Homegrown Heroes: Local Trailblazers

By: Brian Kelley

College is a meeting ground, a place where both students and teachers from all around the country and possibly the world convene and learn from one another. This diversity is necessary to our growth yet the amount of positive energy and strength the Trailblazers baseball team gains from having a strong group of local talent is undeniable.

“County baseball has always been strong and very competitive. It reflects on the roster, you’ve got hard working kids who losing is not an option to. They’re tough kids.” says Jeff Puleri, the coach of the baseball team.

Tough they are indeed as the Trailblazers went 20-13, 9-5 within the league, earning the third seed in the MASCAC Tourney. Sophomore Paul Precopio (Pittsfield, MA) is one of those tough guys hitting at .383 with 23 RBIs. These numbers helped him earn his way on to this season’s All-MASCAC team. He understands the power of being a local and helping out the team by recruiting.

“I played with and against Andrew Kelly (Dalton, MA) and Tim Burns (Pittsfield, MA) during high school and summer ball. My junior year in high school I played on the Bay State Games with my current roommate Joe Parillo (West Springfield, MA).” Precopio says.

However, aside from aiding in team chemistry and emotions, these homespun heroes make it easier for MCLA to recruit from the area and find strong, local talent. When asked if he had told prospective players about MCLA before and Paul responded, “I'd tell them that it’s a fun school and our baseball program is strong. I actually got Brendan Wyand (Pittsfield, MA), a local freshman who I played summer ball with, to come here and play this year.”

“There’s a lot of them that played at St. Joseph’s. I always used to stay with the idea that players are your best recruiters. I would like to think it certainly has an impact. When kids speak highly about the program it helps them make a good decision,” Coach Puleri says about the recruiting battle.

When asked about team chemistry and the positives of playing with people you know, Precopio says, “I'd say so because Joe and I pretty much spend every minute together and I think that's because we knew each other people coming to school here.”

Local talent is a strong source for strong players it seems as several of the Trailblazers come from the Berkshire County area including Pittsfield products: Rick Massey, Tim Burns, Brendan Wyand, and Joe Harrington; Pat Negrini (W. Stockbridge) and Andrew Kelly (Dalton). Combined, they are responsible for 65 of the team’s total 201 RBIs or about one third of their total run production and four pitching victories. Coach Puleri couldn’t agree more on the power of homegrown ability.

“Every school has its own niche and player needs. We want tough hard nosed kids and the county has a lot of them.”