Despite key graduations, defending state champion Milton baseball will lean on staff again
MILTON — Everyone wants to be a champion.
And after winning their first state title in school history last season over King Philip (A 4-2 win in the Division 2 state final), the Milton High boys baseball team knows that first hand.
“There’s just under 70 kids at tryouts,” said sixth-year Milton head coach Brendan Morrissey. “A lot of bodies and a lot of interest so I’m just getting through it and evaluating the players.”
For the Wildcats, they graduated nine seniors last season. Despite losing two of the area's top pitchers to graduation (Northeastern's Charlie Walker and UMass Lowell's Brian Foley), pitching will once again be a strength.
Two out of Milton's four captains will be leading the way from mound. Right-hander Owen McHugh (who led the football team to the state final for the first time at quarterback) and southpaw Tommy Mitchell are the aces. Jack Finnegan and Jimmy Fallon are the other captains.
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“There’s a handful we’re really excited about,” said Morrissey. “Tommy Michell is stepping up and leading the pitching staff. We had a lot of really good pitchers last year and Tommy was one of them. It’s his turn to lead the staff.”
Mitchell has already committed to Elon University as a junior. He’s received high praise from his coaches and teammates. Coming off their first final appearance since 1974, Milton is focusing on the little things.
“I think we just need to continue to improve on the things we did good last year,” Mitchell said. “(Such as) pitching last year, we lost a lot of pitchers but I think we’ll be just fine. And hitting we’ll be good.”
Mitchell also said junior Jack Sullivan should be on the lookout as an outfielder this season.
McHugh, the three-sport athlete (hockey, football and baseball), will be playing shortstop when he’s not pitching. He’ll be part of their strong pitching lineup. McHugh also said to watch out for Scott Longo at the mound because he “is the man.”
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“Owen as an athlete speaks for himself but the best thing about Owen is he’s the best person I’ve met in a really long time,” said Morrissey. “Just in life he’s an awesome person.”
For McHugh, going back-to-back is certainly in his mind. And with so many players trying-out, there’s a lot of work ahead of them.
“It’s on our minds,” McHugh said on winning another championship. "I guess the key would be taking it day by day and one day at a time. We may not have the same team as last year, but just be gritty and do our job.”
Fallon, a third baseman and shortstop, will be playing hockey at Babson College next year. But for now, the defending champ feels like he already knows the team's identity.
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“I think our strength last year was pitching and again this year," said Fallon. "We have a strong pitching core. Pitching is the big key in our success.”
“We’re just hoping to bring some experience,” said Finnegan of the captain's roles. “We’ve been there before. Hopefully they take after us and go hard everyday to get better.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Previewing the Milton High baseball team's 2023 spring season
