On Tuesday, St. John’s Prep athletics proudly announced 31 Eagles student-athletes who have made written commitments to compete at the next level. The announcement came as a welcome reprieve in the wake of the high school sports winter postseason and spring campaign being cancelled in Massachusetts and, for now, 44 additional states.
In response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA suspended all National Letter of Intent (NLI) signings through April 15, 2020 for D1 and D2 sports. The reopening of the collegiate signing window for scholar-athletes allowed 31 standouts from St. John’s to ink commitment letters
“What a great day and a remarkable accomplishment for all of our student-athletes, their families, teammates, and coaches,” said St. John’s Prep Athletic Director Jameson Pelkey. “These signings are a testament to all of the time, energy, and effort that our guys have put in over the years. We congratulate them and wish them all the best.”
An additional 12 Eagles officially committed to their college of choice during the 2019-20 academic year’s year’s early signing window, which extended from November 13 through November 20 of 2019.
Below, this spring’s 31 St. John’s signees are grouped by sport; the Prep’s dozen fall commits follow that.
BASEBALL: Brady O’Brien (2B/SS; North Andover) Colby College; DJ Brooks (CF/RF; Danvers), Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Jack Cairns (2B/SS; Beverly), Bentley University; Noah Schott (OF; Lynn), Union College (N.Y.); Evan Doheny (1B/3B; Andover), Ithaca College; Alex Erickson (RHP; Westford), Lafayette College (Pa.)
CREW: Davis Walker (Marblehead), College of the Holy Cross; Ryan McShane (Beverly), Loyola University Maryland; Matthew Hunt (Salem), Loyola University Maryland; Cole Abdinoor (South Hamilton), Union College (N.Y.)
FOOTBALL: OT/DT Mason Davis (6-foot-3, 250 pounds; Peabody), University of New Hampshire; C/DT Cooper Smith (6-3, 325; Portsmouth, N.H.), University of New Hampshire; DB/WR Matt Duchemin (6-foot, 185; Haverhill), College of the Holy Cross; QB Matt Crowley (6-2, 200; Topsfield), Tufts University; TE/DE Anthony Fagan (6-1, 195; Lynnfield), Stonehill College; G/DT Theo Hutt (6-1, 215; Topsfield), Case Western Reserve University (Ohio); DE/G Michael Fionda (6-2, 230; Ipswich), St. Lawrence University (N.Y.); LB/FB Nick Baldini (5-11, 195; Lynnfield), St. Lawrence University (N.Y.); DB/WR Antonio Zarur (5-10, 165; Winchester), Bryant College.
GOLF: Robbie Forti (Peabody), Saint Anselm’s College; Conor O’Holleran (South Hamilton), Tufts University.
LACROSSE: Michael Ott (Attack; West Newbury), Washington & Lee University (Va.); Robert Tripp Clark (Defense; Byfield), St. Lawrence University (N.Y.); Brian Souza (Attack; Wakefield), St. Lawrence University (N.Y.)
RUGBY: Cole Rinklin (Fly-half; North Andover), Clemson University; Robert (Jimmy) Schneiders (Fullback; Ipswich), University of Wisconsin; Nick Masterson (Eighthman; Danvers) Penn State University
SOCCER: Gabe Najim (Forward; Peabody), Bentley University; Ethan Ambrosh (Forward; Wenham), Babson College
TRACK & FIELD: Ryan Hart (Sprints; North Andover), St. Lawrence University (N.Y.)
WRESTLING: Achilles Gikas (160 pounds; Peabody), Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Early commitments (November 2019)
BASEBALL: LHP Ryan Bradley (Peabody), Bryant University; RHP Joseph Castrichini (Peabody), Stonehill College; LHP Zachary Fortuna (Newburyport), UMass-Lowell; 1B/OF William Frain (Hamilton), UMass-Amherst; RHP Matthew Remley (North Andover), College of Holy Cross; CF Richard Williams (Georgetown), University of Maine.
CROSS COUNTRY: Steven Jackson (Reading), Boston College
FENCING: Xavier Ghazaleh (Winchester), Duke University
LACROSSE: Defenseman Michael Cammarata (North Andover), St. Michael’s College; Longstick midfielder Jackson Klein (Marblehead), Furman University
SOCCER: Offensive center midfielder Zach Davis (South Hampton, N.H.), Stonehill College
TRACK & FIELD: Connor Hughes (Melrose), Stonehill College