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2020 CT Spring Team Preview - Waterford

WATERFORD, Ct. - There is bad news for Waterford opponents.

“The depth of our pitching is probably the best that it’s been in the past 24 years,” pointed out 10th-year head coach Art Peluso, who has been coaching in the program the past 23 seasons.

Strong words for a school that has won 11 state baseball championships, including six under the direction of Peluso.

“We've got a good feeder system,” explained Peluso, whose team won the Class L state title in 2019..”Our expectations are to compete at the end of every year for a state championship.”

The chance of doing that in 2020 is high with three Division I college commits leading the pitching staff in Jared Burrows and Ryan O’Connell, who both have touched 90 according to Peluso, along with Payton Sutman.

Staff ace Burrows, a Hartford commit ranked 37th in the New England senior class, tossed a three-hit shutout with 10 Ks in a 1-0 victory over Berlin in last season’s state championship game. The 5-11 170-pounder, a shortstop when not on the hill, had a 0.74 ERA, fanning 89 and walking just six in 61 innings.

O’Connell, a 6-6 220-pound right-hander headed to Central Connecticut State, struck out 70 while permitting nine free passes in 55 innings a year ago while Sutman, a 6-4 215-pound Holy Cross recruit ranked 129th in the 2020 class, fanned 32 in 30 frames.

Junior Connor Podeszwa, whose father is an assistant coach at Connecticut, brings more depth to the Lancers.

It helps bring a target to the back of Waterford, something expected according to Peluso.

“We have one of the toughest schedules in the state, essentially the same one as last year, and we face everybody’s one,” Peluso noted. “Everybody wants to beat us. That helps us in the long run.”

The veteran coach is looking to see better production at the plate this year.

“We struggled all year with hitting,” related Peluso, whose team ended the season with a 20-9 record. “After the first 20 games we were hitting .215. But when we got in the tournaments and weren’t seeing everybody’s one, in the nine games our batting average jumped 35 points.”

Only two players were lost from the 2019 squad, middle-of-the-order hitters Sonny Pezzello and Cadin Maynard, currently at Springfield College.

“Most of those guys last year were juniors along with a couple sophomores,” Peluso said. “They had never seen guys with a three-pitch mix and it took them awhile to figure it out.”

Catcher Ben Jerome, a Nichols College commit rated 370th in the 2020 class, is back after leading the Lancers in hits (32), runs scored (34), RBIs (28), average (.368), slugging percentage (.517) and on-base (.455).

“He’s one of the best catchers in the state,” Peluso said.

Leadoff hitter Ryan Bakken, a two-way commit to Hartford as a third baseman/RHP, gives the offense more firepower after an on-base percentage of .431 last season.

Ryan Salvador, a junior second baseman, hit. 357 with a .471 on-base playing the final five games of the 2019 campaign.

“We brought some JVs up last year for the tourney and he stood out in practices,” Peluso noted. “He got his first start in the first-round state tournament.”

The veteran coach admits to some worries for the smallest school in the state in Class L with 340 boys.

“Our biggest concern is not hitting, but contact,” Peluso said. “We struck out too many times last year. In 764 at-bats we had 169 Ks. The only thing that saved us was our pitchers struck out 226. We have a bunch of good athletes, so we expect that number not to be where it was at last year.”

Getting the job done at the plate is the key to success in the eyes of Peluso.

“If we can manufacture runs against really good pitching we’ll be okay because the pitching we have should be absolutely dominating things,” concluded Peluso.