Season highlights: Notched two wins against state champion West Springfield and beat Super 8 qualifier Pope Francis. Collected six wins and a save with 58 strikeouts in 55 innings. Finished with a 1.75 ERA and had six complete games. Hit .286 and drove in five runs with a double.
Salem on the season: โI just thought the season as a whole, our team really jelled this year. I wouldnโt have had the year I had without the guys around me. They instilled a lot of confidence in me. I knew I had team that had a trust in me when I was pitching. I could just go out here and do my thing.โ
Salem on his highlight for the season: โDefinitely beating Westside. They were a great team, obviously. Giving them a great game in the playoffs was awesome.โ
Salem on what he improved going into the year: โI think my junior year I had a pretty good year, but I lacked that control and mechanical finesse. I did a whole offseason program where I went down to East Longmeadow to Powerhouse Training with John Davis and he worked with me four days a week. He fixed my legs. My legs werenโt really being used in my motion for the longest time. I added the legs, and I gained a lot of velocity.โ
Northampton coach Mark Baldwin on Salem: โIf Hunterโs not on our team, we donโt make the playoffs. He drew the ace every time he pitched. He was dominant. ย โฆย He pitched to contact more. He didnโt feel the need to have to strike people out, and he did strike people out. He was able to do that because our defense was so good. I told him youโre not going to be really good until you throw strike one, and he finally mastered that.โ
Remaining All-Stars, Page D2
GAZETTE BASEBALL ALL-STARS
FIRST TEAM
Jake Balderston, junior, Amherst Regional
Kevin Banas, senior, Smith Academy
Noah Barnes, senior, Frontier Regional
Ethan Barry, senior, Belchertown
Matt Bleakley, senior, Granby
Noah Bleakley, junior, Granby
Ben Bruscoe, senior, Smith Academy
Joe Desormier, junior, Granby
Alex Dragon, senior, South Hadley
John Ferrara, sophomore, Smith Academy
Seth Gewanter, junior, Frontier Regional
Max Hopley, junior, Amherst Regional
Tim Horton, senior, Northampton
Devin Kellogg, sophomore, Northampton
Brett Morrison, senior, Hopkins Academy
Jon Morrison, junior, Hopkins Academy
Steve Moussette, junior, Hampshire Regional
Nolan Muzyka, senior, Frontier Regional
Mario Olivera, senior, South Hadley
Jaime Ryan, senior, Easthampton
Hunter Salem, senior, Northampton
Brett Turban, junior, Gateway Regional
Tyler Vishaway, senior, Easthampton
Kevin Wackerbarth, senior, Smith Vocational
Max Weir, junior, Hampshire Regional
Brandon Weyant, senior, Hampshire Regional
Matt York, sophomore, Hampshire Regional
SECOND TEAM
Noah Batchelder, junior, Hampshire Regional
Johnny Camerota, senior, Belchertown
Mike Curran, sophomore, Hopkins Academy
Trevor Fil, junior, Hopkins Academy
Joe Jones, junior, Gateway Regional
Jackson Leduc, junior, Belchertown
Hunter Leveille, senior, Easthampton
Patrick Michalak, senior, Hopkins Academy
Nate Patterson, senior, Frontier Regional
Adam Pilachowski, senior, South Hadley
David Pratt, senior, South Hadley
Ben Rokowski, junior Granby
Michael Sosa, junior, Granby
Zack Yahmen, senior, Hopkins Academy
Ryan York, junior, Smith Vocational
HONORABLE MENTION
Hunter Brooks, junior, Smith Vocational
Brandon Bryant, senior, Frontier Regional
Ben Fitzpatrick, junior, Hampshire Regional
Matt Hughes, junior, Smith Vocational
Jonathan Ingram, senior, Belchertown
Garrett Kowal, junior, Hampshire Regional
Joe LaPorte, senior, Granby
Nathan Masteralexis, junior, Amherst Regional
Will OโConnor, junior, Northampton
Tom Rezzani, junior, Granby
Andrew Serio, senior, Northampton
