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Archbishop Williams

BRAINTREE, Ma. - “We don’t talk about winning state titles, we talk about getting better.”

That formula helped win a Division 4 state championship last year for Archbishop Williams and head coach Jim Dolan.

“Our goal is to get back there and get another crack at it,” pointed out Dolan, whose squad won seven tournament games a year ago to finish 18-9 on the season.

Making the accomplishment more impressive was doing it without standout pitcher Myles McDermott, who only threw six innings as a sophomore after winning five games as a freshman.

“He’s going to be our ace this year,” Dolan said of the uncommitted 6-2 220-pound right-hander ranked 16th in New England’s junior class. Mississippi, Clemson, Florida and North Carolina are among schools interested in McDermott according to Dolan.

Senior Kyle Rowell, another uncommitted player getting Northeast 10 looks, is penciled in as the number two pitcher for Archbishop Williams with another 2019 player, Wentworth commit Brandon Sullivan (3-2 last year), number three.

“The strength of the team is pitching,” Dolan said. “Myles is one of the best in the area and Kyle pitched big innings in last year’s state tournament.”

In his fourth year at the helm, Dolan has led the Bishops to the state finals two years in a row with a 52-24 record, winning the Boston Globe Coach of the Year honors two straight seasons.

“We’ve always been pretty good here, I really got lucky with some good kids and we’ve got a good staff,” Dolan said. “It’s a small school with a little over 500 kids in the school, but we have three levels of baseball and we cut.”

Dedication is part of the strength in the program.

“Our current juniors and seniors along with last year’s seniors are baseball-first kids,” Dolan pointed out. “All play AAU and hit three to four times a week in the offseason. They’re really committed.”

One is Dolan’s son Connor, part of a trio of juniors expected to lead the way on the field in 2019.

“We have three juniors that as sophomores did a great job but they batted 7-8-9 in the lineup,” explained Dolan in reference to center fielder David Ryan (.400), third baseman Neil Sanders (.389) and second baseman Connor Dolan (.309). “Now they’re moving up in the lineup to 1-2-5. They’re not going to be able to sit on a fastball. It’s a lot easier when you’re a guy nobody knows. Now the pressure will be on a little bit.”

A pair of standout catchers give the Bishops a solid base to build around. Michael Gervasi, a UMass commit who also plays right field, and Ryan Bellew, a 5-11 205-pound Western New England recruit ranked 442nd in New England’s 2019 class, are key returnees for a program that last year won its first state title since 1992. Gervasi hit .329 with 17 RBIs a year ago while Bellew, who plays first base when not behind the plate, batted .372 with 20 RBIs..

Bad spring weather brings concerns to the Archbishop Williams head coach.

“We’ve not been on the field much,” Dolan said. “We’ve got hitters returning but it takes awhile to get going. We upped our schedule as well so that will be a challenge.

“I think we’ll play good defense and I hope we’re a good hitting team,” continued Dolan, who lost two key members of last year’s squad, James Dolan (College of Saint Rose commit doing a prep year at Bridgton Academy) and Sam Haymer (club baseball at Baylor). “Hitting is going to be the key for us this year. I think defense and pitching will keep us in games, so once we get our bats going we should be alright. We want to compete and be playing our best baseball come June.”