PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH SHORE NAVIGATORS
Ricky Smith used to watch Cape Cod League games as a kid, and now he plays for Hyannis.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
The Cape Cod Baseball League has been a summer tradition in New England for well over a hundred years. Every year, standout locals are given the opportunity to test their mettle against the best college baseball talent from around the country.
St. John’s Prep alum Max Burt and two former North Shore Navigators ― pitcher Ryan McAuliffe and catcher Ricky Smith ― are surely making the most of an opportunity that all college baseball players from Massachusetts dream about.
“This is the league to be in, no matter where you live in the country, but especially for me,” Burt said. “This has been a goal of mine ever since I was a young kid. I’m around the best players in the country and learning things every day, even when I’m not playing.”
Burt (Northeastern) and McAuliffe (St. John’s) began the summer as temporary players for the Harwich Mariners before earning their spots on the team.
A North Andover native and rising junior for the Huskies, Burt is hitting just .208 for the summer, but has driven in eight runs while playing in 29 of the Mariners’ 36 games.
Mariners head coach Steve Englert was an assistant coach at Northeastern for the past two seasons, so he knows Burt’s hard-nosed style of play.
Burt ― like all locals who have the opportunity to taste the Cape League ― wanted to stick around past the timeline of his temporary contract, but Englert helped calm the pressures the Huskies’ usual starting shortstop felt.
“‘Coach E’ told me before I got here, ‘We know how you play, so don’t think you have to hit .500 to stay. We know you can play defense, so just do all the little things,’” Burt said. “That’s what I try to do. Sometimes, I caught myself thinking too much. Overall, I’m just playing baseball and having fun.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Hyannis Harbor Hawks needed an extra catcher and called on Smith, a Merrimack College product, to fill the void on their roster less than two weeks ago.
Merrimack head coach Nick Barese called Smith a week ago last Thursday and the wheels quickly set in motion from there.
“He just referred my name to (Hyannis) coach (Chad) Gassman,” Smith said. “Then, the next day at work, I got a call saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to send you out a contract. We want you to come play.’ You can’t say ‘no.’ This is awesome, a dream come true.”
Smith grew up in Weymouth and went to Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, so he frequented Cape League games as a kid.
Now, after Hyannis’ original second catcher (South Carolina’s Chris Cullen) went down with an injury, Smith was called in to back up to Cal State Fullerton’s Chris Hudgins.
“He just went home precautionary, but they needed another guy to fill in when Hudgins is tired or needs a day off,” Smith said. “I will gladly fill that role.”
Back in Harwich, McAuliffe allowed just one earned run over his first 12 innings this summer and has compiled a 3.32 ERA for the 21-13-2 Mariners.
McAuliffe started his career at Northern Essex Community College and was a key member of the starting rotation during his second summer as a Navigator in 2015.
Now a rising senior at St. John’s, the North Reading native has focused on proving himself on the Cape, playing with and against the best collegiate players anywhere.
“I told myself I was going to be on the team, and Coach said he wanted to see me start,” McAuliffe said. “I had a rough first inning and then kind of settled down and felt like I could compete with these guys down here.”
Two current Navigators also had the chance to taste the Cape earlier this summer before returning to Fraser Field. Second-year veteran Speros Varinos (Tufts) reunited with McAuliffe in Harwich, while UMass Lowell-bound outfielder Colby Maiola played in seven games for the Brewster Whitecaps.
Names and Notes
- The Navigators jumped back into a tie for third place in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League’s East Division after finishing this past week on a high, posting at least 11 runs in back-to-back games for the first time this season and just the second in franchise history.
- Saturday’s 16-0 win at Torrington was the most convincing in team history. Every Navigator in the starting lineup recorded a hit, while all but two players put together multi-hit games.
- Infielder Jordan Roper (Marist) had an outstanding week at the plate. The Lynnfield native went 16-for-34 with seven RBI and eight runs scored in seven games, with 12 of his hits coming over the team’s last four contests.
- Cole O’Connor (Dartmouth) was named a Futures League Pitcher of the Night for the first time this season Saturday as he carried a no-hitter into the seventh, finishing the game with 6.1 innings of one-hit baseball.
- Salem State catcher Teghan Malionek made his Navs debut Saturday, going 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
- All-Star reliever Jake Dexter (Southern Maine) became the 13th different Navigator pitcher to make a start this summer in Friday’s 7-4 loss at Martha’s Vineyard.
- Elsewhere, Lynn native Cam O’Neill (Holy Cross) is continuing a strong summer with the NECBL’s Valley Blue Sox, hitting .252 with 11 RBI. The All-Star second baseman went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in last Thursday’s 15-7 win at Ocean State.
- Peabody’s A.J. DiFillipo (Columbia) is a .295 hitter with ten runs scored through 29 games for the FCBL’s Seacoast Mavericks. He drove in a pair of runs in a 12-8 loss Sunday in Nashua.
- Lynnfield native and St. John’s Prep alum Tyler Noe (UMass Lowell) has driven in runs in three of his last five games for the Saugerties Stallions of the Perfect Game Collegiate League.
Joshua Kummins can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.