Pats to move forward under direction of Landy

By Desmond Bernal
Posted 4/6/17

Pilgrim baseball is looking to make some adjustments and improvements from last season. The Pats finished the regular season with a record of 8-10 last spring. However, they did enough to make the Division I playoffs,

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Pats to move forward under direction of Landy

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Pilgrim baseball is looking to make some adjustments and improvements from last season.

The Pats finished the regular season with a record of 8-10 last spring. However, they did enough to make the Division I playoffs, knocking out Cranston East, 7-2, in the first round, before being eliminated by Coventry with a 6-0 defeat.

The coach was Scott Bailey at the time and after that season, he decided to step down from the head coaching position. This left the Pats looking for a new head coach and they were lucky enough to grab Nolan Landy, who was the head coach at Warwick Vets. Landy finished the regular season with a record of 13-5, but unfortunately his team was knocked out in the Division II playoffs after losses to Prout and Smithfield.

With the closing of Vets, Landy and many of his players were separated, some went to Toll Gate and some went to Pilgrim. “It’s a new team, so it is going to be a big change trying to get to know all the new players, but I know I have my assistant coaches who will be able to assist me,” Landy said on the transition to a new team.

Landy was able to reunite with four of his former players on the Pilgrim team – one being one of his best hitters from last season in Kyle Denis. Denis had the team’s third-best batting average, hitting at a .340 clip on the season.

“Kyle has a big bat when needed and I know that he is going to be one of the big hitters on the team for Pilgrim,” Landy said regarding Pilgrim’s offense.

Other players that will be big contributors to the team this year are junior Evan O’Connor and senior Alec Bloomingburgh. “O’Connor will be our leadoff hitter this year. He has very good bat speed and also has a tremendous amount of speed around the bases,” Landy said about his starting centerfielder.

Going into the new season, Landy’s roster is in good shape with fifteen returners, highlighted by senior Zachary D’ Andrea and junior Matt Woods, who has already verbally committed to Bryant University to play baseball.

Woods led last year’s Pilgrim team in batting average as just a sophomore, while D’ Andrea is looking like he will be the top starting pitcher for the Pats this season.

Landy also has 11 new players that he is going to have to work into the team as well, as last year’s team had a total of 10 seniors. Two key seniors from last year’s squad were shortstop Tyler Perry and starting pitcher Bobby Garceau. Woods, who played second base last season, will be taking over that shortstop role this season. Cameron Olson, who came over from Vets, will be taking over Woods’ second base position.

Outside of that, the Pats have a bunch of players that can play a multitude of positions.

“I think this is very good because we can move players around and this gives me so many opportunities to work with, that way I am not stuck with one player in one certain position,” Landy said on Pilgrim’s depth.

Landy is looking forward to more local games against Toll Gate and Hendricken, as with the change in scheduling this season, every team in Division I will play each team once.

“Any time you get to play one of the best teams in the state in Hendricken, it is good to see what is working out for the team and what needs to be fixed,” Landy said.

The Pats’ first game was supposed to be April 4, but unfortunately it was postponed due to rain, so the next game for Pilgrim is today against South Kingstown at Old Mountain Field at 4 p.m.

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