In the wake of rising up from the fifth seed and winning the Division I baseball championship last spring, coach Brent Demas’ superb Londonderry High Lancers lost a lot of talent to graduation.
But as he assesses his 2015 Lancers following a three-day scrimmage trip to Connecticut last week, Demas finds himself with an athletic group with plenty of promise that still needs some seasoning but may be capable of plenty of good stuff on the diamond.
Londonderry, which went 19-7 last spring in bagging the D-I crown, has battle-tested returning starters in seniors Colby Joncas (catcher), Geoff Kayo (second base/pitcher), and Mike Ryan (outfield), and sophomores Jonny Meskell (third base) and Nick Salcito (OF/P).
Other varsity returnees include versatile senior Fred MacKay-Wright (OF/2B), juniors Nick Musto (P/first base) and Jimmy Zimolka (OF), and sophomore Brody Dupuis (infield/designated hitter).
The squad’s list of promising newcomers is lengthy and includes senior Matt Ross (P), juniors Cam Fennell (IF), Noah Tavano (P/IB), Tim McEachern (IF/OF/P), and Bailey Hamilton (P), and sophomore Xander LaPlante (P/C/3B).
When looking at what he thinks his 2015 group’s keys to success will be, Demas said, “A lot of our strength lies in the work ethic and attitude this team has demonstrated. We still have a lot of moving pieces, but feel we will be competitive again this year. The team has some first-year players that we have confidence in, but they need to adjust to the speed of the varsity game. The quicker we can get them to that point, the better off we will be. This is a very athletic team, and we plan on utilizing that.”
And when he looks at the rest of D-I and notes opponents he thinks will be among the strongest, the LHS skipper pointed to Spaulding of Rochester, Dover, Nashua North, Bedford, and Pinkerton.
Weather and field conditions permitting, the Lancers will begin playing their official 2015 games next Monday, April 13, on the old junior varsity field behind the plateau parking lot at the north end of the school. They will play host to the rival Pinkerton Academy Astros that afternoon in a rematch of the 2014 Division I title game.
A scrimmage at home against Salem High is scheduled for April 10.