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Shoreline Cougars Baseball Features a Young Bunch in Second Season

Following a successful inaugural season that features 17 victories, the Shoreline Cougars U-18 AAU baseball team recently began its second campaign in the East Shore Travel League. The Cougars are aiming to make a repeat trip to the playoffs after reaching the semifinal round last summer. Head Coach Dennis Annicelli’s club has its work cut out as the Cougars have a lot of new faces on their roster this year. The Cougars’ four returning players are Pat O’Leary, Ross Meglin, Owen Marica, and Scott Masse, and so Coach Annicelli will look to work in several younger players throughout the course of the season. As they improve, so will the team.

So far in the 2017 season, Shoreline’s record stands at 2-5 as the team tries to build some momentum and develop its chemistry. Once again, the Cougars’ roster features athletes from Chester, Haddam, Killingworth, Middletown, and Old Saybrook, and many of them face off against each other during the high school season. Regardless of whether his athletes have developed any springtime rivalries, Coach Annicelli said that they are all are playing for each other as much as they are themselves.

“It’s always a challenge having kids from different towns come together and play, but it’s funny, because the kids have each others’ backs,” Annicelli said. “For example, Scott’s a real fiery player, and he plays with a lot of passion. He’s one of the first ones to hop out and have a kid’s back. It’s a family atmosphere. You have kids from different towns, but they mesh well together.”

Masse, an Old Saybrook resident, is one of the Cougars’ veteran players this year. Although Masse isn’t a captain, Annicelli said that he still takes on a leadership role by motivating his teammates.

“Scott will be that guy who comes into the dugout when we’re down 2-1 and tries to fire everybody up saying someone to step up and get a hit,” said Annicelli.

The Cougars’ captains for this season are Owen Marica and Ross Meglin, who recently finished their junior years with the Haddam-Killingworth baseball team. Since both athletes played for Annicelli last year, they are helping the Cougars’ new players to adjust to his style and strategies this summer. Marica even played on one of Annicelli’s squads before the Shoreline Cougars existed, and the coach said that he has plenty of wisdom to impart to the younger guys.

“Owen is our shortstop, and he just takes command of the field. With him, the younger guys know before the play where they have to go with the ball to make a play,” Annicelli said. “I don’t have an assistant coach, but he’s about as close as you can get. He’s played with me since he was a freshman, and he’s going to play in college. He has a lot to teach the younger guys about hitting.”

The fact that the Cougars have their fair share of up-and-coming ballplayers works well for Annicelli. The coach’s goal is to help everyone progress and develop new skills that they can not only put to use this summer, but also when they get back on the field next spring.

“I think my goal is always the same. Every player has to get better individually, so they can go back and contribute to their high school or college team,” he said. “I talk with the high school coaches. I also talk to the players on what they think they need to improve. In the summer program, I work on building confidence, so guys can go back to the high school level with that. Make everybody better at what they’re trying to do through lot of repetitions. It’s a really good league.”

The East Shore Travel League uses wood bats, and some of Cougars’ athletes hadn’t used one in a game prior to this season. They’re also facing better pitching than what they’re accustomed to on the high school level. As a result, many of the Cougars’ athletes are making adjustments early in the season.

“Working with the wood bats makes you a lot better hitter,” Coach Annicelli said. “Typically, when we go face a pitcher, it’s a guy who’s committed to a school. The first pitcher is throwing 84-85, and half the lineup hasn’t seen that before, but we’re slowly adjusting to it.”

Despite his team’s slow start, Annicelli feels confident that his players are going to learn a lot from playing in the East Shore League. And even though the Cougars have struggled a bit, several players have put together quality performances. For instance, Killingworth resident Pat O’Leary recently struck out nine in a five-inning effort on the mound against the Connecticut Capitals, and he also cranked a three-run homer that scored Meglin and Haddam resident Trey Callender.

Coach Annicelli believes that his team is ready to approach each game with a plan and then implement it, so that performances like that one become more common for the Cougars. In order to get there, though, he knows that his athletes need to stay calm and let the game come to them.

“It can be hard like when we huddled up after we lost four games in two days. I just have to tell them to relax a little bit. I tell them that it will take a little time when these guys are facing juniors and seniors,” Annicelli said. “Now it’s big-boy baseball. You have to have a plan when you go up to the plate, and you have to know where you want to put the ball in the field. The good part is that they are going to make mistakes, and they’re going to learn from their mistakes. They’re all really eager and ready to learn. That’s all you can really ask for as a coach.”

From the Sidelines

Thus far this season, the Shoreline Cougars have notched wins against the Connecticut Capitals (3-0) and the Clinton Huskies (5-1). Their losses have come against the Connecticut Capitals (6-3), the New England Knights (3-1 and 9-8), and the Northern Connecticut Mustangs (3-0 and 11-2).

The Shoreline Cougars’ roster includes captains Owen Marica (Haddam) and Ross Meglin (Killingworth), aling with Scott Masse (Old Saybrook), Mike Leffingwell (Chester), Jake Robertson (Chester), Michael O’Toole (Killingworth), Sam Erskine (Killingworth), Pat O’Leary (Killingworth), Carmelo Rosa (Killingworth), Trey Callender (Haddam), Tobey Callender (Haddam), Griffin Izzo (Haddam), Trevor Rydel (Haddam), and Matt Bjorkland (Middletown).