FILE PHOTO
Shortstop Joey Pena will return as a key bat for the Navs this season.
By HAROLD RIVERA
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League comes back into play next weekend, with the start of the North Shore Navigators season.
After a sour start to the 2016 season, the Navs managed to bounce back and remain competitive for the latter stretch of the schedule. With a strong finish and a good, consistent showing in the stands, it was a positive season for the team.
“After a really terrible start, where we started out 1-12, we managed to finish the season at 22-27,” Navs general manager Bill Terlecky said. “We managed to finish as one of the best teams in the league after the tough start. Attendance was slightly up, and all in all, it was a positive season for the Navigators.”
Manager John Zizzo will return to direct the Navs this season for his third go-round as the team’s skipper. After keeping the team together through a 1-12 start in 2016, Terlecky was impressed with Zizzo’s ability to keep the Navs calm and collected.
“You have to tip your hat to a guy whose team starts at 1-12,” Terlecky said. “In a summer league, guys can begin to pack it in. John never wavered, he kept a positive atmosphere and the kids like him. He’s a little bit of a no-nonsense guy with an old-school approach but you know where you stand with John.”
On the pitching staff, the Navs return a talented slate of arms who are coming off of strong spring seasons for their respective colleges. It starts with UMass Boston’s Bobby Tramandozzi, a Peabody native who’ll pitch in the College World Series this weekend in Wisconsin.
“We’re not surprised at what Bobby’s doing for UMass Boston,” Terlecky said. “He pitched like that for us last year as a starter.”
Other pitchers who’ll contribute for the Navs this season are Conor Baiwec (Elmira College), Fernando Burgos (UMass Boston), Evan Glew (Northern Essex), Sean O’Neill (Brandeis), Chris Pennell (St. Thomas Aquinas), Lynn native Brendan Powicki (Stonehill) and Nahant native Al Wallach (Framingham State).
“It’s hard to not be optimistic right now,” Terlecky said. “We’ll have to see how it all plays out. We won’t be sure until they all get here, especially on the pitching staff when it comes to health, but we have enough arms to withstand that.”
The Navs are also set to carry a strong group of bats this season.
Shortstop Joey Pena (St. Thomas Aquinas) returns to the Navs after a positive showing with the team in 2016. Other players to keep an eye out for on offense are Alex Brickman (Sienna), Chris Cabrera (Broward Community College), Alex Carballo (Broward), Alec Cargin (Wofford), Brad Douglas (Rhode Island), Nick Fuhrman (Frederick Community College) and Tyler Kapuscinski (Marist).
As always, the goal heading into the season is for the Navs to notch a spot in the FCBL playoffs and put themselves in contention for a championship.
“We always go into it wanting to win a ring,” Terlecky said. “We want to win it all. Anybody that’s involved, I would hope that they do it because they’re competitive and want to be the best. That goes for what happens on the field and how we run our operations off the field.”
Terlecky added, “At the end of the year, when all is said and done, if we can be competitive, play hard, make the playoffs, which means that every regular season game meant something, I’d have to look back and say that it was a good year.”
The Navs will see one major FCBL rule change this season, as any game that’s tied beyond ten innings will be decided by a home run derby.
“I think it’ll be interesting,” Terlecky said. “I’m kind of anxious to see how it works. I’m fine with it and I think it’ll be fun.”
The Navs open the season at Seacoast against the Mavericks on June 1. The home opener is scheduled for June 3 against the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks.