PEABODY — Between a canceled 2020 season and new rule changes, this baseball season is going to be a historic one across the North Shore.
And for the Peabody baseball team and coach Mark Bettencourt, that season has started with no time to rest. The Tanners and Bettencourt — who also coaches the football team — are fresh off a football season that ended April 23 with a 24-0 win over Saugus at Coley Lee Field. Just two days later, it was time to hit the diamond for tryouts.
“We didn’t have a lot of time,” Bettencourt said. “And we’re right at it with a game Tuesday against Salem, so we’re squeezing anything in we can. Thursday’s rain didn’t help, that was our first day after tryouts, but everyone is in the same boat. We’re figuring out our pitching rotation and just getting in the practices we can.”
One of the biggest things to figure out is who can pitch, since this year’s senior pitchers were just sophomores the last time Peabody played. The MIAA’s new pitch count rule, which requires any pitcher who throws more than 25 pitches to have at least one day’s rest with intervals maxing out at 71-115 pitches thrown requiring four full days of rest, also creates some unfamiliar territory.
“It’s just going to be about throwing guys into the fire and seeing who can do it,” Bettencourt said. “The pitch count rules will create some tough decisions too. If a kid’s on, you have to decide if you want him to keep throwing him and then you lose him for a while.
“We’re going to start out by committee,” Bettencourt said. “We have a couple kids who have been throwing all offseason and some who haven’t. Some of the football guys haven’t even had the chance. We’ll rely on those kids who have been working and we’ll find that mix through the year.”
Justin Powers and Mike Gisler we’ll be some of the key parts of that committee. The Tanners will also lean on Juan Tolentino on the mound, while Evan Knight will bring a big bat as senior captain.
“(Tolentino and Knight) are the only two guys who have played a game for me,” Bettencourt said. “Knight will be the middle piece for us in center field and at the three spot in the order. We’re looking for him to be an offensive catalyst.”
But more than anything, this year will be about new players and face who can rise to the occasion.
“From here on out it’s about letting them compete,” Bettencourt said. “We’re going to play the kids that deserve an opportunity. We might see some young kids depending on how everything works out. I’ve always told the team, ‘we’re going to play the best players.’ That itself creates a lot of competition.”
The Tanners have been hard at work hammering in the fundamentals with the start to the season right around the corner Tuesday (4) at home against Salem.
“The big thing for me starting out is pitchers throwing strikes,” Bettencourt said. “That’s our number one priority. We want our guys throwing accurately and leaving it to the defense. Then, everyone makes mistakes but we don’t want to misjudge fly balls and ground balls. We don’t want to give extra bases on routine plays and missed throws to cutoffs. Offensively, we can’t take strikeouts. We want to force teams to make plays.”
