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2025 New England High School Team Previews

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2025 Spring Team Preview: Bedford (NH)

BEDFORD, N.H. - William Chapman enters his 17th year at Bedford with a lot of optimism. After all, the program has found enormous success over the past decade, reaching the D1 state finals five times with one championship.

“I believe our program has a history of sustainability as we consistently compete for a state title every year,” explained Chapman. “We usually have a target on our backs and after our five-year run to the state championship, we have had many years of opponents coming after us with their best lineups and most competitive pitchers.”

There is more the head coach of the Bulldogs has to say in describing the program. 

“Our program is focused on competing on every pitch, creating a championship culture, and building mentally and physically strong adults,” Chapman said.

After going 13-9 a year ago, losing in the state quarterfinals to Pinkerton, Bedford has hopes of a strong campaign in 2025 led by the trio of Carter Crowley, Jack Hinton and Jimmy Gilbert. Both left-handed hitting senior infielders, Crowley is a Holy Cross commit and Hinton a St. Anselm signee. Gilbert, the 10th-rated junior right-handed pitcher in New England, is an Elon recruit.

Gilbert was 4-0 in 24 innings on the mound last year while batting .343 with 20 runs scored. Hinton had one win and one save in 22.1 frames while carrying a .290 average with 13 RBIs. Crowley hit .451 with 27 runs scored.

“Our biggest strength is pitching depth,” Chapman related. “We do not have many proven pitchers at the varsity level, but we have several pitchers all fighting to find time on the mound.  We had a successful JV season winning a championship, and many of those pitchers have continued to grow.

“I think most teams like to have a pitcher that can shut down most lineups and for us I believe that could be Elon commit Jimmy Gilbert, whose fastball can get into the low-90s.”

Chapman, who enters the season with a 215-99 coaching record, has additional praise about this year’s squad 

“We have a very versatile group of players that will give me several lineup options to explore and will provide healthy competition within the team,” Chapman noted.

Six players from last year’s team are now playing in college, while one returnee, Henry Dubois, has decided to focus on golf after helping Bedford win a state title in the fall and is not on this season’s roster 

“Our biggest weakness comes in the form of unproven talent,” Chapman said. “We have three consistent returnees in Crowley, Gilbert and Hinton, but that still leaves us six positions where players will be fighting for playing time.”

The head coach is of the belief a number of newcomers could make an impact.

“I think several players have the ability to burst onto the varsity scene and start making a name for themselves,” Chapman explained. “On the mound, sophomore Brendan Leung and juniors Jayden Denaw and Zack Papik had successful seasons on JV last year and will likely fight for time on the bump.

“In the field and at the plate, sophomore Jason Topf made a name for himself in the Showcase League this past fall and classmate Evan Bruno came back from injury last season finishing strong for JVs. Sophomore Nate Duquette will also be someone to watch if he can demonstrate the consistent power that he is capable of demonstrating.”

While there are questions, Chapman sees a lot to like about the 2025 edition of the Bulldogs.

“This group isn't afraid of hard work!” Chapman proclaimed. “Every year I run 6 am workouts starting in January, and this year I have had the biggest turnout despite lower total numbers than past years. We even have seventh and eighth graders attending the workouts to start learning how we operate at the high school level.

“This group doesn't seem to have a bunch of super stars just yet, but instead we have a bunch of solid players that work hard and are looking to compete and grow,” Chapman added. “We could at times see three or four sophomores on the field and I truly believe they will have success against older competitors.”

As for the keys to success, Chapman, who points to Exeter as the team to beat this season, sees nothing different this year.

“I think every season the keys to success are usually the same,” Chapman said. “You have to throw strikes and make hitters beat you on the mound. Free bases were an epidemic last year for us, and for the state.

“In the field, we have to limit the damage and make the routine plays,” Chapman concluded. “At the plate, we need to focus on having a plan, staying mentally in the at-bat, and putting the ball hard into play. If you do those few things consistently, every game will be close and you will have a chance to win.”

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