s record,” Zukowski said. “We?re excited to teach these kids, actually coach. We have some kids who want to learn. If we can throw strikes, play some solid defense, I think we?ll be OK.”Classical will be in the Northeastern Conference North, which also includes English, Salem, Beverly, Revere and Peabody. The Rams will play each team in the North twice and the South teams once, with the exception of Marblehead and Danvers. Classical will play the latter two teams twice, having picked them up as non-league games. Classical also has a non-league game against Somerville, plus the two Clancy Tournament games.All the Lynn high school baseball teams will have a little adjusting to do this year when they play their home games at Fraser Field. During the off-season, turf was installed throughout the infield with the only dirt being on the mound.?I like it,” Zukowski said of the turf. “It will cut down on the maintenance and how long it takes to get the field ready. It should speed things up.”Zukowski said he?s glad the decision was made to keep the mound dirt. The old Fraser infield had turf, but the basepaths, bases and the area toward the dugouts and backstop were dirt.Zukowski is looking forward to getting on the field during the preseason to get a feel for it. He has a scrimmage scheduled against Cambridge a week from Saturday at Fraser. The Rams also have scrimmages scheduled against Masconomet, Georgetown and St. Mary?s.Classical opens its season Monday, April 7, with a non-league game against Danvers.