Tom Ryan as Defense Coach @ Tewksbury High

Tom Ryan, graduate of  Rockland High School 1997, has been chosen as head coach of  Methuen High School.  Tom, a standout athlete in football and baseball, went on to become Captain of Springfield College Football team. While there, the team made the playoffs twice, leading them to the top eight in the country as a senior. Tom went on to Tewksbury High School to teach English and History and became an assistant on the football team. He became defensive coordinator, helping the “Redmen” make it to the super bowl on a number of occasions.

Tom states, “I am looking forward to the challenge of being a head coach. Methuen has a good program and I hope to bring winning attitude to the team, using a good work ethic and mental preparation.”

Eagle Tribune Story

ROCKLAND ATHLETIC CLUB : 2013 BASEBALL ALERT

Rockland Athletic Club will be holding a Winter Baseball Camp at the Rockland High back Gym on Sundays from 11:30am to1:30pm beginning on January 13, 2013 until February 24, 2013. Instruction and help will be provided by Legion coaches from both Legion teams. Hitting and Pitching will be the focus in preparation for the upcoming High School and American Legion seasons. All baseball players  AGES 14 through 18  from both Rockland and Abington are urged to attend, to get a head start on the 2013 season.

Go to www.rocklandathleticclub.com for registration forms

Or Call Mike Garner @ 774-259-0487

Or Mike Loughlin @ 617-945-3897

REGISTRATION IS A MUST and the cutoff date is January 4th

District 10 American Legion

District 10 American Legion Baseball announced its postseason All-District Team today, as well as the establishment of postseason awards.

In conjunction with its prior establishment of a postseason All-District team, the District 10 board of directors voted last week at its monthly meeting to establish an annual District 10 Most Valuable Player, Pitcher of the Year, Umpire of the Year, Executive of the Year and Coach of the Year.

The establishment of the postseason accolades included a four-page ballot which included all District 10 All-District Team, 1st team Selections as the nominees for Most Valuable Player, all 1st team pitchers as the nominees for Pitcher of the Year, Coaches, umpires, team general managers and other team and zone officials.

Barnstable Post 206, which captured the 2012 Massachusetts American Legion State Championship title and represented the state at the 2012 American Legion Northeast Regionals in Old Orchard Beach, Maine in August, ran away with these inaugural awards.

District 10 American Legion Baseball Most Valuable Player went to Barnstable Post 206’s Dylan Morris, a senior three-sport athlete at Barnstable High School (football, basketball, baseball), shattered Post 206’s single-season individual hits record with 44 over the course of a 26-4-1 campaign. Morris also set a new team mark for batting average at .488 and his .590 on base percentage from the leadoff spot was also a new team record. Barnstable Post 206 American Legion baseball was established in Hyannis in 1930 and until this summer had never captured the District 10 Regular-Season Championship title or the Massachusetts American Legion State Championship. He also scored 37 runs, had 22 RBI, 22 walks and 14 SBs. Morris was also the District 10 American Legion Baseball All-Star Game East MVP in July. Morris received 77% of the votes for District MVP. Other District 10 players who received votes for District 10 American Legion Baseball Most Valuable Player were George Bradshaw of Brockton Post 35, Matt Nicholson of Middleboro Post 64 and Bobby Bray of Sandwich Post 188.

District 10 American Legion Baseball Pitcher of the Year Keegan Dellacona matched his unbeaten performance at Barnstable High School last spring by giving Post 206 a 7-0 mark this summer during the regular season and had a league-leading 0.79 earned run average. He struck out 70 against 15 BBs in 52.2 innings pitched during the regular season and was also the 2012 Old Colony League Pitcher of the Year. Dellacona attends the Community College of Rhode Island. Dellacona received 77% of the votes for Pitcher of the Year. Other District 10 pitchers who received votes for District 10 American Legion Baseball Pitcher of the Year were Alex Rozak of Plymouth and Brody Loughlin of Rockland Post 147.

The District 10 American Legion Umpire of the Year is one of the most well-liked and respected game officials in the state and it is not much of a surprise that in his five seasons as an American Legion umpire he has garnered the admiration of his peers and Zone 10 coaches and players.

The 2012 District 10 American Legion Umpire of the Year is Peter Marciano of Brockton, Mass., a former Brockton High standout athlete. Close behind Marciano was Mike Walker of Duxbury, a game official for more than 30 years.

The District 10 American Legion Coach of the Year and 2012 District 10 American Legion Executive of the Year is Sean Walsh of Barnstable Post 206. Walsh began coaching baseball in the spring of 1987 in Newfield, New York and has been the Barnstable Post 206 American Legion Head Coach and General Manager since 2007. The Post 206 American Legion Baseball program grew went from being 1-18-1 in Walsh’s first season to 26-4-1 in 2012 and captured the District 10 Regular Season Championship title as well as the 2012 Massachusetts American Legion State Championship. Barnstable Post 206 finished its regular season in District 10 play at 19-2-1 and defeated Taunton Post 103, Sudbury Post 191 and Wilbraham Post 286 en route to the state title and a bid in the Regionals.

As a general manager, Walsh established the first District 10 American Legion Baseball All-Star Game attended by over 1,000 fans including numerous collegiate coaches and professional scouts and established two collegiate scholarships for District 10 players. Barnstable Post 206 also held the distinction of having the sole National American Legion Baseball Scholarship Recipient in 2012.

Close in the voting behind Walsh for 2012 District 10 American Legion Coach of the Year was Rockland Post 147’s Thom Roache whose team finished 12-10 during the regular season but staged major upsets as it advanced through District 10 postseason and the state South Sectionals. Deeply admired and respected throughout American Legion baseball, Roache has worked diligently to help promote American Legion baseball and youth baseball in general for the past two decades in Rockland and throughout the state. His “Cinderella” Post 147 squad defeated a tough Wareham Post 220 team in the District playoffs, eliminated Marshfield Post 88 from the South Sectionals and eventually fell to Norwood Post 70 in Round three of the state South Sectionals. Post 147 had a 3-3 postseason record.

Other coaches who received votes for 2012 District 10 American Legion Coach of the Year included Bob Hurley of Kingston Post 387 and Orleans Post 308 Head Coach John Mattson.

Other team and district officials who received votes for 2012 District 10 American Legion Baseball Executive of the Year included Scott Ruoff of Whitman Post 22 and Thom Roache of Rockland Post 147.

The 2012 District 10 American Legion Baseball All-District Team was loaded with talent this year, once again. Each team in District 10 selects its own representatives for the postseason All-District team. The First Team selections are as follows:

2012 District 10 American Legion Baseball All-District Team

1st Team All-District Team

Rockland Post 147:

1B – John Mulready – hit .435 (37-85), 24 RBI.; 17 Runs… No errors 27 games – 3-sport star and two-time baseball captain at Rockland High School
RHP-SS – Brody Loughlin — hit .308 (28-91) – 11 RBI.; 12 Runs; 5 Wins… spun Post 147’s first no-hitter since 2003.
RHP-SS – Sean Roche — hit .358 (29-81) – 5 RBI.; 6 triples, 1 HR 21 Runs; 2 Wins

Hingham Post 120:
RHP/3B – Sean Greene — .544 batting avg., 31 hits, 20 RBI. Led Post 120 in pitching with 4 wins and 3.50 ERA. Zone 10 West All-Star selection… will be attending Worcester Polytechnical Institute this fall. SS – Chuckie Connors — .448 batting avg., 30 hits, 12 stolen bases… led Post 120 in runs scored with 32. 2012 all-star game selection… will attend Notre Dame this fall.
1B – Eddie Bowler — Led Post 120 in home runs (4), RBI (38) and batted .368… was selected to play in the Bay State Games and is a co-captain-elect of the Hingham High School Baseball.

Plymouth Post 40:
RHP — Alex Rozak – ESPNBoston.com All-State Team… and numerous other accolades… one of the region’s top hurlers… at UMass-Amherst.
SS — David Murphy
3B — Mark Mineo

Marshfield Post 88:
LHP – Kevin Kwedor
SS – Brett Morgan, batted .442
3B – Mark Pomella, batted .402

Sandwich Post 188:
3B/RHP – Bobby Bray – Batted .431 (31-72) with 13 RBI and 3 2Bs; On the hill, he went 3-1 with 29 Ks in 30 ip and only 9 BBSs while allowing 15 hits and 5 earned runs for a 1.17 ERA.
OF – Michael Pratt – Batted .398 (27-68) with 7 doubles, 3 triples and 14 RBI.; .588 SLG pct.

Kingston Post 387:

RHP — Mike Lundin — record of 5-2, 50K’s, ERA: 2.05, WHIP: 0.95
SS — Matt Woodman — AVG:.333 OBP:.432 SLG:.400 OPS:.832
LHP – Zach Schindler – Zach started 5 games with a record of 1-1, 1 SV, 36K’s, ERA: 1.04 WHIP: 1.26

Bridgewater Post 203:

CF — Mike Muir – .472 ave, 28 runs scored, 1HR
1B/DH — Matt Rubino: .447 avg. 3HR
RHP — Cody Medairos: 4-1, 26 Ks 32 Innings, 1.88 ERA

Orleans Post 308:

RHP-3B-1B — Nick Taber — Batting avg .414; SLG .486; 15RBI; Pitching ERA 2.98 WHIP 1.541 23K
LHP-1B — Wes Brown – Batting avg .397; SLG .552; 13 RBI ; Pitching ERA 5.71 WHIP 1.989 29K
RF — Joey Ogden — Batting avg .325; SLG .442; 12 RBI

Whitman Post 22:

1B — Chris Adams — .419 avg.; .500 OBP; .661 slug. pct.; 3 HR

Brockton Post 35:

3B – George Bradshaw – .424 avg. ; 15 RBI; 25 runs scored; 16 BBs; 8k; 12 SBs
SS — Chris Samaras — .330 avg.; 12 RBI; 15 runs scored; 6 BBs 13 k 9 doubles 1 triple
RF — Joel Woodbridge — .371 avg. 26 RBI 18 runs scored 10 BBs 18 k 6 doubles 5 triples 1 hr; 4-2 50.66 inn pitched 3.18 era 42 k 36 BBs 2 saves
LHP – David Tarr — 6-1 52.66 inn pitched 2.39 era 59 k 30 BBs

Duxbury Post 223:

C — Brian Hocking — .407 avg. – 18 runs scored; 16 RBI; 3HR; 2 SBs; 7 BBSs

Pembroke Post 143:
P – Luke Nagle – 3-1 with 2.79 ERA and WHIP .97

Barnstable Post 206:

CF – Dylan Morris, .488, 1 HR, 40 hits, 23 RBI, 22 BBs, 14 SBs, 1 error in 22 games; 11 – 2Bs (regular season) – Selected Team MVP and was MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game… (40-82 = .488) – 6 Ks; shattered team record for most hits in one season (regular season, 40); On base pct. = .590
RHP – Keegan Dellacona, 7-0, 0.79 ERA, 70 Ks, 52.2 Innings, 15 BBSs – Team Pitcher of the Year
2B – Mark Brodd, .442 avg., 38 hits, 20 RBI – (38-86 = .442) struck out 2 times
DH – Alex Pernick, .398 avg., 41 RBI, 22 SBs, 2 HRs, 14 2Bs – (33-83 = .398) – 7 Ks; shattered team record with 41 RBI and team record for slugging pct. At .663 (3 Hrs/14 doubles/1 triple)
RHP – George Bent, 5-0, 2.97 ERA, 46 Ks

Hawkeye Athletic Club:

1B — Nicholas Cogliano — .475 BA .750 OBP
RHP — Zac Cooney — 6-1 with a 1.67 ERA

Middleboro Post 64:

RF-1B-LHP — Patrick Nicholson-.425 ave,; 1.93 ERA

Wareham Post 220:

P — Matt Beatty — finished the summer w/ a 5-2 record and a1.88 ERA.
SS/3B — Jimmy Gamache — finished the season w/ .452 avg., 1 HR, led the team w/24 RBI
2B/Utility — Billy Peterson — Sr. finished w/ a .456 avg. and led the team w/ 22 runs scored

2nd Team All-District Team

Hingham Post 120:

C — Kevin Minassian — Kevin threw out 13 runners this year most all of them in key late-game situations. He compiled a .283 batting avg… also had an on base percentage of .417. Kevin was selected to the League All Star team and will be attending New England College next year. (19-66 = .283)

2B — Robbsie Madden — .354 batting avg. and an on base percentage of .568. He will be attending LaSalle College next year.

Marshfield Post 88:
CF – Max Ditondo, batted .370
C – Zac Perry, batted .301
1B – Jon Ryan, batted .311

Pembroke Post 143:
OF – Ryan Twigg, batted .315
INF – Evan Morris, batted .322

Sandwich Post 188:
RHP/1B – Wyatt Hamilton, batted .404 (21-52) with 12 RBI and 12 runs scored
LHP/LF – Kyle Kasprzyk, batted .315 (17-54) with 15 RBI and 1 HR and went 3-1 with 17 Ks.
SS/RHP – Jason Hendy, batted .293 (22-75) with 21 RBI, three triples, three HRs and 7 doubles and on the mound went 3-1

Rockland Post 147:

OF-3B-RHP: Chris Donovan — hit .265 (18-68) – 6 RBI.; 20 Rs; KEY HITS; 3-0 pitching
CF-P – Matt Nicholson: hit .347 (26-75) – 5 RBI.; 16 Rs; 3-0 pitching

Orleans Post 308:

C – Trevor Thomas — Batting avg .286; SLG .390; 16 RBI
SS/2B — Ben Rome — Batting avg. .383; SLG .468

Whitman Post 22:

CF/P — Zach Corcoran — .280 batting avg., 2 pitching wins, 1.75 ERA

Brockton Post 35:

UTIL — Trevor Packard – .283 avg. 17 RBI 13 runs scored 16 BBs 19 k 9 doubles

Barnstable Post 206:

RF – Everett Walsh, .318 avg., 22 RBI, 28 hits, 12 SBs; 19 Rs; 9 BBSs
SS – Will Toffey, .400 avg., 28 hits, 22 RBI, 21 SBs; 23 BBSs
RHP – Conor Walsh, 3-0, 3.50 ERA
RHP – Pete Liimatainen, 4-0, 2.10 ERA
LF – Luke Besse, .299 avg., 15 RBI, 20 hits, 15 BBs

Join the forum discussion on this post

To Register go to www.rocklandathleticclub.com and follow directions on the Junior Legion (Eagles) Home Page.

You can also call Mike Garner at 774 – 259 – 0487 for questions and info 

SO. SECTIONALS GAME 2

ROCKLAND POST 147 = 4

MARSHFIELD POST 88 = 2

Rockland Post 147 and Marshfield Post 88 have faced off only three times and all three have gone to Post 88. Marshfield is a tough, gritty, dirt dog team, that will beat you if you don’t bring your best to the fight. It took four times but Rockland finally put the right combination together, and survived the rough contest. Post 147 went with Brody Loughlin a potential Babson College prospect, while Post 88 went with Kevin Kweedor an SNHU prospect. This could only mean a pitching duel was in store, and it turned out to be just that. Loughlin pitched seven innings with seven strike outs, while Kweedor pitched six innings with five strike outs. Rockland finally broke the scoreless game in the top of the sixth inning, when Matt Nicholson reached first on an error, then Cejay Suarez battled Kweedor for a 10 pitch at bat finally resulting in a walk, next Brody Loughlin singled to load the bases. Kweedor struggled at this point and hit Chris Donovan with a pitch to force in Nicholson from third base. Nate Littman up next for Rockland smashed a single to right center, which was bobbled, and with all Post  147 runners going on contact, it cleared the bases and gave Rockland a four to nothing lead. Post 88 however was not down yet. In the bottom of the seventh, Loughlin gave up a lead off triple, and then followed that with a home run to left, giving Post 88 two runs and some life. Rockland had to make some plays and they did, and were finally victorious over Marshfield.

 On The Positive; Brody Loughlin pitched a great game with seven strike outs. Nate Littman had the key hit to break the jinx, and went 2 for 3 at the plate. Cejay Suarez had a great at bat causing the opposing pitcher to get tired. Rocklands’ defense was just good enough to win.

SO. SECTIONALS GAME 1

ROCKLAND POST 147 = 1

NORWOOD POST 70 === 9

Rockland Post 147 after doing a great job getting to the South Sectional Tourney, ran into a buzz saw team in the form of Norwwod Post 70. Post 70 flashed the leather on defense, and showed some offensive clout, to back up their 18 win season. Rockland Post 147 did not fare as well. Post 147 out hit Norwood, with at least one hit every inning, except for the sixth inning, but they could not string any attack together off PJ. King, the Norwood starter. Rockland’s best chance over the six innings came in the fourth, when a single and a walk off King got Tim Rajotte to ground to third and Post 70, Sean O’Neill stepped on third and threw to second for a double play. The usually efficient starter Ken Turner fell victim to Norwood Designated Hitter Anthony Perriello, who stroked a three run home run to center field and put Rockland’s back to the wall. Rockland hit the ball well enough, but the defensive speed of Norwood’s outfield was quite impressive, and took away some possible extra base hits. Two errors by Rockland did not help, and actually extended the Norwood rally and Turner’s pitch count. Post 147 did score one run in the top of the seventh to prevent the shut out, when Tim Rajotte singled and stole second, then scored when Andrew Elliott singled.

On The Positive; Donovan, Nicholson, Loughlin, Littman, Rajotte, Elliott, and Alexander all had hits. Ryan Brown took the mound in relief of Turner and did very well. 

GAME 3 PLAYOFFS

ROCKLAND POST 147 = 5

WAREHAM  POST 220 = 4

Rockland Post 147 Legion Baseball team was about to enter serious uncharted territory if they could pull off a win in game three of the District 10 playoffs. The winner would advance to the Legion South Sectionals and represent Zone 10 as one of the four best teams in the District which contains 17 teams and the 2012 State Champion, Barnstable Post 206. Rocklands’ 18 players all contributed at some point in the successful season to get to this privileged position, but it would be up to the nine on the field tonight to pull off the upset of the District and seal a dance with destiny. The pumped up Post 147 “Raiders” came out swinging in the top of the first inning grabbing three quick runs, on one hit, off of a stunned Wareham Post 220. Brody Loughlin’s double drove in Chris Donovan and John Mulready, who both reached base with walks by the Wareham starter Zack Kirby. Post 147 would pad their three run lead in the top of the fifth inning when Matt Rakoski singled, then Chris Donovan singled and John Mulready would work a base on balls to load the bases. Cejay Suarez , the hero of game two, slapped a fielders choice to short, scoring Rakoski, and on the attempt of a double play, the Wareham second baseman over threw first , allowing Donovan to also score on the error. The Raiders now had a five to nothing lead. The Rockland starter Chris Donovan, held the Wareham hitters to four hits over five innings, but in the bottom of the sixth inning thing got dicey. Post 220 struck Rockland pitching for four hits and four runs, putting the Rockland lead in jeopardy. The Rockland coaching staff called on Monday’s starter Brodly Loughlin to close out the game on short rest, and he did just that. Loughlin pitched a 1,2,3 inning and Rockland Post 147 did the improbable and beat the number 2 seed. This team capitalized on Wareham mistakes all series, and stayed focused on the plan set up back in June, to get on base, and then the next guy moves you over. They also grasped the concept that defense and error free games will most likely put you in position to win. Selah.

On The Positive; Chris Donovan stepped up and pitched 5 great innings, and also went 2 for 3 at the plate. Brody Loughlin reached back and gave his all to close out the game, and also went 2 for 4 at the plate. Matt Rakoski got his first hit and it came when Rockland would need runs. Cejay Suarez’s hit actual scored the winning run this game. Sean Alexander had 2 spectacular defensive plays at second base to keep the game from getting out of control. Rockland advances to the South Sectionals July 29th.

Reported by Thom Roache