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By Dylan Hefflinger, Dennis Healy, Trevor Brown and PBR Staff
Editor in Chief / Co-Director of Scouting

With the 2016 spring season right around the corner, PBR New England is eagerly anticipating bringing the New England states the best high school coverage throughout the region.

Starting February 1st, we began releasing team previews for teams across the state, leading into the Preseason All-State Teams as well as the Preseason State Rankings.

If you are a coach and haven't filled out your 2016 Team Preview, click here.

Interested in attending a PBR New England event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.

2016 Massachusetts Spring Team Preview: St. Sebastian’s

Team Name: St. Sebastian’s
Head Coach:  Richard Connolly
Division: ISL
2015 Record: 10-8
Conference :  ISL
Returning Starters/Pitchers: 10/2

Overall Thoughts:

• We lost over half our innings with the departures of Pat McGowan (Holy Cross) and Christian Reenstierna (Skidmore), and a ton of offense left with Matt Doherty (Middlebury, hockey) and Danny Higgins (USPHL), but we are excited to play baseball. A season-ending surgery to captain and shortstop Mike Calabaro '16 is behind us, and with the snow hopefully done, the boys are ready to get going.

2016 Team Strengths:

• We have great leadership with Calabaro (a lock for all-league first-base coach) and co-captain Sean Harrington '16, who has been behind the dish for three years, and the five other seniors are all strong players and great locker-room guys.
• The starting nine will likely feature at least six returners, all of whom can play solid defense and get around the bases. Blake Gallagher '17 brings back the most innings, and the rest of the staff, while largely unproven, should keep us in most games.

 2016 Team Weaknesses:

• We have five freshmen who are all competing for playing time, and some positions will be filled by guys who lack positional experience.
• We also must find a way to win one-run games, which we did not do five times in 2015.

Top Returning Players:

• Sean Harrington, C, '16, Captain
• Mike Calabaro, SS (out for year), '16
• Frankie Mahoney, OF/1B, '16
• Maynel Fuentes, OF, '16
• Will Slayne, P, '16
• Cole Aldrich, P, '16
• Brendan Lutch, P/OF, '16
• Tommy Seidl, OF, '17
• Blake Gallagher, P/IF
• Timmy DiFiore, IF, '17
• Chris Joyce, IF, '17
• Brian Craven, IF/P, '18

Top 2016 Players:

• Sean Harrington, C
• Mike Calabaro, SS
• Frankie Mahoney, OF/1B
• Maynel Fuentes, OF
• Will Slayne, P
• Cole Aldrich, P
•  Brendan Lutch, P/OF

Top 2017 Players:

• Gallagher (Northwestern, football)
• Seidl (Harvard)
• Timmy DiFiore, plays a solid 3B and swings a good bat
• Chris Joyce, utility infielder with a solid bat, also plays hockey
• Will Phelan, lanky lefty, also plays basketball

Top 2018/2019 Players:

• Brian Craven, '18, switch-hitting MIF, pitches from low-3/4 arm slot
• Neil Melley, '18, utility guy (backup C in '16), smooth swing, athlete
• Connor Bertsch, '19, RHP and IF, big bat, athlete
• Alex Cherry, '19, good-sized 1B with big bat, plays football and hockey
• Timmy Noone, '19, LHP and OF, swings right, high baseball IQ, athlete
• Cole Tremblay, '19, RHP with good movement
• Billy Seidl, '19, MIF and P, also quarterback

Notable Alumni:

• Pat McGowan ’15, College of the Holy Cross
• Christian Reenstierna ’15, Skidmore College
• Richard Arms ’14, Bowdoin College
• Justin Bellinger ’14, Duke University
• Andrew Corcoran ’14, Middlebury College
• Connor Duffy ’14, Salve Regina University
• Justin Nicklas ’14, Stonehill College