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2020 RI Spring Team Preview - Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - Stint three, year three at Portsmouth has head coach Matt McGuire expecting more success coming off a 12-6 campaign that came to an end with a Final Four loss to LaSalle Academy.

“Playing defense and consistent pitching will be the keys,” pointed out McGuire, now in his seventh year in the program and 27th overall as a coach. “We got it last year. After Morrisey, where are we going to be this year?”

Michael Thomas Morrissey takes over as ace of this year’s rotation with the graduation of Andrew Pruitt, now at Salve Regina  The Georgetown commit, a hard-throwing right-hander ranked 72nd among New England seniors, was 5-2 with a 2.41 ERA, fanning 75 in 52 innings during the 2019 campaign.

Senior Wooster Poly Tech commit Daniel Janssen, “a late bloomer,” according to McGuire, is slated to fill the number two role with first baseman Connor Freitas, the 190th-ranked 2021 in New England who hit .316 last year, the three starter.

Left-handed hitting Tim McGuire, the 73rd-ranked New England junior with strong Division I interest, is back at shortstop after batting .336 in 2019 with Christopher Bulk, the 97th-rated junior, returning at catcher.

“I’m looking for them to be the leaders on the team this year,” McGuire said of his son, Bulk, and Freitas.

Brian Hamilton, last year’s center fielder who is now playing football at Rhode Island, is gone with senior Simon Ray moving from left to center. The left-handed hitting Ray is a Springfield commit.

Senior Robert Yates, a three-year starter and “Steady Eddy” as McGuire puts it, returns at second base after hitting .291 last season. Sophomore Owen Malone, the top-ranked 2022 outfielder in New England, is slated to play third base in his first year with the varsity.

“We’re hoping we can hit and we can run,” McGuire said about the strengths of this year’s squad.

One big loss is senior right fielder Ben Gesmondi, a Catholic University commit out for the season with a torn ACL.

“We hope to be as competitive as anyone,” noted McGuire, who points to South Kingstown, LaSalle and Hendricken as teams to watch in Rhode Island this year. “We hope we can get to the same point as last year.”

The Final Four appearance in 2019 was the third time in Division I for Portsmouth, the others coming in 2007 and 2008. Portsmouth, whose most famous baseball alum is Ryan Westmoreland - a fifth-round MLB selection by the Red Sox in 2008 whose career was cut short by a medical condition that required two brain surgeries, won D-2 state titles in 1999 and 2006.