Locals highlight FCBL All-Star Game

LYNN – Fraser Field has been the North Shore?s “Field of Dreams” for 75 years, just as it was Tuesday for a pair of locals playing in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game. After starting their respective summer seasons on a strong note, Swampscott?s Trevor Massey and St. Mary?s product Kurtis White of Nahant earned All-Star spots.The day served as an opportunity for the league?s best to showcase their talents and continue chasing their dreams of professional careers in front of dozens of Major League Baseball scouts. It was extra special for the two who call the area home.
White?s Wachusett Dirt Dawgs have yet to travel east from Leominster to play the hometown North Shore Navigators during the FCBL regular season, so the Franklin Pierce outfielder had the day circled on his calendar for quite some time.
?Coming back and playing in front of the home crowd is going to be awesome,” said White, who also played football and basketball for the Spartans, before the game. “This is my last summer ball season, so this is icing on the cake. ? The competition (in the FCBL) is really good, so to be selected to the All-Star team is just a huge accomplishment.”White, who has several Franklin Pierce teammates on the Dirt Dawgs, enjoyed a great spring season for the Northeast-10 Conference champion Ravens. He has transitioned that success to his second year as a Dirt Dawg, with a .292 average and has scored a team-high 24 runs.
After Franklin Pierce finished the spring season with just four losses, White believes he and his Ravens teammates on the Dirt Dawgs have brought a sense of confidence to Wachusett.
?I think that we brought a pretty good energy to the team and it?s been a lot of fun,” White said. “We never lost our step. We just kept playing and brought the energy of the team up (at the start of the summer).”
Massey, a rising sophomore at Boston College, has come out of the Navigators bullpen strong this summer and struck out 13 batters and allowed just four earned runs over 19 2/3 innings of work.The former Swampscott High star added a sidearm angle to his pitching repertoire over the course of the last year, helping him cement a place as one of North Shore?s key relievers.
?Last year, (BC head coach Mike) Gambino and (assistant coach Jim) Foster helped me out with an arm slot from the side,” Massey said. “I mixed that in with throwing over the top, so it?s kind of two arm angles going at batters. Maybe that threw them off a little bit, so I think that?s what helped me.”
Massey was one of six players from the hometown Navigators selected to the game?s East Division roster, making the All-Star experience at Fraser even more exciting.
?It?s definitely the most ideal setup you can ask for to be a Nav,” Massey said. “You?ve got your home park and your home crowd. Considering I live close to the stadium, I definitely have a lot of family and friends come watch me pitch.”