FILE PHOTO
Sean Devin and the Rams earned the No. 1 seed in Division 2 North.
By STEVE KRAUSE
Lynn Classical will enter this year’s MIAA baseball tournament as the No. 1 seed in Division 2.
The Rams were 19-1 during the regular season, losing only to No. 6 Reading in a non-league game. If the two teams meet in the upcoming North sectional — which gets under way Thursday with first-round games involving Marblehead at Boston Latin, Gloucester at Beverly and Woburn at Danvers — it will not be until the final. The Rams and Rockets are on opposite sides of the bracket.
Classical is the only team that drew a bye in Division 2. The Rams’ first game is Monday against either Marblehead of Boston Latin.
The Rams were led this season by catcher Matt Lauria and shortstop Andrew Moccia, both senior captains. Classical also had several members of last year’s Babe Ruth 15-year-old World Series team, and just about all of them played roles. David Barnard Jr. and Brett Bucklin made up two-thirds of a sophomore rotation that also included Jonathan Nicosia. Senior George Dimis, who had been injured for much of the season, came back to round out the pitching staff by the end of the season.
A.J. Luciano was rock-steady at third, as was Christian Burt at second; and Kevin Durant ended up starting in right field.
Senior Tyler Way proved to be among the best center fielders in the Northeastern Conference, and Sean Devin played a strong left field. Herbie Newton generally played first, and also was effective in relief.
Thursday in first-round action, Marblehead visits Boston Latin, Gloucester is at Beverly (1), Salem goes to North Andover (4:30) and Danvers hosts Woburn (6:30).
In Division 1A, St. John’s Prep is the only local team to get a nod. The Eagles, who finished at 16-5, were slotted in at No. 2 behind St. John’s of Shrewsbury.
Division 1A, unlike the other four levels, is a double-elimination tournament.
The Prep will play its first game today, at home, against Newton North — a team the Eagles defeated two weeks ago, also on at the Brother Linus Commons.
The Eagles have been runners-up in Division 1A for two straight seasons, losing both times to Braintree.
In Division 1, Peabody draws the sixth seed and will begin play Thursday (time TBA) at home against Cambridge. A win would put the Tanners in Lexington Tuesday.
The Tanners started the season strong, handing The Prep one of its five losses, but struggled down the stretch to finish at 14-8. Also in at No. 7 is Malden Catholic (12-8). The Lancers draw No. 10 Acton-Boxborough in the opener Thursday (7). If they win, the Lancers would play at No. 2 Andover next Wednesday.
No. 12 Medford (10-10) will travel to Alumni Field in Lowell Friday (7)
Division 3 is loaded, not only in local-area teams but in talent in general.
“It’s always the toughest division, with the most teams, and with the most talent,” said St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana, whose Spartans, 13-7, are seeded seventh.
“There are a lot of teams in Division 3 that play in leagues with a lot of D1 teams,” said Dana. “Their records might not look good, but they’re playing tough competition during the season and they’re going to bring it every game.”
One of those teams is No. 10 Weston, which the Spartans play Thursday (5:30) at Fraser Field.
“They’re in a good league (Dual County) and it says they’re 12-8, but I’ll bet they’re better than that. We didn’t play them this year, so we’ll try to find out as much about them as we can.”
As far as Dana is concerned, he’s more focused on his team.
“That’s really all I care about,” he said. “If we go out and play well, pitch, hit, field, run the bases, stay focused … we’ll be fine.”
The two games St. Mary’s played in the recent Clancy Tournament — a win and a loss — unveiled some disturbing issues that Dana would like to see cleaned up.
“We were sloppy on defense,” he said. “Our starting pitching was good enough to win. But we’ve got to get better at the plate, and certainly have to clean up our defense.
“This is the tournament,” he said. “Everybody’s ready. Hopefully, this is the time of year we start doing it too.”
The Spartans, winners of a state title in 2015, fell in the second round last year to East Boston, which is seeded fourth with an 18-2 record.
Lynnfield is one of three 18-2 teams. The Pioneers drew the third seed and will have to wait until Sunday to play its game between the winner of No. 19 Saugus and No. 14 North Reading.
“We’ve been doing all right,” said Lynnfield coach John O’Brien. “We hit a little bump in the road losing down in Belmont. But we rebounded with a big win over a real good Reading team.”
The Pioneers will get a chance — if North Reading beats Saugus — to avenge last year’s Division 3 North final defeat at the hands of the Hornets.
“That might have been a little bit of a letdown,” O’Brien said. “We’d have a big win over Austin Prep (coming from four runs down in the seventh inning) a couple of days before.”
O’Brien boasts what he sees as the best player in the Cape Ann League in shortstop/pitcher Justin Juliano.
“He does everything for us,” he said.
Also in Division 3, Swampscott (11-10 and seeded 13th) is home Thursday (time TBA) against 4-14 Stoneham;). Friday, Bishop Fenwick, seeded sixth at 10-10, is home against Bedford.
In Division 4, No. 11 Winthrop (8-12) will visit sixth-seeded Mystic Valley (11-7) Thursday at 3:30.
