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2022 New England High School Team Previews

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2022 Spring Team Preview: Coventry

COVENTRY, R.I. - While that first state championship in school history continues to elude Coventry, another run to the Final Four is a strong possibility in 2022.

“The caliber of the program has changed dramatically,” explained head coach Leo Bush, who has led Coventry to four Final Four berths and two state title game appearances in the past decade. “We’re having a lot of success in the lower ages and in AAU.”

This year’s sophomore and junior classes were part of the Little League World Series team that won the New England regional championship and are now being counted on to aid this year’s senior class in overcoming the graduation loss of a trio of four-year starters.

Jayden Voelker, the pitching ace since his freshman season, is gone along with outfielder Will Turner and infielder Devyn Vezine, now at Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Matthew Durkin and Jason Serapiglia are other graduates that helped the Elephants beat South Kingstown and Central en route to the best-of-three finals a year ago which ended in a three-game loss to North  Kingstown.

“With all we’ve done, a lot of credit goes to the seniors that graduated,” pointed out the 23-year coach of Coventry. “But we do have four starters returning that played significant roles in our run last year.”

Tommy Turner is one of those standouts back. The 122nd-rated 2023 right-handed pitcher in the nation, a UConn commit who “pitched in three of our more significant wins last year,” according to Bush, returns to pitch and play outfield. Turner recently hit 93 on the radar at the PBR New England Procase.

“When Tommy Turner takes the mound our level of excitement is at its highest,” Bush said. “He throws in the ’90s and really established himself last year.”

Batterymate Jared Vadeboncoeur also returns for Coventry. The senior catcher, a Merrimack signee, led the Elephants in nearly every hitting category last year batting in the two-hole. Jake Mather, the 33rd-rated 2023 catcher in New England, is also back to take over a utility role at first base and pitcher among other positions.

The fourth returning starter is senior second baseman Adam Vesey who will inherit the leadoff role in the batting order this season.

Senior outfielder Alex Windrow along with senior infielders Brendan O’Brien and Nathan Dunn are expected to play prominent roles this year with senior left-hander Cam Vesey, the cousin of Adam, bringing a needed arm on the mound.

Sophomore Kady Fretts, the 10th-ranked 2024 third baseman in the northeast, is another candidate to pitch with sophomore infielder Logan Downey and 2024 utility player Anthony Colucci others competing for playing time.

“We’ve got a lot of depth in a lot of positions,” Bush related. “It’s one of those teams that can turn to anyone at any time to give a quality at-bat or quality innings on the mound. These guys have great attitudes and are great baseball guys. They’re very coachable.

“The key is finding our number two and number three guy to give us quality innings,” continued Bush. “Timely hitting is another key. We graduated a lot, but a lot of these guys have been chomping at the bit to show what they can do.”

 

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