Follow on Twitter- @PBNewEngland
Follow on Instagram- @PBNewEngland

Interested in attending a Prep Baseball New England event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.

New England Diamond Notes: April 7-13

It has been a remarkable season thus far for Sachin Gopal.

The Dexter Southfield senior has done it all, both at the plate and on the mound. The Navy commit is hitting .667 on the season, with six singles, two doubles, two runs scored and a pair of RBIs while also stealing a base. 

But that is only a small part about what the 26th-ranked 2025 right-handed pitcher in New England has done for Dexter Southfield. Gopal owns wins over two league foes, a 2-1 victory over Exeter back on April 2 and a 1-0 blanking of Andover this past week, striking out nine and walking two in 9.2 innings on the mound with a 0.72 ERA for the season. 

So who else had big weeks? Read on… 

HOT STICKS

Luke Maltacea and Lucas Sarno belted big home runs to propel their squads to impressive victories this week.

Maltacea, the catcher for Noble & Greenough and a George Washington commit, hit a game-tying home run in the fifth inning and walked twice in a win over Lawrence Academy. The 12th-rated senior backstop in New England finished the week 3-4, while also throwing out three potential base stealers. For the season Maltacea is 6-10 at the plate with four RBIs.

Meanwhile, Sarno was clutch when needed for Austin Prep, hitting a two-out grand slam in the top of the seventh to rally the sixth-rated team in Massachusetts from a 2-0 deficit to a 4-3 victory over Deerfield Academy.

The top-ranked sophomore shortstop in New England has now scored 11 runs, driven in nine and is 5-5 stealing bases, while carrying a .375 average on the year. 

There were other standouts with the bat worth mentioning as well…

- Ryan Miley of Northridge continued hitting at a .500 clip with a 3-6 week that included a home run, RBI, walk, two runs scored and three stolen bases. The senior center fielder is now 5-10 at the dish on the season.

- Mason Tarantino went 5-8 with three walks, three runs, a double and a stolen base for Lincoln-Sudbury. The eighth-rated 2026 outfielder in New England, Tarantino plays second base for his high school team.

- Tommy Gately of King Phillip Regional had five hits in nine at-bats including a double and triple, driving in three runs, scoring twice and stealing a base. The uncommitted senior is ranked 152nd in New England.

- Belmont Hill’s Andrew Hildebrandt had a nice week going 4-6 with two doubles, a stolen base and a run. Two of the hits came against Lawrence Academy, including a double off Duke commit John Paone, the 15th-ranked senior RHP in the nation. 

- Cam Lynch, the 39th-ranked 2025 catcher in New England, was 7-11 at the plate in three games pushing the Wellesley junior to 9-16 on the season. 

- Josh Bouchard, of St. John’s, hit .556 on the week going 5-9 with two home runs, six RBIs and three runs scored, producing a 1.822 OPS. Bouchard is the 29th-ranked 2026 outfielder in New England.

- Bridgewater-Raynham Regional senior shortstop Quinlan Keefe stole three bases and hit two doubles during a 4-8 week.

- Tyler Kisling was on fire last week with five runs scored, four doubles, four RBIs and a stolen base, going 5-6 at the plate. The Massachusetts-Lowell commit, the sixth-ranked senior outfielder in New England and 22nd-rated 2025 in Connecticut, carried a .600 average through the first four games of the season for Canterbury.

- Senior Michael Huntington was outstanding for Attleboro, the No. 7 team in Massachusetts, going 5-7 with three runs, three stolen bases, two RBIs and a walk while also making a diving catch in right field in two big division wins over Milford and Mansfield.

- St. Paul Catholic senior catcher Cal Chance hit two doubles in a perfect 3-3 day at the plate, while also getting on base via a walk against Ansonia helping Coby Dagatta, the seventh-rated sophomore RHP in New England, to the win.     

TWO-WAY STANDOUTS

RHAM only got in one game last week but Fayz Baig made it count.

The fourth-rated senior left-handed pitcher in New England threw five innings of one-hit shutout ball while striking out five and walking one in an 8-2 victory over Avon.

The Long Island University commit also did his part at the plate going 3-3 with two singles and a double, driving in a pair of runs. 

There were other players also worth noting that came up big at the dish as well as pitching this week.

- Taunton is the top-ranked team in Massachusetts and Johnny Escobalez is a big reason why. The 15th-rated 2025 southpaw in New England did not surrender an earned run in a three-hitter, fanning six. The uncommitted senior now has two wins and a save on the season, striking out 16 in 13 innings with just one walk. Escobalez also scored two runs and drove in one during the week with two hits.

- Daniel Vazquez drove in two runs while also picking up a win over Dover Sherborn with a five-hit seven-strikeout performance. The Medfield senior is hitting .545 with six RBIs and two home runs on the campaign while the 58th-rated 2025 RHP in New England has also struck out 17 in 10 innings on the mound.

- Four was the magic number for Duxbury’s Brady Wilson. The 62nd-rated senior outfielder in New England scored four runs while pitching four no-hit innings with four strikeouts. Wilson was 2-4 at the plate for the week with two walks. On the season Wilson is 2-0 with 11 Ks in 8.2 frames, giving up just one hit.

- St. George’s Heuer Erdle had one hit and scored one run while stealing four bases to move his season total to six. The junior shortstop also did not give up an earned run in two innings with two strikeouts.

- A hockey standout for Canton, Teddy Shuman is also getting it done on the baseball field. The junior third baseman drove in four runs on a 5-8 week, scoring two runs.

STRONG PITCHING

Anthony Burt made it two wins in two starts for West Warwick, striking out six and giving up just one hit in five innings this week. The junior right-hander, who was 4-0 a year ago, now has 15 Ks on the season.

There were more good outings reported on the hill …

- Andrew Manzo needed just 75 pitches in a two-hit shutout over Xavier. The New Haven senior right-hander, a Mitchell College recruit, struck out seven and walked one.

- John Devine did not give up a run in six innings leading Putnam Science to a 1-0 win over WInchendon Prep, the No. 4 team in Massachusetts. The senior right-hander is a Central Connecticut State commit.

- Malden Catholic’s John MacDonald gave up one hit in six innings, not surrendering an earned run while fanning eight. MacDonald is a 6-5 195-pound uncommitted senior right-hander.

- Acton-Boxborough senior southpaw Graeme Giannetto put four batters down on strikes and did not give up an earned run in a five-inning win.

YOUTH SHINES

There is youth, and then there is youth. At Margarita Munz, Ma., Yoelvin German is making a name for himself on the varsity despite just being a seventh grader. The 2030 P/3B/OF went 2-4 on the week with an RBI at the plate. On the mound, German threw a four-inning complete game giving up one hit and one earned run with 10 strikeouts.

For the season, German has a 1.105 ERA with a dozen Ks in six innings.

There were also freshmen and sophomores that came up big this week…

- Nick Penicaud did a little bit of everything for Winchester. The sophomore right-hander gave up one run on two hits in six innings pitching to pick up the win over Arlington. Against Stoneham, Penicaud was 1-2 at the plate while also earning the win on the mound. Penicaud also had the game-winning hit in a 6-5 extra-inning victory over Melrose.

- The numbers for Deerfield Academy sophomore Colton Simas and freshman Barrett Adams are very similar to date. Simas, a 1B/SS, had two hits this past week and is now 5-8 on the season with three runs scored and three RBIs. Adams, a second baseman, also produced a pair of hits for a Deerfield team that had just 10 hits on the week. Adams is hitting .500 on the season at 5-10 to go along with three runs and three RBIs.

- Will Haggerty, the second-rated sophomore in Rhode Island, was 2-5 with three walks, a hit by pitch, two runs, two stolen bases and an RBI for Moses Brown.

- Cole Henebry threw a six-hit shutout to lead Noble & Greenough to a 1-0 win over Middlesex. The sophomore right-hander fanned eight to push his season total to 11 in 10 innings.

- Sophomore shortstop CJ Herrick was 4-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs for Medfield while freshman catcher Nathan Bills went 4-7 with three RBIs and two runs.

- Gus Witt struck out 11 and walked just one, surrendering one earned run in a complete-game win for Hopkins. The sophomore right-hander gave up just six hits in his 95-pitch outing and now has 23 Ks in 15 innings on the season with a 2-1 record.

- Ben Dahlstedt lost a no-hitter in the seventh inning but went the distance for a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in The Governor’s Academy win over Thayer. Dahlstedt is the No. 20 sophomore RHP in New England.

Recent Articles