Saugus baseball enters 2023 season with young squad

  With several key senior players having departed from the 2022 squad that qualified for the playoffs and advanced to the Round of 32, the Saugus High School baseball team is made up of an overall younger and less-experienced roster of players this spring. Therefore, expectations may be more reserved than they were entering last year.

  Head Coach Joe Luis guided last year’s team to an 11-11 overall finish. But the Sachems, who compete in the tough Northeastern Conference (NEC), proved to be a more formidable opponent than their .500 record entering the Div. 3 playoffs indicated. Saugus defeated the higher-seeded Martha’s Vineyard in the preliminary round and lost a tough 6-5 affair to Foxborough in the Round of 32, a game where they led 5-4 entering the bottom of the seventh frame. The Sachems were just three outs away from making a Sweet 16 appearance.

  Among those gone from last year’s team, conference all-stars Nathan Ing (pitcher, infielder) and first baseman Ryan Anderson are just two of the several of the departed seniors who will be missed. So there will be some gaps to fill this spring.

  The Sachems opened the 2023 season on Tuesday with a non-league contest at Shawsheen Valley Tech and came up short by a 9-5 count. Saugus fell behind by an imposing 8-1 margin after three innings. But the Sachems demonstrated resilience and battled back to make a game of it, scoring twice in the top of the fifth inning and twice more in the seventh.

  Varsity returnee Cam Soroko had a strong opening day. He stroked three base hits, including two doubles, in four at bats and drove in a run. Nathan Soroko joined in by smacking two hits and tripling. He contributed an RBI as well. Cam Bernard, Jordan Rodriguez and Javier Cruz-Fuentes each scored a run, and Cam Soroko, who also stole a base, crossed the plate on two occasions to account for the Saugus runs. The Sachems didn’t help themselves defensively by committing five errors.

  Moving forward, Saugus played Northeast Metro Tech at home on Wednesday and remain at home on Friday to host Salem in an NEC battle. After that, the Sachems resume action next Wednesday, April 12, with a game at Masconomet.