Around the Horn baseball column: Swampscott embraces four C's philosophy

May 18—Coach Joe Caponigro knew how he needed his Swampscott High baseball team to play if the Big Blue were going to make the most of the 2022 season.

He boiled it down to Four C's, which he drilled into his players' minds as they ran from foul pole to foul pole along the outfield warning track in preseason practice: common goals, camaraderie, compete, and consistency.

Admittedly, Swampscott hasn't been perfect with all four this year; over a 20-plus game season, few teams ever are. But as Memorial Day approaches, the Big Blue (10-5) have truly embraced each of those pillars to punch their state tournament ticket. They've won four in a row and sit within a game of archrival Marblehead as they jockey for the Northeastern Conference Lynch title.

"Common goals is probably the biggest one. We all want to win the NEC, make the tournament and win some tournament games," senior catcher Connor Correnti said. "We have a lot of seniors and we're all leaders."

Starting the year with four straight wins, including a 14-inning classic against Gloucester, gave Swampscott confidence. They went 2-2 in the next four games but lost their consistency in a three-game slide. The team's 12th graders came together, refocused and put the train back on the tracks.

"We said we know what we can do, we know kind of players we can be, and everybody bought in," senior shortstop Matt Schroeder said. "That stretch of games got on our nerves. We had to have a short memory about it."

Outstanding starting pitching has put Swampscott in position to contend for its first NEC crown since 1997. Pierce Freidman has emerged as one of the North Shore's best strikeout pitchers, ranking second in the league with 58 punchouts.

"We're not scared of anybody," said Friedman, who struck out 13 hitters in both of his last two starts. "We're also competitive as a staff. We all want to be better than each other ... and that brings out the best in each of us."

Cam O'Brien is a crafty thrower who excels at mixing his pitches and delivery style to flummox opposing hitters, while Joe Ford and John Cuttle (two wins each) have been reliable in any pitching role.

"The whole staff has been unbelievable," said Correnti, one of the NEC's top defensive catchers. "Their confidence is at the top level and they all pitch with heart. They all want to prove themselves and do their job."

Offensively, it's been a similar team-first approach. O'Brien has three homers and leads the club in RBI, while Cuttle is the leader in hits and Schroeder and Correnti have been outstanding setting the table at the top of the order.

"We've been getting contributions from everywhere, and that's made it a very entertaining baseball team," Caponigro noted. "These guys pick each other up. It's a good group."

Jonah Cadorette has a knack for hitting with men on base. Youngster Jason Bouffard has carved out a key run producing role while Aiden Wyse, Will Roddy and Harry Riddell have all found ways to do their jobs with the bat at various times.

"The biggest thing is trusting the bat behind you," said O'Brien. "Doing that has helped us come together as a team."

Swampscott admits where were times in April that they took the early innings of a game for granted, trying to steals contests late. Now, they're attacking opposing pitchers from the opening toss.

"We were getting started late and catching fire in the seventh," said Cuttle. "We started having that seventh inning mentality from the first pitch. I have to credit Roddy; he was the first one who said it. Once we started doing it, things got rolling with more confidence."

That takes care of three of those crucial C words: common goals, consistency and compete.

What about camaraderie? You'd be hard pressed to find a closer group than these Big Blue, many of whom have played together (and for coach Cap) since they were nine or 10 years old.

"I was telling their parents earlier that I remember when I had them over there," said Caponigro, pointing from the Big Blue's home field at Swampscott Middle School across to the town's adjacent Little League field. "They've come a long way and really are a great group of guys."

The Big Blue have two league games remaining: Winthrop and then NEC Dunn leader Beverly next Monday. Marblehead has four to go (against Salem, Peabody, Beverly and Saugus) so the Lynch crown is very much up for grabs.

"We've shown that we don't want it for ourselves ... we want it for each other," said Cadorette. "It's all about picking each other up."

Before the state playoffs, the Big Blue will also play in the first annual Doug Mullins Memorial Tournament at Fraser Field in Lynn along with Lynn Classical, Lynn English and defending D2 state champion St. Mary's Lynn. Held in honor of former English coach Doug Mullins, who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer, the tourney will honor the legacy of a man who meant so much to high school and Legion baseball in the greater North Shore area. — While the NEC Lynch will likely come down to Swampscott or Marblehead, the Dunn appears to be a two-horse race between Beverly (11-4 overall, 7-2 NEC) and Danvers (9-6, 7-3). They play each other Thursday (4 p.m.) at Brother Roberts Diamond and the makeup game, between Beverly and Marblehead Saturday (10 a.m.) has huge implications as well.

One other title chase to keep an eye on is the Cape Ann League Baker. Hamilton-Wenham (10-6 overall, 8-4 CAL) trails league-leading Amesbury by two games; the two squads play each other next Tuesday in a match that could determine the champ. — What a way to make a varsity debut for Beverly's Anthony Mastroianni last Saturday at Northern Essex Community College against Central Catholic. Coming in against one of the state's best teams and trailing, 7-5, Mastroianni threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed only four hits with no walks to enable the Panthers to earn a marquee win in extra innings, 10-7.

Beverly played nearly flawless defense behind him. They had to, too, with Central getting men on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Mastroianni induced three straight ground balls to escape, and the Panthers came through in the eighth. — Craig Michalowski has been on a tear for Marblehead since moving up into the leadoff slot. His school's representative in the NEC's Scholar Athlete program, Michalowski has seven hits and five runs scored in his last three games. He's raised his season batting average to .414 and is now one of four Magicians hitting North of .350: Schuyler Schmitt checks in a .500, Liam McIlroy is batting .381 and Shane Keough hits .375. — St. John's Prep held its annual ALS Awareness Game in memory of Pete Frates this past weekend. The Eagles donned their No. 3 jerseys for the first time with this year's version saying 'Eagles' across the front in while letters with a blue block background.

As always, the alternate tops have red pinstripes to signify the official color of ALS Awareness.

It was an exciting victory for the Prep (8-6) with Kyle Webster clobbering his team's first home of the season. Aidan Driscoll clubbed an RBI triple to tie it up late and Tucker Larson won it with a walk-off single to play Caleb Birchem, who had two key hits. — It's worth looking back on Peabody's thrilling win over Danvers if only to point out how rare it is for a bunt to be the first hit of a game — and for it to be a perfectly acceptable, not controversial at all outcome.

Danvers' Joe Zamejtis had yet to allow a hit when he walked Joey Raymond, who sped all the way to third on an errant pickoff. On a squeeze play, Raymond broke for home and Giovanni Guglielmo put a perfect bunt to the grass between first base and the pitcher's mound. The Falcons' first baseman went for the ball, leaving no one covering first as Guglielmo arrived safely for the first hit of the game.

It was, remarkably, the only hit Zamejtis allowed until the ninth inning as he retired the next 18 Tanners in a row.

Perhaps even more notable? Gugleilmo (.375) is the only Peabody batter hitting over .260 ... and coach Mark Bettencourt had no hesitation is having him lay down the bunt.

"The way Zamejits throws, I wasn't going to mess around," said Bettencourt, whose team won, 2-1, on a second squeeze bunt in the ninth inning. That one was laid down by clean-up hitter Jacob Palhares. "When we work on bunts, everybody does it, it's not just for the fast guys or the bottom order guys. You never know when you're going to need to lay one down for me." — This week's alumni spotlight: St. John's Prep grad Tyler MacGregor of Peabody. A captain at Columbia playing for Beverly's Brett Boretti, MacGregor has his average up to .329 with 35 RBI and is 16-of-17 on stolen bases. The Lions are 17-4 going into the Ivy League tournament looking to earn a spot in the NCAA's.

It was quite nostalgic to see MacGregor meet up with former Prep teammate Jack Arend, now an assistant coach at Dartmouth, when the teams played last weekend, too. — Around the Horn, a column on North Shore high school baseball, appears in The Salem News each Wednesday during the spring season. Contact Matt Williams at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter @MattWilliams_SN #StrikeOutALS