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Mansfield

MANSFIELD, Ma. - What can Mansfield do as a follow-up to the best regular season in school history?

A berth in the Super 8 for the first time ever ended with two losses after the record-setting 19-3 regular-season campaign in 2018.

“All in all it was a great season,” noted fifth-year head coach Joe Breen, who has the program headed in the right direction after a 9-11 season three years ago.

“We’ve had our fair share of talent here but we had a bit of a lull,” explained Breen, who previously coached at Stonehill College for three years. “We had quality players but not quality teams. But in my five years at the school we’ve been supported more and now we have a quality youth program.

“I’ve been around the Hockomock area for eight years now and have a good perspective of what it takes to run a quality program,” continued Breen, whose full-time job is running a baseball facility. “I personally bring a lot of energy and I also brought in some quality coaches.”

A pair of standouts from last year’s squad, both among the top 75 rated players in New England in the 2018 class, must be replaced with the loss of UMass-Amherst recruits Tyler Dalton and Kevin Dow.

“We return a lot this year but none are now at the level of the two studs last year,” pointed out Breen, who also lost last season’s catcher and designated hitter. “We’ll try to make up for their production with three or four guys.”

The task becomes more difficult with the loss of senior left-handed pitcher Connor Sheehan, a Bentley commit, to Tommy John surgery.

Kyle Moran, a Stonehill signee, will pitch and play third base for the Green Hornets. The 6-2 215-pounder is ranked 476th among New England seniors. Junior John Carney, who has committed to Bryant, gives Mansfield another standout arm. The 6-4 200-pound righty, who competed at the Northeast Procase in February, is ranked 43rd in the New England 2020 class.

“We have a slew of others looking to round out the pitching staff,” noted Breen, including senior left-hander Jake Gerraughty, who could also see time in the outfield. “Losing Sheehan hurts a lot, but competition on the mound is always healthy.”

Senior captain Sam Nugent will anchor the outfield in center. The 5-9 160-pound Brandeis recruit is rated 274th in the New England 2020 class. Dan Saraceno is slated to play right field after hitting .320 a year ago. The 6-2 190-pound senior left-handed hitter has signed with Bridgewater State.

A trio of middle infielders are back in seniors Michael Hargadon and Connor Smith along with junior Chris Jenkins. Hargadon, a shortstop, is a track sprinter going to UMass-Amherst.

“We have experience with a lot of returning players that made key contributions to the Super 8 team,” Breen said. “We also have a lot of guys that are going to college so these are baseball-first players which is a good thing. They’ve been working hard all off-season.” 

Trying to piece together the pitching staff and finding a catcher are among the top missions ahead for Breen.

“We have some qualified guys to pitch varsity but there’s not a set rotation and the roles are not carved out yet,” explained Breen. “Losing a two-year starting catcher to graduation is another big blow to the team.

“What we need is for the guys we have returning to step up their game and improve on their season from last year, and the guys that did not contribute last year to step up for those we lost. We want to try and be better than we are now in May and then better than that in June.”