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2020 MA Spring Team Preview - Franklin

FRANKLIN, Ma. - A program rich in tradition when it comes to success is loaded again in 2020.

“One thing we try to do is build a team off pitching and defense,” explained seventh-year head coach Zach Brown. “It always gives you an opportunity to be in the game with a chance to win it. Then you scrape and claw offensively. It’s a good recipe for success.”

There has been a lot of that at Franklin with 21 league titles since 1963 as well as three state championships in program history - 1982, 1986 and 2018.

The Panthers followed up that 2018 campaign with a 21-1 regular season last year before going 1-2 as the top seed in the Super 8.

“In the opening round we drew Sebastian Keane who was drafted by the Red Sox,” Brown reflected about a 5-3 loss to North Andover in which his squad actually knocked the top-ranked pitcher in New England out of the game in the eighth inning. “Then we beat Lowell in the second round before losing to St. John’s Shrewsbury. So we lost to both teams that made the state finals.”

Three Division I starters are gone from the 2019 squad, shortstop Alex Haba, outfielder Scott Elliott and catcher Jake Macchi, all now at Merrimack. However, the four top pitchers from last season are back to make the outlook at Franklin bright once more.

“Pitching last year was a big question mark,” Brown said. “Going into the season we had graduated four seniors that were the bulk of our pitching from the year before. That was a challenge.” 

Now the challenge is on the opponents which must face an experienced staff led by ace Brennan Rivera. The senior right-hander committed to Tufts, who also plays middle infield for the Panthers, was 6-2 with one save and a 0.71 ERA, striking out 65, walking a dozen and allowing 26 hits in 69 innings.

Aiding the 277th-rated 2020 player in New England will be a trio of RHP seniors in Liam Dailey, Will Pachero and Cody Trotin. Dailey, who was 9-0 with two saves and a 1.71 ERA, and Trotin, who had a 3.81 ERA out of the pen, are both Rhode Island College commits while Pachero, who was 2-1 with a pair of saves and a 2.94 ERA, is an Assumption College signee.

“They worked hard and took great strides from their sophomore to junior year and I’m excited to see them this year,” Brown said. “I’m confident they worked hard in the offseason and I’m excited to see them get going this year and also in a leadership role.”

Help for the pitching is the biggest concern for Brown, who is counting on Jack Nally, Jake Fitzgibbons and Dan Markowski to be a big part of the lineup. Nally, a senior who is headed to Western Connecticut to play both baseball and football, has started the past two years in center field. The leadoff hitter for the Panthers, one of the team captains this season, had an on-base percentage of 456 with 26 runs and 24 walks in 2019. 

The versatile Fitzgibbons, a left-handed hitting junior committed to Hartford who is ranked 116th in the 2021 class, is expected to catch and pitch this year after playing infield last season..Markowski, the 138th-rated junior in New England, hit .314 mostly as the DH a year ago but will be at first base and pitch this time around.

Trip Pisano, a senior who batted .333 in limited time in 2019, will play a corner infield position with junior Nick Quinn also being looked at to help at pitching and infield.

“I like the experience we have back pitching but they’ve got to perform,” Brown noted. “Defensively, we have building blocks at center field, catcher and one up the middle.”

The hope is the inexperienced varsity players come through now that an opportunity to contribute is there.

“We’ve had a lot of success at the sub-varsity level,” Brown pointed out. “Expectations are that some of these younger guys will step in and do a good job taking the place of guys before them like Brennan and Jake did.”

With five of the six teams in their division of the Hockomock League in the playoffs last season, Brown knows the task at hand is never easy.

“Our matre is daily improvement,” Brown said. “We want to be better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today. It’s exciting to put the puzzle together and see what works and what doesn’t.”