Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Watertown Baseball Faces Tough Lexington Team in League Opener

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Watertown Baseball’s early season schedule was somewhat unusual. After some late-March scrimmages Watertown squeezed in two non-league games at Victory Field two weekends ago, beating Fitchburg and Maimonides. And then they had a week off before opening their Middlesex League schedule yesterday afternoon. Lexington Baseball arrived with a pedigree of success as they faced the Raiders in game one of their ’26 season. 

On the mound for Watertown Jayden Pineda, getting his second start of the season. He pitched 3 1/3 solid innings against Fitchburg, but Lexington would be a bigger test. On a sunny, but cold (as in, brrrrrrr) and windy day, Lexington threw two legit number one starters, over six innings, and stymied Watertown bats on the way to a 7-0 win over the Raiders. Early-season baseball can be very cruel, between the conditions, the lack of practice time and game experience. That would be especially true for the Raiders, starting one freshman, five sophomores, three juniors and one senior.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Watertown Baseball Opens The ’26 Season With A Solid Non-League Win

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There are many “truths” in baseball, and there are two among many when it comes to early-season Spring baseball games. Truth number one? Quite often the weather will be more suited to Football season. Truth number two? Very rarely will games be “clean.” In other words, there will be errors and base-running gaffes and pitchers who have trouble finding the strike-zone, and on and on. Most high school teams get relatively very little time outside prior to the regular season beginning, and just as little actual game action. All that said, Saturday’s home opener was a pretty darn good baseball game for Game 1 of the season, and despite all the above happening, the Raiders swung the bat, played decent baseball overall and received two quality pitching performances on the way to a 9-7 non-league win versus Fitchburg.

Around Town

Essay: “Ground Ball” — An Ode to Spring, Baseball and Keeping the “Mounds” Clean

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Paul J. Sullivan Playground

By George DonahueWatertown Resident

Forward

While I wrote this in the spring 2014 when living in Watertown at the Coolidge Apartments, the stories in and around baseball never go out of style. The story was published in the Watertown Tab when I wrote it and I worked in the Clerk’s office in the town hall. The director of the Parks and Recreation at that time came rushing into the Clerk’s office waving the paper in the air asking if I authored the article. I acknowledged that it was me who penned the article, expecting to feel the newspaper  bop me off the head, but instead he thrust hand out, said it was a good article and walked out of the clerk’s office. In July of 2025, my wife Jeanne and I returned to Watertown and moved back into the Apartments at the Coolidge School.

Sports

Watertown Battled First Place Wakefield on Senior Night

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Senior night is always special. It doesn’t matter if a team has a winning record or a losing one, is heading to the post-season tournament or not. Senior night is about family and friends. Senior night is about remembering all the good times and the practice and the commitment and the training and the devotion to team. Parents and grandparents and siblings share in the joy and recognition. And when the night is done, it’s hard to believe that one’s high school career is almost at an end. Well, for Jack Brisson, Patrick Johnson-Ciano, Lucas Pizzuto, Jack Brennan, Domenic Moynihan, Daniel Heep, Emilio Berndt, Adam Wainwright, Joseph Parmley and G’Nai Concannon-Garvin, baseball senior night has officially come and gone, and while Watertown came up just short against first-place Wakefield 3-2, it was a memorable night.  

The starting lineup included seniors at first (Pizzuto), shortstop (Berndt), third (Moynihan), center (Brennan) and DH (Wainwright).  On the opposite end of the spectrum, Watertown’s starting pitcher was the impressive freshman, Julian Boas. Boas ended up pitching four and third, giving up three runs on six hits, but he kept his team in the game. In relief, the equally impressive left hander Michael Caterino, also a freshman, pitched shutout ball for two-and-two-thirds innings. Wakefield’s starting pitcher threw a complete game and struck out 10. He also went two-for-four at the plate with an RBI single in the first.

Sports

Two Straight Victories for Watertown Baseball Team

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Sports is full of cliches, and baseball is no exception. You’re only as good as your starting pitcher. Your best players need to be your best players. Swing the bat. Put the ball in play and good things will happen. Well, these cliches were all on full display at Victory Field Thursday evening as Watertown took two from Wilmington. First up was the completion of a suspended game with Wilmington from April 15. The game resumed in the 5th inning and Watertown trailing 5-1. Watertown got some excellent pitching from freshman Lefty Michael Caterino, who kept Wilmington at 5 runs. In the meantime, Watertown went to the seventh inning having cut the lead to 5-4. They put the ball in play and good things did happen, tying it in the seventh and winning it in the eighth inning, as Kingston Omalade slid into home for the walk-off win. This ended a five-game losing streak and put Watertown at 4-9 on the season. Game 2

The regularly scheduled game matched Wilmington’s ace, a tall right hander with a plus fastball and curve. Watertown countered with freshman Julian Boas. This young man is very composed on the mound, and throws three pitches effectively for strikes — a fastball, curve and changeup. So, both teams were instantly good because their starting pitcher made them good. 

Wilmington’s righthander is going to Hobart in the Fall to continue his baseball career, but in the here and now in the first inning Jack Brennan led off with an infield single, moved to second when Emilio Berndt was hit by a pitch, and scored when Jayden Pineda delivered an excellent swing that resulted in a line-drive, opposite field single to score the first run of the game.

Sports

Raiders Baseball Faces Hard Hitting Arlington Team

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Baseball is such a great game. While it might seem to be all about the pitcher and batter, there’s so much else in play. Every pitch and every swing produces a reaction and a responsibility from every player either in the field or on the bases. And when, as a team, you are swinging the bats well and running the bases aggressively and making the plays in the field, you feel invincible. Unfortunately, Watertown Baseball isn’t at that happy place at the moment, and it showed last night as the Raiders lost to Arlington 14-0 at Victory Field. Watertown finished their April schedule this week with losses on Monday at home to Reading and Wednesday on the road to Winchester. Good riddance to April! Hope was in the air, though.  One, a turn of the calendar to a new month would bring better results. Two, last year’s starting catcher, Andrew Reilly, returned to the lineup Thursday night after sitting out April with an injury. And, three, Watertown’s best pitcher to date, Lucas Pizzuto was on the mound. Arlington countered with a lefty with good stuff – a sneaky fastball, a sweeping curveball thrown from different arm slots, and a change up. Optimism “left the building” quickly though, as Pizzuto lasted only 8 batters while giving up 5 runs. The first inning was a peek into the state of the Raiders nine at the moment – not cohesive, not making the fundamental plays, not communicating – and in baseball, there’s very little room for error.

Sports

Watertown Baseball Faces Powerful Reading Squad

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Monday Night April 28th Watertown Baseball looked to end a two-game losing streak versus perennial Middlesex League Baseball power Reading. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to be, as Watertown took it on the chin by the score of 14-2 in five innings at Victory Field. It was a beautiful spring night, not a cloud in the sky and nary a sign of even the slightest breeze as the flag located down the first base line was entirely still. 

Senior co-captain Domenic Moynihan has done his best to do it all this spring, from playing second & third to catching (while starting-catcher Andrew Reilly heals from an off-season injury), to pitching, all while batting second game after game. Last night he was asked to take the mound by Coach Aram Manoukian. What transgressed was any pitchers worst nightmare, and one that many before the well-intended Moynihan have experienced – he couldn’t find the strike zone. The first four Reading hitters all drew walks. 1-0 Reading. Moynihan hung in and struck out the five-hitter, and was now a double-play ground ball away from escaping the inning. Control woes returned though, and three of the next four walked and Moynihan’s night on the mound was done. Nine batters, seven walks, one hit, one strikeout.

Sports

Watertown Baseball Faced Powerful Melrose Team at Victory Field

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Friday afternoon Varsity Baseball played their second game in three days, and looked to get back on the winning track after a Wednesday loss at Wakefield by the score of 11-2. Visiting the Raiders was a Melrose team with a 6-3 record, and winners of five in a row. Watertown sent their ace to the mound, senior righthander Lucas Pizzuto, who had pitched deep into all his outings so far this season, including an impressive 8-inning performance Friday night April 18 versus Stoneham, a game Watertown won 5-4. 

On this day, though, Pizzuto lacked a bit of his usual reliable control, and he just couldn’t get his curveball moving or throw it for strikes. It didn’t help that Melrose swung the bats early and often, spraying the ball all over the field. Pizzuto ended up only pitching two innings and giving up four runs. But baseball is a team game, and this was a team loss, final score Melrose 10 – Watertown 0.