While yesterday marked the end of American Legion careers to six players for Walpole Post 104, a pair of youngsters acquitted themselves well in their first taste of the game at such a high level.
Shortstop Jon Kelly and left-handed pitcher Tom Ryan, both heading into their sophomore years in just a couple weeks (Kelly at Xaverian, Ryan at Walpole) were thrown into the fire on Friday morning against eventual champion Hanover Post 149.
“That gets back to confidence and over the course of the season they’ve fed off the older guys. (Kelly) is watching Phelan play all year, Ryan has been watching (Sam) Murray, (Eric) Brown, (Pat) Nicholson, (Connor) Thornton, (Eric) Fallon pitch in front of him,” said Walpole coach Chris Costello. It’s a trickledown effect, when we talk about tradition and our program, these are the situations that help us for next year.
“What they have done is going to help us reload next year when those guys step in. When you put two freshman in those situations you want to find out how they respond and they responded as well as possible for a kid that age.”
Kelly, pressed into action in the fourth inning when John Phelan was spiked and rolled his left ankle while tagging Mitch McClune on a stolen base attempt, certainly looked like he belonged going 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles. He also cleanly handled his only chance in the field.
He ended up appearing in three games, earning a start as the DH in the state final going 0-for-2 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
“I was so scared because I knew I had to go in,” said Kelly. “I was shaking.”
Kelly filled in for Phelan, and could be the long-term solution to the void that will be left as the Fitchburg State rising sophomore moves on.
“He taught me everything,” said Kelly of Phelan, who he roomed with for the week. “I feel like such a better player now from sitting on the bench watching him.”
Ryan made a pair of appearances, both coming against Post 149 and more than held his own, allowing four runs (two earned) over 6 1/3 innings against a lineup that featured no soft spots in the order.
In his State Final Eight debut, the southpaw pitched three scoreless innings, and bearing down when in trouble as Hanover was 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.
While Post 149 had more success against him the second time around, he did not pitch poorly and figures he can learn from what he saw over the course of the season.
“It’s good to face tough teams because as you progress you face better teams, so it was a good experience.”
Having a stable of college pitchers in front of him helped him, much in the same way Phelan guided Kelly.
“I learned so much from the older guys, especially Pat Nicholson and Sam Murray, just learning how to pitch. They do all the right things, (Costello) can teach you a lot, everything about baseball.”
Walpole has six players that played their final game for Post 104. Phelan and Ricky Graham (Fitchburg State), Nicholson (Brandeis), Brown (Roger Williams) will continue their collegiate careers. Matt Romines attends Maryland, but does not play, while Billy Hickey will head to Endicott to play both football, which starts in one week, and baseball.
“If our younger guys didn’t learn how to play watching these older guys play then they’ll never learn how to play baseball,” said Costello. They play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. They are a class act and they are talented, I can’t be prouder to have coached them all this year.”
Nicholson led Post 104 over the 13-game postseason with a .460 average (23-for-50) and 17 RBI. He was also 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA on the mound… Murray picked right up from a tremendous regular season with a 5-0 postseason and a stingy 0.90 ERA with opponents hitting just .199 against him. Pat Falvey, who did not play much for the varsity squad at Walpole High, did just fine with Post 104 batting .333 (15-for-45) with 10 RBI, one of four players with a double digit RBI total while playing well at both corner positions.
