LYNN — Lynn Babe Ruth All-Star season is finally back in full swing this summer and all three teams have high hopes heading into their first slate of games. The 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds are all slated to begin a four-game initial season starting Friday night.
The 15-year-old roster is made up of plenty of local talent and that list starts at the top with Coach Christian Burt.
Burt is a second baseman for Salem State University and recently earned Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Star honors on a Vikings team that won a MASCAC title this spring.
Now he shifts his focus to a team that boasts some young high school talent like Lynn Classical’s Darnell Leon and Almani Medina and English’s Mateo “Diggy” Rodriguez.
Other key players will be Gabriel Diaz, Juneil Guzman, William McCafferty, Janier Rodriguez Jr., Stephen Pedro, Anthony Cedano, Craig Burton, John DaSaia, Josh Jimenez, Lew Hopkins, Morenel Castro and Shane Bourque.
“These kids are all studs,” Burt said. “Pretty much everyone on the team can pitch, but Gabe Diaz will probably be our ace. We’ve had a lot of time to practice and the kids have bought into our system. They learned from Rich Avery (14-year-old assistant coach) and we’ve picked up where they left off guiding them through that process.”
Burt is joined on his staff by Babe Ruth regular Bill McCafferty, Breed Middle School coach Brandon Rochileau and Anthony Nickolakakis. Burt and Nickolakakis were teammates on the 15-year-old team that made it to the Babe Ruth World Series in 2016.
“I’m a guy who honestly shoots for the stars,” Burt said. “When I was in Babe Ruth we went to the World Series and that’s this team’s goal too. Obviously we’re going to take it one game at a time but we believe this team has a good shot to make a deep run.”
The 15-year-olds start their season Friday at Medford (5:30).
Experienced Babe Ruth coach Leon Elwell and assistants Rich Avery and Josh MacGrath — who have each coached an all-star squad in the past two years — and former Saugus Babe Ruth president Bob Gratiano will lead the 14-year-old team.
Their team includes Richie Avery, Levy Da Silva, Ryan Amirautl, Giovanni Batista, Jariel Benzan, Andy Beras, Josh Doney, Jaiden Driscoll, Christian Figueroa, Guilmer Galva Peralta, Cody Gratiano, Manuel Alexander Lara, Matthew Lewis, Shea Newhall and Jon Pichardo.
“We’ve had about two and a half weeks now to come together,” Rich Avery said. “Myself and the rest of the coaches are very optimistic. The kids have bought in. We’re deep with pitchers and we know they can hit. They look fundamentally sound in the field too. After a year away from all-stars these kids are chomping at the bit.”
The 14s start their run Friday (7:30) at Fraser Field against Andover.
The 13-year-old squad will be powered by several members from the Lynn team that won the Gallant tournament in 2019. Jacob Pederson, Nate Cutone, JJ Avery, Justin Jennings, Kyle Doney and Gilbert Galva bring that winning history.
The squad is rounded out by Devin Duval, Jimmy Jennings, Anthony Sanderson, Sam Phelps, Kyle Furlong, Jordan Rodriguez, Jonas Auguste, Chris Boyd, Dylan Difilippo and Jeury Alvelo.
“I think six of the seven kids we have from that Gallant team were starters,” 13s coach John Pederson said. “And the rest are a handful of kids who missed out on that tournament when it was canceled in 2020.”
Babe Ruth newcomer Pederson will be glad to have that winning experience on the field and a solid group of coaches joining him in Pat Whelan and Dan Liljas. Liljas was also a member of the 2016 World Series team.
The 13s begin their season Friday (5:30) against Marblehead at Seaside Park.
All three teams will play four games in the initial round — two home and two away — to contend for a five- or six-game state tournament.
