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Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - Matt McGuire’s return to Portsmouth had a few bumps in the road. But with only one player lost from a 7-11 squad that reached the playoffs before being knocked out in the quarterfinals, expectations are high for the Patriots this spring.

“We essentially have the entire roster back,” explained McGuire, who was head coach at Portsmouth in 1998-99, returned in 2011 and was varsity assistant from 2012-17 before taking over the program again last year. “We’re hoping with a year of experience and all of them playing competitive baseball last summer, that we’ll be okay.”

If a strong pitching staff means anything, Portsmouth should be much improved in 2019.

Two-way standouts Andrew Preuit and M.T. Morrissey headline the rotation, with each at first base when the other is on the mound. Both right-handers, Preuit, ranked 170th in the 2019 class of New England, is a Salve Regina commit while Morrissey, a junior ranked 118th in New England’s 2020 class, is a Fairleigh Dickinson recruit. A 6-2 225-pounder, Preuit fanned 61 in 51 innings last year with a 2.84 ERA while Morrissey, a 6-1 165-pounder, struck out 30 in 28 frames.

Depth on the hill comes from junior Liam Griffiths (ranked 477 in NE 2020) and sophomore Connor Freitas (ranked 215 in NE 2021), who also plays third base.

Senior Kyle Bicho, a football standout as well who has committed to Wesleyan, will DH this season due to a football injury after an all-state year at first base. Bicho hit .408 last season with four home runs and 28 RBIs.

Left-handed hitting Brian Hamilton, a senior signed with Rhode Island for football, was all-league a year ago and returns in center field following a .353 year last spring. Juniors Simon Ray and Ben Gesmondi are other outfielders for Portsmouth, with junior Robert Yates, a .289 hitter last year, back at either second base or third..Roy is a left-handed hitter ranked 452nd in New England’s 2020 class while the right-handed hitting Gesmondi is rated 243rd

Two sophomores will have key roles again for the Patriots this season, with Tim McGuire, the son of the head coach, back at shortstop after earning all-league honors in 2018. McGuire, the 31st-rated 2021 in New England, is a left-handed hitter who batted .283 in 2018. He will be joined in the lineup by classmate Christopher Bulk, the 111th-rated 2021 in New England who caught every inning last season.

“We started a lot of freshmen and sophomores last year and we’re hoping it will pay dividends this year,” noted McGuire, who enters his 27th year as a high school baseball coach.

“Health is our biggest concern,” explained McGuire, who is hoping Hamilton, a three-year starter, can overcome a current leg injury. “I know we will hit, but after Morrissey and Preuit we needed consistency with our pitching.”

It was 2008 when Portsmouth last made an appearance in the Final Four.

“Our expectations are to be at the top of our division and make a run at it, but our league is very, very competitive,” McGuire said about D-I in the state. “We’ll hit and we’re hoping for consistent pitching. Our defense will be steady, not like last year when we were so young. I think the sky’s the limit for this group.”

McGuire was hoping that would be the case upon returning to Portsmouth.

“I wanted to bring a positive attitude to the program,” McGuire said about coming back to coach where he did two decades prior. “I want to create a steady and hard work ethic while also bring a familiarity with the tradition of baseball at Portsmouth.”