RallyNorth.net

Can Central capture the magic of winter?

Thursday, May, 29 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

The bloggers furiously searched for updates.

A high school community was on edge as Central Catholic's boys basketball team captured a storybook state championship.

Now, after a head-turning 17-3 regular season by the Merrimack Valley Conference large champion Raiders, many around the region wonder, could the magic be back?

"Everyone loved each other on the team, at practice we loved hanging out, and this team is a lot like that," said junior Zak Adamopoulos, who was a reserve forward on the basketball team and has been a standout pitcher this spring. "We have good relationships, we love going to practice and being around each other. In the tournament, you're going to make mistakes, errors, and you just have to pick each other up.

"Tim (Wheeler, another basketball-baseball player) and I were telling them the other day, there's just no fun ending on a loss. In the state tournament, there's only one way to end it, and that's to win it all."

Central, whose starters are batting a gaudy .401, may be seeded third in the North, behind Westford and Boston English, but the Raiders may be the team to beat.

When tourney play opens today, all 23 other combatants in Division 1 North have to be worried.

Along with the rugged lineup, Central has a couple of  factors in its favor. First, there's the draw.

The Raiders get a nice look at today's Arlington-Gloucester winner then there is a potential quarterfinal with No. 6 Malden Catholic. That would be a matchup of No. 2 pitchers, one Central would most likely own an edge with because of its offensive prowess.

There is only one dominant pitcher in Division 1 North, Acton-Boxboro's Scott Weismann (6-2, 0.96 ERA), whose next stop is Clemson or the pros. The Colonials, however, haven't won a first-round tournament game in four years.

After that, there are some fine pitchers but no true aces.

Finally, the nine-inning games in Division 1 favor hitting teams. Central's lineup could be considered as deadly as St. John's Prep's back-to-back state title teams led by Salem's Tommy Mackor in 1999-2000.

If you're looking for intangibles, not only were Adamopoulos and fellow outfielder Wheeler on that state title basketball team, the rest of this club was absorbed in the ride.

"We can definitely do damage. I was at every game, and it was sick. I definitely think we learned something from that," said All-conference third baseman Ryan Kemp, who enters the postseason as the second leading hitter in EMass at .542. "Everyone can and has hit. We work together and pick each other up. And we're getting incredible production from the bottom of the lineup, from kids we weren't expecting."

Kemp, a National Honor Society student ranked 50th in a class of 314, will play his college ball at Northeastern next year. He is clearly the X-factor that galvanized the Raiders.

A year ago he and the team parted ways at midseason over philosophical differences between Kemp and coach Marc Pelletier.

Coming into the season, Kemp, a .426 hitter as a sophomore, wasn't sure what his role would be this spring. If he'd have a role at all.

"Before tryouts came along, I was getting different messages," said Kemp. "I just came out hitting. As tryouts came along, it was clear that Coach and I were on the same page. I definitely came back with something to prove, and I've been hitting ever since."

He's by no means the only one.

Take Chris Sartori for example.

A year ago, he scraped out four hits in 16 at-bats in spot duty. What a difference a year made for the Bentley College-bound first baseman, who has cranked out 29 hits, 17 RBIs and 17 runs in 66 at-bats.

Sartori is a believer that hitting is contagious.

"It's a combined team effort," he said. "We're all aggressive but patient, too. We take good hacks at pitches we can handle. And we're good at putting it in play, putting pressure on the defense."

Up and down the lineup, the Raiders have hit. Senior Roberto Valenti, who hit .480 last year, is hitting .391 with 26 runs. Leadoff man Robbie Taylor, catcher Andrew Guyer, gritty second baseman Ross Sarmento, outfielder/pitchers Brendan Walsh and Adamopoulos, and infielder Marc Crowley ... there is no let-up.

"There's great talent on our bench, too, so guys know immediately," said Sartori. "Once you get a spot, you'd better take advantage of it."

Of course, no titles are won on paper. The stars must be aligned for a magical run. But if offense means anything, and it usually does, Central sits in a perfect spot.

"Our hitting has kept us in so many games," said Sartori. "I just think it can take us pretty far."