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Bedford Baseball Has Been On A Roll

BEDFORD, N.H. - One state championship and four second-place finishes in the past five years brings high expectations to the Bedford baseball program.

“Everyone makes the playoffs this year so our goal will be to get ourselves mentally and physically prepared for the playoffs,” noted head coach Billy Chapman. “We have 14 to 18 games to see if we can make another run at a state title.”

If this year’s Bedford squad is to do what the 2016 team did and bring home the crown, a trio of standouts will be needed to lead the charge in seniors Michael Pratte and Zach Fletcher along with junior Ryan Juliano. Pratte is a Maine two-way commit while Fletcher is a Purdue signee ranked fourth in New England among 2021 left-handed pitchers. Juliano is a UConn commit rated second among 2022 outfielders in the area. Pratte and Fletcher will be starting pitchers while also seeing time in the outfield this year for Bedford while Juliano will play shortstop and close. Pratte hit .379 and Fletcher .354 as sophomores while Juliano batted .267 two years ago.

TJ Crowley is the only other returnee from 2019 for Bedford, which lost Trevor Anibal, Jared Neikam and Kyle Lavigne from the 2020 team that did not get to take the field. Anibal, now at Southern New Hampshire, broke the school record for strikeouts in 2018 with 103 in 66 innings, while Niekam, now at Stonehill, had the top batting average his final season playing at Bedford. Lavigne, an Austin Peay commit, reclassified as a junior and is now at Bishop Guertin.

“Every year we have dedicated baseball players that do their best to get themselves into baseball shape,” explained Chapman. “Despite losing last season, we had many players join teams in the summer and continue to play. That should help us this season.”

Chapman, who has been with Bedford since 2012 after four years at Sanborn Regional, points to newcomers Austin Bequeath, Evan Kaplo and JJ Crespo as major ingredients to this season’s team. Bequeath is a senior first baseman/outfielder committed to Division II American International College. Kaplo, the 56th-ranked junior shortstop in New England, will see time in the infield and pitching while Crespo, also a junior, plays outfield.

“We have young unproven talent that will need time to adjust to the speed of the game,” explained Chapman. “Perhaps a dip in pitching depth could also cause issues during the season. There are a lot of uncertainties with this upcoming season.”

Chapman, who comes into the season with an overall coaching record of 160-70, understands that missing the 2020 campaign will have an effect on not only his team, but the others in New Hampshire..

“With basically two grades worth of freshmen for every team, it will be very hard to see what teams have until you play them,” Chapman said. “Many teams are sporting college-bound power arm aces which makes Division I in up for grabs every year.”

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