Jeff Meaney

Class of 2011

            The Walpole High baseball team is looking to make the state tournament for the eighteenth year in a row in 2009. Relying on a deep bullpen and strong defense, the Rebels are planning to defend their league title.

The Rebels have a mixture of veterans and new players on the varsity team. Senior captains Chris Ferro and Eric Fallon have given leadership to the 24 man team, which is Coach Bill Tompkins largest team in his 31 year career at the school.  The Rebels starting lineup consists of sophomore centerfielder Troy Salvatore and sophomore leftfielder Dave Conroy who have helped patrol the outfield along with junior Jimmy Griffin in right.  The corners of the infield are some of the deepest positions on the field.  Senior Rob Greeley and junior Matt Nee play third base while seniors Eric Fallon, Matt Sweet, and sophomore Tom Ryan can all play first.  Shortstop is manned by junior Sonny Mastromatteo who moved over from second base last year. Sophomore Jimmy Adams has showed smooth fielding and a discipline at the plate has earned him time at second base where he will be platooning with senior Mark Nelson. There are also many players off the bench that contribute to the team.  Senior Elliot Bresnahan is a defensive standout and is one of the team’s smartest base runners and the Rebels are looking forward to the return of senior outfielder Adam Nichols after he finishes rehabbing a nagging knee injury.

So far the Rebels are off to a strong start this season. With wins over Dedham (7-2), Braintree (1-0), and most recently Natick (2-1) in extra innings.

“Our best game to date has definitely been the Natick game.  We had excellent pitching and solid fielding, which got us the win today and will help us win a lot of close games this season,” offered captain Ferro.

This game was as close as the score indicates. The Rebels went on to win in the tenth inning utilizing some small-ball strategy.  With one out, senior Pat Falvey, who is an all around great baseball player, earning playing time do to his versatility, hit a double. Next up, senior Rob Greeley laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Falvey over to third. Although there were two outs, Coach Tompkins called for the suicide squeeze. Despite the pitch coming in well over his head, senior captain Eric Fallon was able to lay down a bunt and bring Falvey home.

A good indicator of a defending league champion is their desire to improve even after a victory.   “We need to improve our hitting, definitely our hitting, our pitching and fielding will keep us in a lot of close games but the hitting needs to come along if we want to defend our title,” said Ferro. The team hopes to continue getting production from the sophomore starters including Ryan, who is excelling as part of the rotation and pitched eight strong innings against Natick, Jimmy Adams, Troy Salvatore, and Dave Conroy.

Unfortunately, the hitting has not yet come along as much as it needs to. Wednesday against Newton North, despite another solid defensive effort, the Rebels were not able to muster any late inning magic, after the Tigers rallied for seven runs in the eight and ninth innings.

“It was an upset. It was just disappointing. We just did not have it today. The hitting was not there today,” said junior standout Tim Connors who has been strong out of the bullpen this season.

With many games left in the young season, the Rebels are sure to get over this loss and find themselves at the plate. “The bats haven’t been there yet, but they will come,” said Coach Tompkins.  Once the Rebels hit their stride at the plate, they will have a strong offense to match their formidable defense.