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Phillips Academy Andover Expected To Be One of The Best

ANDOVER, Ma - Ten seniors, all committed to play sports in college, bring plenty of optimism to the Phillips Academy Andover baseball program in 2021.

Add in the top-rated sophomore in the country in Thomas White, and head coach Kevin Graber can hardly wait to get the upcoming season started.

“Typically we’ll have four or five impactful baseball players in each class,” explained Graber, who in 11 seasons as head coach at Phillips Andover has led the Big Blue to 11 straight Central New England Prep Final Four appearances. “This is an anomaly. There are kids I knew would be good, but others have totally surprised me how they’ve developed.”

Jonathan Santucci, Jack Penney, Matt Sapienza, LJ Keevan and Sebastian Mexico - ranked seventh, 10th, 36th, 38th and 39th, respectively, in the 2021 New England class -  headline a strong core of seniors that also includes Jacob Lapp, Eric Giarnese, Sam Rosenfield, Jack Palfrey and Ben Carbeau. 

Santucci is a Duke commit, Penney is headed to Notre Dame, Keevan is going to UMass-Lowell, Sapienza has a future at Georgetown and Mexico has committed to Fordham. In addition, Lapp is going to Tufts, Giarnese to Assumption, Rosenfield to Rochester and Palfrey to Harvard while Carbeau is a football commit to Wesleyan University.

“A lot of the teams that play in our league feature post-graduates but our roster has no post-grads,” Graber noted. “Our guys are true four-year seniors. We’re building from the ground up and developing these kids.”

Phillips Andover is loaded with pitchers this year led by southpaws White, Keevan and Santucci, who will man center field when not on the mound. Sapienza and Lapp add depth to the staff, which also will get innings from Mexico, a starting outfielder for the Big Blue.

“The majority of our arms are position players,” pointed out Graber.

It will be first base by committee for Graber’s crew, with White, senior Eric James and sophomore Trevor Grady penciled into the position. Lapp and freshman Isaac Lamson are second basemen with Penney, called by Graber “the best shortstop in New England,” leading the way up the middle. Palfrey is at third with Santucci, Keevan, Mexico and Giarnese rotating in the outfield.

Junior Tommy McAndrews, “a potential Division I player” according to Graber, will play catcher with switch-hitting freshman Jace Roosien another that can go behind the plate along with Carbeau.

More team depth comes from junior right-handed pitchers Jake Needham, Harrison Milbert and Skyler Bordiuk. Sophomore Cole Mascott (RHP, 1B, OF) and freshmen infielders Larry Hotaling and Ariel Miranda are others looking for playing time for Phillips Andover, which has won 11 Central New England Prep championships in history including four (2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018) in the past eight seasons played.

The top-ranked team in New England in the final poll in 2018 and 2019 will be without four graduates from a 2020 team that did not have an opportunity to play due to the coronavirus, Griffin Green (Virginia Tech), Tyler Cox (Dartmouth), Lucas Stowe (Trinity) and Peter Ling.

“We want this to be a great experience for our seniors, especially after the disappointment of not playing as juniors,” Graber said in looking ahead to this season. “We want these guys to leave here feeling really good about what they accomplished.

“There will be a target on our back,” added Graber. “I’m sure teams circle red around our name and want to beat us, but we embrace that challenge.”

One change to the season are no games against out-of-state teams or any that do not follow Covid protocols. The schedule consists of a weekly three-game series with a single contest on Friday and a Saturday doubleheader.

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