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Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - A Division II state championship has Portsmouth moving up to Division I this year. How the Clippers fare could depend on finding a leader to the pitching staff.

“Like most every other team, we worry about pitching depth,” head coach Tim Hopley said. “With the graduation of ace Trevor Van Allen (now at the University of Rochester), we have a spot open for a number one starter with three or four candidates pushing hard.”

Timm Kutzer, a 6-2 220-pounder who missed the 2018 season following Tommy John surgery, and junior Oscar Lalime, a 5-11 175-pounder who was 5-2 with two saves and a 0.71 ERA a year ago, are contending for the top spot in the rotation.

Sophomore Ryan Minckler, a 6-2 175-pounder who transferred to Portsmouth from Thailand, is also in the hunt to be the ace with seniors John Swenson (3-0, 1.61 ERA), a 6-2 210-pounder, and Anthony Gagliano (2-0, 2.55 ERA), a 6-1 145-pounder, also pushing for innings.

Nearly all of the remaining starters are back from a team that beat Goffstown 7-6 in the finals to complete an 18-1 campaign in 2018.

“It looks like positional depth will be a plus for us,” Hopley noted. “We return three starters in the infield, all three outfielders and our catcher. And there’s quality backups all around the field which will help as the season goes along.”

Jack Russo (.357), Drew Hudson (.361) and Myles Sargent (.455, 28 RBIs)  bring experience to the infield. Russo, a 5-9 190-pound junior, will play first base with Hudson, a 5-7 140-pound senior, at second and Sargent, a 5-9 165-pound sophomore, the shortstop.

Cal Hewitt, the seventh-rated junior in New England, headlines the returnees in the outfield. The 6-3 185-pound switch-hitter who batted .361 with two home runs and 19 RBIs a year ago, is a Vanderbilt recruit. Aaron Lundgren (.278) and Lalime (.250) will join Hewett in the outfield with Jacob Grant (.239) again behind the plate for Hopley, now in his 24th season at the helm of the Clippers.

“We expect to compete every time out,” Hopley said. “There are a bunch of good teams out there and time will tell if we’re one of them. We’re preparing like we want to be, which is a good first step.

“The keys to success for us are to play good simple baseball, get good swings at good pitches, throw strikes, locate on the mound and make the routine plays defensively. There are not a lot of secrets in this game. The teams that do those things the best usually stack up pretty well in the end.”