Lots of open spots on St. Mary’s baseball

LYNN – The St. Mary’s baseball team lost a good chunk of its starting lineup to graduation, but coach Derek Dana has a good foundation to build on, particularly in the pitching ranks.View Photo GalleryThe Spartans finished 14-6 in the regular season last year and 17-7 overall. They lost to Whittier, 4-3, in the Division 3 North final.”Every starter is gone, except for left field,” Dana said, adding that the thing is, on last year’s team there really weren’t many returning starters either other than Victor Molle and Scott Betts on the mound.”We’re not young (this year), we’re just inexperienced right now,” Dana said.Dana lost his four captains, Victor Molle, Scott Betts, Brendan DeLiere and Dan Donovan. Betts and Donovan are now playing at St. Joseph’s College in Maine and DeLiere at Salem State. Dana also lost his second baseman and lead-off hitter, Chris Bulter, to prep school.The good news is the three guys, Bryan Nerich, Paul Halas and Clay Yianacopolus, who spent time out there all look to play important roles this year. Dana said the jury is out on who will be starting where at this point, but he is encouraged by the pitching he returns.Yianacopolus finished 6-3 on the hit last year, right behind DeLeire, who won seven games. Yianacopolus, a junior lefty, won is last three starts including a 2-0 victory over North Reading in the championship game of the Clancy Tournament and an 8-4 win over Bishop Fenwick in the state tournament in which he allowed one earned run in a complete game.Brendan O’Neill, a junior righty, went 1-0 last year and P.J. Hatchouel, a junior righty, went 2-0 with wins over Campbell, N.H., and Saugus. Junior righty Brent Lozzi should also find himself in the mix. Sophomore Antonio Felix, an infielder and a pitcher, could also see some time on the hill.”We have several kids who can throw, but they’re probably not starters,” he said.Dana, who is in his seventh year as head coach, has four returning seniors including Halas, an outfielder, and Nerich, who will likely be catching this year. Alec Costanza played third when DeLiere was pitching and Chris Donovan is an outfielder.O’Neil will be in the hung for an infield job and Yianacopolus, when not pitching, could see time at first or in the outfield.Also looking to crack the lineup will be outfielder John Gaeta, who moved up from junior varsity at the end of the year; junior outfielder Connor Sakowich, who came up at the end of the season; infieder and pitcher Matt Costanza, a sophomore, and sophomore utility player Donnie Weisse.”The key factors will be leadership and the offensive side of the ball,” Dana said. “As far as pitching goes, we should have enough arms. We should be OK. I think the defense will get better and better as we go.”St. Mary’s opens its season April 7 against Bishop Fenwick at home. The Spartans have non-league games Haverhill, Triton, Wakefield, St. John’s Prep, two games against Lowell Catholic and one against Greater Lowell.