By Michael Letendre

There might be a new coach leading the Bristol Eastern baseball team but the face is certainly a familiar one.

Steve Gaudet is just the third coach in program history after Clem J. Roy and Mike Giovinazzo, but the new man in charge has been itching to go since 2020, before the pandemic wiped out the campaign.

There’s some experience here and there but some young players are going to have to step up and produce if the Lancers want to get to the pay window.

As usual, Eastern’s schedule is unforgiving and the program will be challenged over twenty straight games.

Let’s take a look at the Bristol Eastern baseball program in 2021:

BRISTOL EASTERN BASEBALL

Head coach: Steve Gaudet (1st season, long time assistant baseball coach at both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern)

2019 season: 8-13 overall. Under then head coach Mike Giovinazzo, No. 34 Bristol Eastern lost a Class L qualifying tournament game at No. 31 Bunnell, 4-1 on May 25.

Losses: Carson Sassu, Ethan Ryan, Jagger Duquette, Matt D’Amato, Trevor Mays, Noah Hickey, Alex Valley, James Dauphinee.

Key returners: Dylan Woodsome (sr, DH),  Andrew Lozier  (sr, SS, P), Brayden Moore (P, 3B), Tyler Stickles (1B), Ryan Fradette, (sr, OF), 

Nate Ouellette (C, 1B), Tyler Martin (2B, P), Trevor Nohilly (sr, OF), Logan Schenck (sr, 1B), Alex Canzellarini (P/IF), Ben D’Amato (OF), Preston Guarda (3B), Jaydon Churchill (OF), Cole Latko (Ut), Cameron Moore (C), Conor McCormick (3B, P), Jose Feliciano (1B, P)

2021 Season Outlook: The squad from Eastern might have some challenges early as several players with not a ton of experience will hit the field for the program.

But Gaudet, a former player himself at BE, hopes that his team is ready for the grind and by the time the second half of the campaign rolls around, the Lancers should be a stronger unit as pieces begin to fall into place.

“[I expect] they will compete every day and hopefully improve by the end of the season,” said Gaudet of his squad.

Players who did return with any varsity experience were from the 2019 squad includes the likes of seniors Dylan Woodsome, Nate Ouellette and Andrew Lozier.

But Eastern lost all of its pitching save for senior Alex Canzellarini who will start the year on the injured list with a broken finger.

He’ll miss at least a month and then will have to get into game shape rather quickly.

Woodsome provided a little depth on the hill in 2019 but due to his troublesome shoulder, he’ll be the team’s DH this year and hopes to help out in other ways.

Seniors Tyler Martin and Brayden Moore are itching to throw and there will be other arms in the mix as the season gets going but no one has pitched on the mound in terms of varsity action.

“It is definitely not a strength,” said Gaudet of the team’s pitching. “We have Martin and Moore.  We are looking to develop some young arms to help us this year. We are very inexperienced on the mound. Losing Alex Canzellarini for a major part of the season is going to force these young kids to have to step up fast.”

Lozier is a quality hitter, posting a .262 average in 42 at-bats as a sophomore. He’ll spend time at shortstop and can chuck an inning or two along the way.

Moore (third base) along with seniors Tyler Stickles (1B), Ryan Fradette, (OF), Nate Ouellette (catcher, first base), Martin (second base), Trevor Nohilly (sr, OF), and Logan Schenck (infield) are upperclassmen Gaudet will be leaning on heavily.

Also in the mix will be freshmen Ben D’Amato (OF), who has plenty of baseball in his blood at Eastern due to brother Matt and father Chris playing for the program, freshman Preston Guarda (third base), along with Jaydon Churchill (OF), Cole Latko (Ut), Cameron Moore (C), Conor McCormick (3B, P), and Jose Feliciano (1B, P).

If this group can step up to support its senior core, that effort will go a long way in terms of a successful campaign.

“It is difficult to tell right now, after having a year off it is nearly impossible to predict what young players are going to produce and step up,” said Gaudet. “Hopefully our seniors lead the way.”

And then there’s Gaudet himself, waiting a full year due to the pandemic to finally get out on the field and coach the Lancers.

Gaudet, who was coached by and then helped coach with Mike Giovinazzo (1975-2019), is looking forward to leading his program in actual varsity games and starts the adventure on Saturday against Maloney (11 a.m.).

“I could not be more excited,” said Gaudet. “We have a great bunch of kids who are working hard every day pushing each other to get better.  I still can’t believe Coach G is not here anymore. I catch myself looking for him at games and even practices.”

Games of Note…Eastern opens at home on Monday, April 12 against Berlin while tackling Lewis Mills from Clem J. Roy Field on Monday, April 26 (game time, according to the CIAC website, is at 3:45 a.m. Please drink plenty of coffee before attending). Eastern’s contests against Bristol Central take place on May 5 and May 24. Apparently, that second Central game is also at 3:45 a.m. Please, get a nap in that day.

Eastern’s third coach…No pressure on the third ever coach for the Eastern baseball program. However, each of his predecessors won double-figure games in their debut seasons. Coach Roy rolled up 10 wins in 1960 while Giovinazzo, with the likes of Spec Monico and Pete Losey on his first squad, went a sterling 14-3 during Colonial Conference play.