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Bishop Hendricken Looking To Make Another State Title Run

WARWICK, R.I. - The “experience factor and team chemistry” are the most notable worries facing Bishop Hendricken this season according to long-time head coach Ed Holloway.

But opponents are likely to have little sympathy toward a program that has been dominant on the field, including a 23-0 record and state title in 2019. That just added to the list of championships won by Bishop Hendricken, which now totals 16, including five in a row from 2012-2016.

“If you don’t have players you’re not going to win,” explained Holloway, the head coach at the school since 1996. “I’m very lucky to have had so many great players and a lot of good players. They all worked very hard and performed on the field.”

The question is how will the 2021 team stack up with some of the recent ones to don the green-and-gold uniforms at the all-male college prep school.

“Our biggest concern is we only have three seniors that played varsity as sophomores,” pointed out Holloway. “They’re good players, but after that we have kids that will jump from JVs two years ago and freshmen from two years ago that won state.

“It’s just a concern with the lack of playing varsity baseball and team chemistry. We’ve never really been together as a group.”

Xavier Quezada, Danny Rice and Colin Lemieux are the returnees for Holloway, all seniors. Quezada, a Worcester State College commit, is a SS/2B while Rice is a 2B/3B/RHP and Lemieux a 3B/RHP/1B.

“We’ve got three guys back but none pitched as sophomores,” noted Holloway.

However, depth on the mound is not an issue at Bishop Hendricken.

“We have 10 candidates,” explained Holloway. “We just need some to prove themselves. None have done it at the varsity level of high school. I think our starters will come from a different group, not the three we have back. They may close.”

A strong core of juniors are expected to be major contributors in their first season on varsity. Brandyn Durand, Andrew Noland, Jared Munoz and Dorsy Asencio are all Division I commits looking to put their names in the long list of stars that have come out of Bishop Hendricken. Durand is the top-rated 2022 catcher in New England and headed to Kentucky, while Noland is the seventh-ranked junior shortstop and a Wake Forest commit. Munoz, a Massachusetts-Amherst recruit, is the number seven 2022 outfielder in the area while Asencio is a pitcher going to Rhode Island.

“We have four very talented juniors playing in our program that are committed to Division I programs,” Holloway said. “We feel comfortable they will be a big part of the team.”

While there are a host of others in the program that have made college commitments to the likes of Vanderbilt, Louisville and Maryland along with Lasell College, Worcester State and Oberlin College, Holloway is uncertain when it comes to playing time in 2021.

“We have guys that are committed that have never put uniforms on at Hendricken,” Holloway noted. “It’s crazy.”

But one thing is obvious.

“What I like about the team is we have a very talented group of players,” Holloway related. “We will hit, catch the ball and be good defensively. If we get good pitching, we’ll be right in the mix to compete for the playoffs and state championships.

“We just need to improve every day. Our goal is to show steady improvement and be playing our best baseball at the end of the year with a goal of playing for a championship.”

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