Opening day seemed like yesterday, and first-year Norwich Free Academy baseball coach Michael Jamieson can hardly believe the Wildcats' schedule is nearly half complete.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Fresh off of two straight losing records, NFA has burst out of the gates with a 6-3 mark, including Tuesday's 12-3 victory over rebuilding New London.
“It’s been a rainy, cold spring and it seems like we just got started,” Jamieson said. “The weather has improved a little bit and we're starting to swing the bats. We're headed in the right direction.”
NFA parlayed a nine-run fifth inning when it sent 15 batters to the plate against New London (1-7). The Whalers helped out with four walks, three hit batters and two errors. Dominican Republic transfers Max Sanchez (three hits) and Randy Jiminez, and Chris Southworth contributed singles for NFA.
Wildcat pitchers Avery Guernsey, Brayden Canny, and Jiminez combined to log seven innings against New London as NFA captured its third straight victory.
The Wildcats two workhorse aces this spring have been seniors Dan St. George and Ayden Kempesta.
“Today was an opportunity to get kids innings,” Jamieson said. “They threw strikes. Pitching has been our strong point. St. George and Kempesta have been solid and consistent.”
St. George, an ECC Division I honorable mention pick last year, hurled a complete-game against St. Bernard. Kempesta is coming off a complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts against Fitch. The two combined to top eighth-ranked Killingly, 6-2, on opening day.
St. George, a tall left-hander, recently signed a letter of intent to pitch at Lasell University (Newton, Mass.) next spring.
While he’s been durable on the mound, Kempesta has pulled double-duty as a productive leadoff hitter. NFA has averaged over seven runs a game compared to a little over five last year during a 9-11 campaign.
“Ayden has an excellent on-base percentage,” Jamieson said. “The top four hitters in our lineup have been our mainstays. Ryan Cleary has hit over average (about .440), has power and runs the bases well. Jiminez has been a great addition to the team, and Jonas Tibercio is consistent.”
Cleary, a third baseman who saw ample action as a freshman last year, has already produced multiple three-hit games.
“The difference this year is a lot of players put in work during the summer and off-season,” Cleary said. “Ayden and I played several games for AAU, and Jonas, Randy and others played for the Norwich American Legion. A lot of players are back from last year. We were optimistic this would be a good season.”
NFA has lost one-run games to Immaculate-Danbury and ECC Division I foe East Lyme. The only one-sided loss was against Enfield, 10-4.
Challenges remain ahead with traditional power Waterford, a potential match Saturday against Lyman Memorial and former NFA pitcher Dominic Pontbriant, and a likely match next week against UConn commit Brady Ericson of Woodstock Academy. Ericson, a 6-foot-6 lefthander, shut out Waterford on Tuesday.
When asked if Waterford is the standard to which all ECC teams are compared to, Jamieson and Cleary did not necessarily buy that belief.
“We worry about what we do and not anyone else,” Jamieson said. “We try to get a little better every day.”
Local News
Comments / 0