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Bishop Guertin

NASHUA, N.H. - This is the year that Scott Painter has been waiting for at Bishop Guertin.

Everybody returns from the 2018 squad including 14 seniors, most that have been starters since their sophomore year.

“We’ve got game experience,” Painter said. “We have kids that have seen us lose and play through some tough times and they’ve gained a lot of knowledge.”

It has Painter looking forward to the coming season.

“We return a talented core group of players from the 13-7 team in 2018,” Painter noted. “We need to continue to improve in all areas of the game and will need key contributions from a number of different players to reach our goals. If we’re able to compete at a high level both physically and mentally, we’ll have the ability to challenge the teams at the top of Division I baseball.”

Nine returning starters feature six that are going to a prep school or playing at college next year - Noah Therrien (Endicott), Alex George (Southern New Hampshire), Stephen McClendon (Babson), Aiden Coyne (Bridgton Academy), Sam Boudreau (Eckerd College) and Aaron Zabawski (Bridgton Academy).

George, who hit .382 with three home runs and 23 RBIs last year, is a 5-10 185-pound catcher ranked 62nd in the 2019 class while Boudreau, a 6-1 185-pounder ranked 185th, is a catcher and first baseman that averaged .349. George was second team all-state and Boudreau third team.

Therrien, a senior pitcher/outfielder, was also second team all-state after going 4-2 with a 2.02 ERA, with Zabawski and McClendon bringing more experience on the mound. Zabawski is a 6-1 174-pound senior right-hander ranked 117th while McClendon is a pitcher and infielder who batted .283 with 18 RBIs in 2018. Coyne gives the Cardinals another returning infielder.

Three other starters are also back in Ryan Bue, Taylor Proulx (.277) and Brett Anderson. Bue plays outfield and Proulx first base and outfield.

Anderson, the only junior in the group, is a 6-1 195-pound left-handed pitcher that was first team all-state as a sophomore after going 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA, fanning 68 in 43.1 innings. The 122nd-rated 2020 in New England also plays first base and outfield.

A trio of other lettermen are back in seniors Gavin Boyce (3B/P), Brendan Boyce (OF/P) and Andrew LaPlante (IF).

Promising newcomers include seniors Mark McGaughey (IF/P), Raymond Touchette (P), Billy Gonya (OF) and Eric Cieszynski (P). Touchette is a Wheaton recruit.

“With a senior-heavy class in their third year starting, we expect them to reduce mistakes, go out and compete and when the chips are down they’ve got to find a way to battle,” Painter explained. “Maybe we don’t expect that out of a younger group, but we expect that out of a veteran group,

“Pitching will obviously be the key,” Painter continued. “High school baseball is about throwing strikes and making the routine plays. Offensively you just need to do enough to keep in games We can run a bit and put the pressure on. so If we do that, throw strikes and play defense we could do pretty well.”

The addition of Windham, Portsmouth and Goffstown to Division I means more challenges for Painter, but that is nothing new to the ninth-year head coach looking to bring the first title back to Bishop Guertin since 1987.

“When I came here I wanted to bring more of a baseball-first approach,” Painter reflected. “Most of the guys back then were basketball kids playing baseball, there was not the full baseball culture. Now we have kids coming into the school that are baseball-first kids. At this point we now have kids interested in the school and baseball is the primary sport.”