As part of an offseason series, the Athol Daily News will review each varsity spring sports team and its 2018 season. In the second installment, the Athol Daily News reviews the Mahar baseball program.
ORANGE — The Mahar Regional School baseball team finished the 2018 season with a 7-13 record, a deceiving campaign based on game-by-game analysis. The Senators lost five games by one run and two more by two runs. More than half of those games were late-inning losses impacted by defensive miscues.
The Senators’ 2018 season was more about unfortunate endings than a lack of talent. The team graduates only one senior and retains 14 current freshman and sophomores. Part of that bunch includes three talented sophomores in Charlie Barnes, Logan Dodge and Andrew Herk, all of whom played important roles on this year’s team and should play an even bigger role next season.
Barnes provided a good chunk of the offense on a team that combined to hit only .242 with a .317 on-base percentage. Barnes had a slashline of .409/.423/.561 with four triples. He also scored a team leading 15 runs and knocked in 13 more, tied for the team lead with Dodge. Barnes was overanxious and does need to improve his plate patience to bring his base-on-balls rate up. This year, he drew a total of only three free passes.
Dodge provided a solid bat at the top of the lineup, producing a slashline of .286/.352/.333 with 13 RBIs and 11 runs — and brings above-average defense in the outfield. Dodge and Barnes should create the core of Mahar’s offense the next two seasons. When combing the two with Joey Brozell — who surprised many with his .293 batting average and .463 on-base percentage this season — as well as the relentless fight at the plate from Will Peredina — who produced a .347 on-base percentage despite a .230 batting average, walking 11 times while striking out with 11 walks and struck out 11 times, an 18 percent rate — the Senators should see their run-production increase.
Herk was a pleasant surprise on the mound as well. After performing well in mop-up relief situations, Herk began getting spot starts. In 16 innings, he pitched to a 4.29 ERA and earned one save while striking out nine despite earning two losses. In the losses, Herk gave up three runs in 4⅔ innings to Athol High School and five runs in five innings to Pioneer Valley Regional. A full season of Herk will benefit the Senators.
Starter Jacob Berry also found himself in unfortunate circumstances despite outstanding performances. Berry finished the season with a 2.81 ERA despite a deceiving 2-7 record. In 57 innings, Berry struck out 42 with a 1.19 WHIP. He lost games to Murdock High School and Athol High School, during which he surrendered just one and three runs, respectively. His losses were the result of shoddy defense behind him. If the Senators tighten up behind him, Berry should improve his win total.
It’s worth metioning that Peredina suffered much the same fate as Berry. He pitched six innings in two separate games, allowing two earned runs against Murdock and one against Quabbin, but lost both outings. Berry earned the loss against Murdock due to an error that allowed the winning run to score.
Although one can chalk up the Senators’ 7-13 season as disappointing, the Senators were largely a product of unfortunate endings behind poor fielding. The team returns a solid core of pitchers that pitched rather well despite accruing 13 losses. The Senators have a young corps still trying to figure things out, but if and when they do, Mahar baseball will have a lot to work with in upcoming seasons.