PROCTOR

Rain , snow go away ? Hardly . In Proctor , the Phantoms are more apt to say “ bring it on .”

Games often get lumped together in a messy spring , and this year the Phantoms are well stocked with pitchers and can handle it .

“ I ’ m really excited about the pitching staff ,” said first-year coach Jeff Patch , whose club would have an advantage over most Division IV clubs . “ I ’ ve got some guys who can bring it .”

Joe Valerio has been an ace since he was an eighth-grader and Patch will have him around for three years . Lefty Derek Almond is back out for baseball . Add Tyler Carrington , hard-throwing Kyle Laughlin and Jacob May and the Phantoms have more than enough arms to handle a schedule logjam , not to mention a tournament . And the Phantoms are hungry , having endured a trainwreck ( 1-13 ) season last year after a stellar season the year before .

“ I have nine or 10 players who know the game ,” Patch , a member of two Proctor state title teams , said .

Solomon Parker will handle the catching chores . Nate Greb and Almond will be at first base , May and Laughlin at second , Carrington and Valerio at shortstop and Camden Richardson and Jacob Perkins at third .

Bartlett is the center fielder , probably most frequently flanked by Greb in right and Hunter Manfredi in left , with Jacob Plucin , Gabe Parker , Liam Beaulieu and Tyler Eugair in reserve . Beaulieu , grandson of former West Rutland baseball coach Frank Beaulieu , and Laughlin came over from West Rutland this spring when their program was cancelled for the second straight year .

FAIR HAVEN

There are three reasons Fair Haven ought to better its 8-10 season of 2017 .

It ’ s coach Adam Greenlese ’ s second year and the Slaters know what to expect of him ; Fair Haven returns a strong veteran club ; and Nathan Bathalon .

Bathalon is finally healthy and the big lefty could pitch to the potential that had Slaters fans excited back in his freshman season .

And he ’ s one of several quality arms for the Slaters .

“ I ’ m really excited about that ,” said Greenlese . “ Just having his presence on the mound is huge . He gives us a lot of innings . He was getting his reps in during the winter when he could . So far , so good .”

Not that anyone in this baseball-loving community needs further incentive but it ’ s stillthere ; the Slaters have a chance to win a major boys title in all three seasons , having already won championships in footballand basketball .

Aubrey Ramey showed a lot of good signs over the summer as a pitcher and Austin Ellis gave the Slaters quality starts last year so a solid foundation is set .

A surprise is that blue-chip catcher Aaron Szabo will move to the outfield withtalented sophomore Dylan Lee taking over behind the plate .

“ He ’ s just a brute ,” Greenlese said of Lee . “ He ’ s got the mentality and nothing gets by him .”

Szabo goes right to centerfield — “ he can track a ball like no one else ,” said Greenelese — and is joined by Andrew Lanthier , Drew Eddy and Brett Huntley .

Parker Morse and his great range

return to shortstop and the mound , Liam Tomasi is back at third and Austin Beayon will be at second and in the outfield .

The Slaters are strong at the plate and ran the bases aggressively last year , and that will not change .

“ There are not many guys to pitch around ,” Greenlese said .

MILL RIVER

A forgettable ( 2-15 ) 2017 season where star Mike Morgan was lost to an injury early gives way to a much rosier future .

“ Last year was not what we planned . But what that did for us is a lot of kids who were sophomores and juniors got to play a lot more ,” coach Sam Major said . “ That helps and we also got a couple of freshmen who are good athletes who I think might help out .”

They are Aidan Botti , a longtime catcher who brings enthusiasm along with his sound behind-the-plate skills , and Ryan Flanders , who has a good arm and can go and get it in the outfield . Both figure to help a Minutemen defense that committed “ about 100 ” errors last year , according to the coach .

“ If we could have cut that in half we could have won eight or nine games ,” Major said .

“ Just these freshmen will help a lot .”

Two-time all-Marble Valley League John Graves , the team ’ s super-sub utility man , leads the veterans .

American Legion veteran EJ Patch is in the middle of the infield , John Upton goes to the outfield after catching last season and Matt Roberts is back to help anchor the pitching staff . Eli Williams is at second

base and Daniel Graves , who started as a freshman , is another outfielder .

Pitching is a big question mark but part of the solution comes from Fair Haven transfer Justin Kingston .

“ He throws the ball really well and I think he will be our No . 1 ,” Major said .

Roberts is pencilled in at No . 2 and 6-foot-4 Will Farwell willgive the Minutemen a whole different look out of the bullpen . Major envisions him as a middle relief man .

“ I think our potential is very high but you never really know until you get out of the gym ,” Major said .

MSJ

New coach Garrett Brewer has a young team and isn ’ t afraid to see the Mounties fail . Taking chances is part of the growth process at MSJ after a one-and-done appearance in the D-IV tournament .

“ We ’ re going to attack the pitcher ,” said Brewer , who encourages his players to jump on good first pitches and to be ready to swing away on 3-0 counts .

Brewer , who ultimately would like to coach at the collegiate level , is hoping to build a program on his no-fear concept .

He has the help of his father , Jeff Brewer , a former Chicago Cubs draft pick , who has invaluable pitching insights on the game .

Ironically , bothBrewers played at Rutland High School , which at the time was a rival of the Mounties .

“ There ’ s going to be bumps and bruises but it just comes back to things we work on like fundamentals and limiting damage ,” Brewer

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