Around the Horn: At 250-win milestone, Bettencourt still has Peabody going strong

May 11—Peabody High head coach Mark Bettencourt looked out at the pitcher's mound in a recent battle with Danvers and could only chuckle at how much his baseball life has come full circle.

"Mike Moroney," Bettencourt said, pointing towards Danvers' stud sophomore right-hander. "My last year in the North Shore Baseball League, playing for Champions, was one of his dad's first years in the league. Now I'm coaching against his son? Wow."

Last week, Bettencourt hit a fairly rare milestone in North Shore circles by earning his 250th career victory. The head coach of his alma mater for the last 18 years (in his 17th season with 2020 lost to the pandemic), the man known throughout the Tanner City as 'Coach Betts' wasn't particularly interested in how many wins or titles he's amassed when asked about it recently.

He was, however, appreciative to know how many lives he's touched while spending what now amounts to a lifetime as a high school coach.

"I'm not in this for the wins. I love coaching baseball — it's a job, but I'd do it for free," said Bettencourt, who played baseball at Boston College and is now a patrolman in Lynnfield. "I have fun at the field every day. Being a police officer, sometimes you see the bad side of society. This is my release — it's not work for me."

It's a little bit surreal to look back at Bettencourt's first win as Peabody head coach. The Tanners were coming off back-to-back Division 1 North final appearances but had an entirely new cast of characters when he took over; the baseball diamond wasn't even named for John Bezemes yet, as Bettencourt would spearhead that effort later on.

The first of 250 (and counting) was a 3-1 victory over visiting Cambridge in which Mike Gallo struck out 11 in a masterful debut.

"There was a huge picture of me in The Salem News and it said 'A Horse To Ride' — I still have a copy of it," recalled Gallo, who went on to pitch in college, set a couple of North Shore Navigators records, and got a tryout with the Washington Nationals.

"Coach Betts helped me go from a thrower to a pitcher. I used stuff he taught me for the rest of my career, and the special thing is that it never stopped at the field. I've been in touch with him for 17 years, anything I've ever needed advice on in my life. I'm proud of him for getting to 250 and proud to have earned a few of those wins."

A born coach, there's almost no sport Bettencourt hasn't taught in Peabody.

He's been the high school's head football coach since 2013, has won state championships in both Little League softball and CYO basketball with his daughters (Isabel, Abby and Lizzy) and coached his son, Mark Jr. to a state Little League championship last summer for Peabody West.

High school baseball is his first love. Working along with great assistants like his dad, Manny, the late Gary Linehan, Seith Bedard, Garrett Greer, Rob Young and Pat Conrad over the years, the Tanners run a tight ship with hard, sometimes, long practices. Bettencourt upped the ante for thinking man's baseball in Peabody by emphasizing the running game, frequently racking up more than 100 steals as a team in the early years, and pushing the pace.

Success followed. Starting in the Greater Boston League before joining the Northeastern Conference, his teams won 10 consecutive league titles from 2006-15. Even as decreasing Little League numbers in the city and increasing defections to private schools have lessened Peabody's margin for error, Bettencourt's winning percentage remains .680 (250-118).

This year's team sits at 7-5 and plans to make it 16 state tournament appearances in Bettencourt's 17 seasons with a strong finish. They face a crucial game with Swampscott Wednesday at home (4:30 p.m.) as they jockey for position atop the NEC's Lynch Division.

"We're a scrappy bunch," said captain and right-handed ace Justin Powers. "For the seniors, it's our first full baseball season since we had no sophomore year and last year was short. We're trying to make the most of it. We know we're not going to hit 40 homers; we're going to have to grind it out and be scrappy."

The '22 Tanners are a tight-knit group with a short bench and a lot of personality. Most of their games have been low-scoring; they've played five games decided by one or two runs. They're just as likely to win by executing a key pick-off play or a squeeze bunt as they are by getting a two-out gap shot.

"This year's team is a bit of a throwback. I offer them a day off and they say no, they want to be here," Bettencourt said. "They've got great camaraderie, they want to do team dinners ... everyone feels like a part of the team, no matter how much they play."

Bettencourt admits that kids and their attitudes have changed a bit in the last 18 years. His No. 14 jersey, deadpan humor and booming voice from the third base box has not — though the familiarity with his various tricks has made using them in games more difficult.

"You can't surprise anyone anymore," Bettencourt noted. "Everybody's prepared for everything."

The fraternity that is the NEC's baseball family is a big part of that — and keeps the game fresh and fun. Bettencourt grew up playing with Saugus coach Joe Luis and Marblehead's Mike Giardi, for instance. Peabody native Jon Cahill runs the program at Beverly High, and longtime North Shore league friendly rival Joe Caponigro is the Swampscott manager, one who is never shy about making a mound visit to try to disrupt a Bettencourt base stealing maneuver.

"It's such a fun league to coach in," said Bettencourt, who was head coach at UMass Boston before coming home to Peabody. "It's competitive, we'll needle each other, but it's always in good faith. Everybody wants to bring out the best in each other."

After 18 years, the number of players Bettencourt has helped get into college to play baseball is too many to list. A handful have played semi-pro and affiliated pro ball and one (Pat Ruotolo) may reach the Majors this summer.

Through it all, the dedication to honest baseball and the Tanner City has been the constant.

"It's never about the name on the back of the jersey," Bettencourt said. "It's about the name on the front." — One other coaching milestone to note: St. John's Prep's Dan Letarte now has more than 300 wins as an Eagles' head coach. With 169 victories in his time as boys basketball coach, Letarte has 136 (and counting) as baseball coach for a total of 305.

That gets us thinking about how many North Shore coaches have at least 100 wins in two completely different sports (i.e., not different seasons of track, but of both boys and girls basketball, tennis, etc.). The short list that comes to mind: Salem's Tommy Doyle (golf and basketball), Hamilton-Wenham's Doug Hoak (basketball and baseball), Peabody's Ed Nizwantowski (baseball and football), Danvers' Barb Damon (field hockey, softball, swimming) ... perhaps Alan McCoy, Buddy Taft, and Jim MacLaughlin, who've coached so many different sports for Pingree.

There's Ken Perrone for football and baseball — but only football was in high school with his decades of success coaching Salem State's baseball team.

Who are we forgetting about? Let us know via social media (@MattWiliams_SN) or e-mail. — Speaking of the Eagles, the next three games will be crucial if they have any designs of getting back in the Catholic Conference title hunt. At 7-5 overall, St. John's is 3-3 in league play and faces BC High at home on Wednesday. The maroon-and-gold Eagles just handed Catholic Memorial its first league loss and sport two of their own, so an SJP win would tie them in the loss column.

St. John's then has a make-up game against St. John's Shrewsbury on Sunday before getting its own second crack at CM next week. Winning all three would be a clear path to making the CC title chase a real race over the final two weeks. — Ipswich's 3-1 win at Hamilton-Wenham was the Tigers' first victory over their Thanksgiving Day football rivals since 2016. Over the past six years, the Generals had won nine in a row against the Tigers, including the first meeting between the teams this spring.

Now 3-7, Ipswich is carrying a power rating well within the top 32 needed to qualify for the Division 4 state tournament regardless of its final record — and last week's rankings were tabulated before the win over then-fourth ranked H-W. The Tigers haven't qualified for the playoffs or won a tourney game since 2009 and this year's group, led by Finn MacLennan, looks poised to make that happen. — It's been a few years since Danvers High (9-5) has been a power hitting team, but this year's home run totals are down right impressive. Left-hander Joe Zamejtis has three round-trippers but the Falcons have six total, the most of any North Shore team.

In addition to homers by Caleb White and Tyler O'Neill, versatile athlete Aris Xerras hit his first career long ball last week. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, Xerras bench presses over 300 pounds and is being recruited by Harvard and the University of New Hampshire, among others, for football.

"He's a big strong guy and when he gets ahold of the ball, it can fly," said Danvers coach Shawn Secondini. "He's a monster."

The six homers by Danvers are more than the Falcons hit in Secondini's first two seasons combined (5). — This week's college alum spotlight: recent Bishop Fenwick grad Scott Emerson, who ranks third in the MASCAC in batting average at .365 in his rookie season at Bridgewater State. A Peabody native, Emerson has to be an MVP candidate as he ranks third in the league in hits and runs as well as first in steals and top 10 in RBI and total bases. The Bears will be the top seed in the upcoming MASCAC playoffs. — Around the Horn, a column on North Shore high school baseball, appears in The Salem News each Wednesday during the fall. Contact Matt Williams at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter @MattWilliams_SN #StrikeOutALS