Although spring has yet to be sprung, the schedule shows the Chelsea High baseball team opening its 2014 season today (Thursday) when the Red Devils host Greater Lawrence at 4:00.
“It’s been a terrible spring training season,” said CHS head coach Alan Beausoleil. “It’s always short enough as it is before the season gets underway, but with the bad weather, it’s been shorter still.”
However, in the limited time that the Red Devils have been outdoors, including a pair of scrimmages with Marblehead, Beausoleil has been impressed with his team’s performance.
“We did a lot of things well against a Marblehead team that plays in a tough league (the Northeastern Conference),” said Beausoleil. “We have a lot of returning players whom we’re counting upon to take us a long way. Last year we had a 6-14 record, but we lost all five of our extra-inning games. Hopefully, with the experienced players we have on this year’s team and the leadership of our captains, those kind of close games will go into the win column for us.”
The Red Devils will be led by a quartet of captains, seniors Carlos Vega and Armando Montes and juniors Luis Rodriguez and Carlos Ramos. Other key varsity returnees include Luis Martinez, Francisco Mercedes, Yvad Rosario, Orlando Rodriguez, and George Hernandez. Strapping freshman Thomas Melanson figures to see a lot of action at catcher when Luis Rodriguez is taking a turn on the mound.
After the opener today with Greater Lawrence, the Devils will travel to take on Northeast Regional Vocational tomorrow.
Chelsea will be back in action next Thursday, playing Mystic Valley at Malden Catholic Stadium under the lights at 6:00 and then entertaining North Shore Tech next Friday.