Reading Baseball History
Brief highlights of each team/players 1977-2013,
1977 12-8�Captains: Gary Johnson, Mike Moscariello, Joe Prew�Mike was an excellent 2nd baseman and led team in Runs. He was a league All-Star and also became our Freshman Coach and Summer Rockets Coach
Pete Mosc, Mike Mosc, Pete Collins
1978: 9-11�Mark Angelo was our only every day starting senior who batted .446��Mark was team captain,�Middlesex League All-Star, �Boston Globe All-Scholastic��All-American at Florida Southern and won DII National Championship��Led Cape Cod League in Homeruns 2 consecutive years��RMHS, & Cape Cod Baseball League Halls of Fame��
Jack Marlin�2-yr starter as switch-hitting shortstop. Set single season record with 61 Assists
1979: 14-6 our first tourney team. A tough, confident, resilient club
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Pete Collins
Excellent hitter and OF�Beautiful swing – then and now!
1979 Tourney��our longest game ever
Friday: Class Day
Friday: 4:00 at Methuen
Friday Night: Senior Prom
Saturday: 1:00 at Acton Boxboro (95 degrees, 14 innings!)
Sunday: Graduation
Dickie Doucette – RMHS Athletics’ biggest fan.�Dickie rode his bicycle to every home game and rode the team bus to every baseball, football, basketball, and hockey games for many years!
1980 : 17-3
team clinches first league title at Watertown
1980 tourney vs. Wakefield:
down 8-2, in bottom of 9th, team scores 7 for walk-off 9-8 win
Above: Jory McKinley hits 2-out, 2-run triple
Andy Hodges�one of our greatest players all-time
Andy was our leading hitter & pitcher
.463, 31 hits, 16 RBI
7-1, 1.68 ERA
Middlesex League MVP and
Boston Globe All-Scholastic.
Penn Michelini was an outstanding pitcher in ’79 and ‘80. He was a hard thrower with a filthy curve. In ‘80 was 7-2, 3.29 and was an ML All-Star
Darrell Neufer �tri-captain��Darrell was a talented all-around player who could pitch, hit, field.�He had 17 hits, 11 RBI and a win on the mound.�
Mark O’Brien
was our intense, spirited 2nd baseman in 1980 who led the team in walks (19; 2nd all-time)
Sergeant O’Brien is Patrol Supervisor for the Reading Police Department.
Thank you, Mark.
Steve Palladino�Student Manager�Nobody loved Reading Baseball and the 1980 team more than Steve! He still does, and is a generous and loyal alumnus.
Among our loyal fans were Barbara Berg (Larry’s mom) and Dr. Dale Neufer (Darrell’s dad)
Here she is wearing the Reading Alumni Mom tribute shirt
We had 1980’s 40-year reunion in 2020. �Players came in from Maine, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Florida
and re-created their classic team photo, standing in same position
1981 ML Champions�Back-to-Back
1981’s success began with a phenomenal Summer Rockets season
Coach Mike Moscariello led team to Championship, going 20-1
Team started out 2-4 and then won 12 of next 14, including 3 consecutive shutouts at end of season to clinch league co-title with Melrose
Team celebrates 3-0 win over Woburn to clinch tourney berth
Later In the day, a Melrose loss at Wakefield gave us a Co-Championship. Several of our best bench jockeys attended end of game at Wakefield to harass Melrose and celebrate Wakefield win!
Mike Spurr, Joe Hagan, Bob McKay, Dave Powers.
In Division 1 North tourney, beat Waltham 5-4, then lost to Medford 8-5
Dave Powers, C Lennie DeAngelo, P/OF
Excellent pitcher in ‘81 when he was 5-0, 3.19.
He was a terrific competitor and the winning pitcher our final three wins of season, including tournament game vs. Waltham
�Superb, tough catcher
�Batted .306 with 15 hits and 14 RBI
Dave’s intensity epitomized the character of this team
�Bill Tompkins, 1b�d�excellent defensive 1st baseman �co-captain� batted .319 with 23 hits, 3 triples and 14 RBI.�Batted .444 in tournament
Pete Michelini, CF�Terrific center fielder who scored 10 runs, had 7 SB, 12 RBI, and a whopping 22 walks!
�Larry Berg, SS�Larry was an incredible athlete and fiery leader.�batted .424 and led the team in Batting Ave., Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, HR, SB, SLG, OPS and played brilliantly at Shortstop.�k�
He was a 2x league all-star,
All-Scholastic, EMass All-Star, and was chosen to play on a USA team that played overseas
Joe Picano, 2b
10 hits, including a home run . Joe hit .429 in tourney and was a good 2nd baseman with 26 putouts and 20 assists. Joe’s enthusiasm and energy were key for our team.
We held a 40th year reunion for thee�1981 �Reading Memorial High School Baseball Team� and �1980 Summer Rockets Team
September 18, 2021
1982�13 Wins – 7 Losses
1982 13 Wins – 7 Losses
We started 2-5 and then won 11 of final 13.
But needed one more win for tourney
Bob Macaluso was a brilliant player. �He led team in At Bats, Hits, doubles, RBI, Batting Average (.386), Assists, Strikeouts, ERA (1.40)�He was a Middlesex League All-Star
EJ Stanton
was a superb pitcher who went 5-0 with 1 Save and 1.88 ERA .� He was a hard-throwing lefty with a nasty curve.
EJ struck out 51 in 44 Inn
Greg Bernard (#21) played in 15 games and was solid at 3b. “Nardo” was a beloved teammate, maybe because of his stylish hair, fu manchu, and shades!�Greg did a superb job as our Freshman Coach in the 80’s
Did you know
In the early 80’s we played almost all our home games at Washington Park, as Birch Meadow was often too wet.
1983
11 - 9
Dave Gray
was 2x all-league who led the team in Runs, Hits, Doubles Triples, RBI, OPS, Putouts.
He is a Brandeis Hall of Famer, and played pro ball. Dave retired after being our Freshman Coach for eleven years
Brian O’Neil, captain. Batted .321 and led team in walks, on base average. Also 3-1 on mound.�Brian played football for Harvard University and is in the RMHS Hall of Fame
Jon Vedder banged out a few hits in 14 games. Now in Alumni Games (photo) he hits about .900!
Emilio Marotta won 2 games in ’82, �had 2.56 ERA in ’83 and had 17 hits and 10 RBI�
1984
Kevin Mello, co-captain�batted .357 and led team in AB, Runs, Doubles, RBI, �Stolen Bases, OBA.
Also 3-2 on mound
John Barrett was our ace: 7-2, 2.54�He had 9 starts and 9 Complete Games!
John Barrett was our ace: 7-2, 2.54�He had 9 starts and 9 Complete Games!
1984 Freshman Team�17-0�Coach Jeff Nelson
1985: Excellent 15-5 club
Scott Farris about to drive in tying run in bottom of 7th vs Melrose.
Scott was a great hitter who did the rare “Quintuple Double”
.377, 20 Runs, 23 Hits, 15 BB, 19 RBI, 10 SB. ML All-Star
And then Steve Donovan hits walkoff HR over CF fence at Washington.�
Jim Lucci, 2b
Leadoff hitter who sparked offense with 12 Runs, 14 Hits.
Excellent 2nd baseman;
only 1 error in 55 chances.
Went on to lead D1 UNH team in RBI
d
was our Freshman Coach and then superb Varsity Assistant.
Loyal alumnus with many homers in Cooperstown!
�Just so you young guys know – prior to fence being built in 2005, here is what guys had to put up with in the 80’s
Pat Prato
1986: Another good 15-5 team��John Macaluso:�in ‘85 and ‘86 he went 15-2 with 16 CG in 18 starts!��Also batted .413 with 10 extra base hits as a junior
1987: 15-5�Steve Lane was 3-year starter at P/SS.�He ranks #1 in Complete Games, #3 in Starts, IP, Wins.�2x ML All-Star and All-Scholastic� RMHS and UMass Lowell Halls of Fame
Current RMHS AD Tom Zaya
was an excellent SS/3b who batted over .300 two seasons. Our all-time career leader in Walks.
Dave Johnson C/DH�was a terrific player and 3-year starter ;� in two seasons batted .390 and .367 �and had zero errors for his career.�
Gary d’Entremont
2 year starter who batted over .300 both seasons
Mr. Dent is not only a beloved RMHS teacher but has been important part of everything we have done as our Freshman Coach, Summer Rockets Coach, Reading Baseball School Instructor, and Varsity Umpire!
1987
2012
1988�Jeff Nelson was Head Coach�Chris Curley was top pitcher�Chris went on to pitch at Bentley College
���Rich Foohey’s vocal tenacity, work ethic, and leadership helped the ‘89 team set the tone for the success our teams had in the 90’s�Rich later became a superb Summer Rockets Coach
��
�Kaelan Richards�ll
was the best all-around player in the league.�ll�Middlesex League All-Star who compiled �28 hits, 3 HR, .406, �along with� 6-2, 1.70 on mound
1989
a spirited, tough tourney team, led by co-captains �Rich Foohey and Kaelan Richards.
Darnell Canada
smooth fielding shortstop who hit .333 with 13 runs, 17 hits, 11 walks.�“D-Train” went on to have a fine career at Bentley College
Our 1989 team lost to Salem and future MLB Pitcher, Jeff Juden. But we were only team to score earned runs on him all year!
��Dave George�w�one of our greatest all-time hitters�f�batted a record .517�f� led team in hits, homers, walks, RBI, stolen bases, Batting Ave, Slugging Pct., On Base Ave�d� ML MVP�All-Scholastic�RMHS HOF�
1990 : 13-7 tourney team
1990 : 13-7 tourney team��Joe Miller� was an excellent player �who hit .348 with �7 doubles and 3 triples. He led the team in AB, Doubles, Sac, Assists
1991 Middlesex League Champions�Division 2 North Finalists�19 - 5
�Team hoists Pete McHugh, winning pitcher in title game vs. Stoneham
�� Tom Quinn�3-yr starter. Tri-Captain �5-1 with 2.51 ERA �18 hits 10 RBI�Superb Leader
Paul Sumner, Tri-Captain
Exceptional leader
batted .411 as junior; .386 as a senior, with 32 hits and 20 RBI
Only 2 Errors in 41 chances at 3b
Middlesex League All-Star
Division II All-Star
Rich Curley�centerfielder, leadoff hitter, and one of the few switch hitters we’ve had.�Rich scored 13 Runs with 13 Walks�
Bill Rooney
Batted .325 including playoffs with 18 Runs,
24 Hits, 17 RBI
Excellent shortstop!
Desi Conte�Left fielder�Had some key hits – �12 RBI�Led team in Sacrifices (5)�1.000 Fielding Ave.�
Matt Minghella
batted .350 with 11 walks
He handled 53 chances with just 3 errors at 2nd base
Matt had one of greatest hits in our history!
Pete McHugh�Only RMHS Pitcher to win 11 games, including tournament (11-2, 1.71, 89K)�2x Middlesex League All-Star�Daily Times Chronicle Pitcher of the Year�Division II All-Star Team�In ‘92 led team in Hits, RBI, BAve
11-2
Franny McHugh, Tri-Captain
a brilliant, tough catcher and great leader. Backbone of the team
Hit .316 with 20 hits and 3 HR. �Also he did this pretty much every game
Franny and Pete McHugh�1991 & 2016
1992�11 Wins -9 Losses�
Back: Chris Cosenza, PJ O’Leary, Matt Peabody, Scott McKenna, Jon Cignetti, Dan Canterbury, Greg Smith, Jon Black, Brian Gath
Front: Duane Sigsbury, Kevin Chambers, Mark Cafazzo, Matt Minghella, Pete McHugh, Mike Chapin, Jim Murphy
Also on team: Tom Fratto, Paul Anderson
Kevin Chambers and Pete McHugh combined for 10 of team’s 11 wins.
Jim Murphy had the
other one
200th win – 9-4 victory �at Simonds Park, Burlington
�
Pete McHugh led team with 23 hits and.365 average, 11 RBI, 2.25 ERA
Mike Chapin had 19 hits and led team with 16 Runs and 8 SB
Chambers went 6-3, 2.25
… and, yes, Duane Sigsbury had a straight steal of home at Melrose!
.
It was an interesting season:
We had a superb team ERA of 1.98 but only scored 4.9 Runs per game with .264 batting average.
We were so streaky that even
Mr. DeBeck was baffled:
We started 6-2,
then lost 4 in a row.
Then won 5 in a row.
Then lost final 3
1993 Seniors: Back Row - Matt Peabody, Brian Gath, Scott McKenna, Brian Schwalm, Greg Smith, Jim Murphy
Front- Jon Cignetti, Jon Black
No team ever looked better in those classic white unis!
1993 tourney team
Team lost protested game to Burlington. Coach Curtin whined that we had to re-play it.�� So we beat them on Memorial Day to clinch tourney … and went on to beat Burlington 22 more times in a row!�
�
First ever game at Coop, won 13-0
Tom Fratto’s 3 homeruns vs. Lexington in 1994
1994
19-1 ML Co-Champs
D2 North Finalists
RMHS Hall of Fame
Huge crowd at Stoneham HS to see one of our greatest games ever, as 18-1 Reading played 19-0 Stoneham.�Final score: Reading 1 Stoneham 0� (9 innings)
Biggest plays in biggest game!
1-0 win was possible because Dan Robinson lunged to tag out TJ Sheedy. Play was 9-3-2
(Matt Stinson to Coley Foley to Robinson).
�
In the 9th, Coley Foley re-entered the game after an injury and singled home Langone for game’s only run
Coley Foley, 1b
Good defender and tough team player who hit .313
with 20 Hits, 5 Doubles, 15 RBI.
And he had this hit – the biggest hit of the season!
One game later, we beat Belmont, 10-5, to finish 19-1 and tie for league title.
��Middlesex League All-Star�hit .318 with 7 doubles and 22 RBI. �Excellent defender, �just 3 errors in 78 chances.�Got walk-off double to beat Woburn and set up title game vs. Stoneham.
Chris Donegan, 2b
Dan Robinson, C�co-captain and fabulous leader.�Great defensive catcher and productive hitter
with 19 Hits, 18 RBI�Middlesex League All-Star
Tom Fratto, P/CF
RMHS Hall of Fame
2x Middlesex League All-Star
MVP Middlesex League vs. MVC All-Star Game
Boston Herald All-Scholastic
Daily Times Chronicle Player of the Year
Boston Globe Division II All-Star Team
Led team in in: AB, Runs, Hits, Triples, HR, RBI, Bave, Stolen Bases, Slug.
All-Time High Ranks Single Season: Triples (1st), Home Runs (2nd)
All Time Career Leader in Home Runs (1stT
In ‘94, the team won its first six games by a combined score of 74-0�Here they are being inducted into the RMHS Athletic Hall of Fame
RMHS AD and Alumnus Tom Zaya hands award to co-captain, Dan Robinson. We made up these shirts for members of our 1994 team’s Hall of Fame induction
1995 - great 16-4 team�
Captains Jon Whalen – Josh Martin�
Jon Whalen�great all-around player.�Jon batted .324 with 24 Runs,
24 Hits, 13 RBI, played superb 3rd base, and went 6-2, 2.07 on mound.�
Josh Martin, ss�2-year starter at SS/3b. Co-captain who had 17 hits and 16 RBI. �Josh batted .625 in tourney and delivered a walk-off off single to beat Burlington
Java Driscoll –
a loyal and terrific alumni player today.
In ‘95 he batted .299 with 22 Hits,
16 Runs, and 6 Doubles
Java Driscoll, 2b
Batted .299
with 22 Hits,
16 Runs, and 6 Doubles
Jav had some key hits in big moments!
John Feudo takes a rip from left side at cookout. No better teammate, Summer Rockets coach, Alumnus than Feudo!
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Waiting to hit is Mr. DeBeck.
He never got to bat, hence his nickname “On Deck DeBeck”
1996; 24-2
1996 team wins Division II North Title, 2-1, vs. Bishop Fenwick
Scott Reinold�Scott played left field and made one of biggest plays in Reading Baseball history: 2-strike suicide squeeze to win Division II North Final !
Chris Smith, tri-captain, CF�sss�Sparkplug, positive leader, catalyst�Leadoff hitter with 22 Runs, 32 Hits, 7 doubles, 15 RBI, 13 Stolen Bases, .478 Bave, only 4 K’s�Led team in Batting Average, Slugging Pct., Stolen Bases, Doubles�Set record for hits in a season�1.000 Fave.�Middlesex League All-Star
1996 was a balanced team with many contributors.
We had good players like
Mike “Temple” Thompson
who played multiple positions well and had clutch hits.
Dave Pizzotti, tri-captain, P/1b�one of Reading Baseball’s all-time greatest all-around players and leaders.�Batted .363 with 29 hits, 27 RBI. �Hit .412 with double, 2 triples in tourney�Went 5-0, 0.52 with 49 K, 2 BB�Flawless defender: 108 chances, 0 errors�ML All-Star and Herald All-Scholastic.�RMHS Hall of Fame
�� Steve Langone, tri-captain, P/SS/2b�d �3x Middlesex League All-Star�3x Led league in ERA�3x DTC Pitcher of the Year�ML MVP 1996�g�Globe D2 Player of Year 1996�2x All-Scholastic Team�MVP D2 North Tourney 1996�American Baseball Coaches Assoc. All-District Team�g�Senior Year:�10-0, 8 BB, 115 K, 0.38 ERA, 0.60 WHIP�.344 BAve, 8 Xtra base hits�f�24-1 Regular Season Record , 29-3 Overall�f�Holds #1 and #2 record for single-season ERA�f�#1 in Career Games Played, At Bats, Complete Games, ERA�f�#2 in Career Runs, Starts, IP, Wins, Strikeouts, Shutouts �f�RMHS Hall of Fame.�
State Champs honored at State House
Team started season with 14 straight wins
Erik Olson was ML MVP and Division II Player of the Year. Erik batted .351 with 4 homers, 18 RBI. Also 7-1, 0.79 with 73 K’s
1997: 17-2, ML Champions
Dan Farnham ’97, C
Dan was tremendous player: batted .460 with 24 Runs, 29 Hits, 26 RBI, 1.350 OPS
Superb defensive catcher
Middlesex League All-Star
2-year starting catcher record: 43-5
Jamie Severance, P/OF
One of our all-time best all-around players!� went 9-0, 1.22 with 5 walks in 57 IP
Batted .324 with 20 RBI
Middlesex League All-Star�3-year starter; co-captain
career 10-0 record
among all-time leaders in AB, Hits, RBI.��
We beat Lynn Classical, 4-3, when Olson came on in 7th and struck out two hitters with runners on 2nd and 3rd to save game
But in semis, Ben Crockett, now Vice President, Player Development for Red Sox, perfect-gamed us, 2-0 in 49 minutes!
300th Win
An all-time classic 5-4 win in 12 innings.
1998: 17-3
Another great team and
D2 North Finalist
An all-time classic tourney
game!
We trailed 2-1 in 7th with 2 outs and none on. Ryan Carroll tripled, and Mike Guarino, in his first AB, singled to tie the game.
�Tewksbury scored 2 in top of 12th to go up 4-2.��We loaded bases, then�Jamie Gath sac fly made it 4-3 and Dave Polcari clutch single tied game.
With 2 outs, Gus Saggese, a substitute, hammered the game winner to right center.
The big story of the game was that Ryan Carroll pitched all 12 innings to earn a gutsy win.
Ryan went 6-0, 1.46, including two tournament wins.
ML All- Star and Daily Times Chronicle Pitcher of the Year.
After beating Tewksbury, Dennis Gramolini threw our only Perfect Game in a tournament game.
Dan Foley, co-captain batted .375 with 22 Runs, 24 Hits, �and was terrific at 2b. Dan was an enthusiastic leader and ML All-star
1999: 17-3
club clinches league title at Winchester
Pretty impressive headline from 1999
Jamie Gath, tri-captain.
��Jamie batted .500 with 6 Doubles,
6 Triples, 19 RBI and only 3 K’s.
ff�Jamie made only 2 errors as a superb middle infielder.�ff
At graduation, he was #1 all-time
in single-season On Base Average, Triples
and Career Batting Average.
�He was named to the Boston Herald All-Scholastic Team�Jamie went on to have a Hall of Fame caliber career at Bentley College
��Jason Zerfas went 5 for 8 (.625) with 3 doubles (1.000 Slugging Pct.). Zerf was an amazing teammate who deserved more playing time. Became our superb and beloved coach for 12 years.
Dennis Gramolini was our ace. 7-2, 1.56 with just 8 BB in 63 IP. Dennis was an ML All Star who also hit .435
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