Ludlow Lions baseball start off the season with an impressive 9-5 record. Being the suburban league defending champions isn’t easy; they are the ones that everyone is out to beat.

However, head Coach Marty Fanning remains optimistic.

 “I think we have a very good chance of making playoffs this year,” he says, “hopefully we can make it farther than we did last year.”

With four of Ludlow’s best ever players graduating last year — including Marcus LaFayette, Nick Frost, Ben Gamache, and Cam Beaulieu — many players have stepped up and have been outstanding, according to Fanning.

Senior Captain Tyler Quiterio has dominated the season with an impressive 22 hits, 9 RBIs and 1 home run. And there’s still five more games left until play-offs. He is also one of the best center fielders in western Mass.

A few other players who are contributing to the success of the team are juniors Alex LaFayette (catcher), Kevin Boroweic (left field), sophomore Brett Layman (shortstop and pitching) and senior Mike Lavell (second).

LHS’s pitching has also been very good, according to Fanning, although the team does give up a lot of runs. They’ve improved since last year.  Starting pitcher’s include senior Jimmy Garrett, juniors Dimitri Bryant and Nelson Mourao, and sophomore Brett Layman.

In a recent game, Lions mercied Sci Tech in a brutal 22-1 game.

Fanning says, “We score a lot of runs, but we also give up a lot of runs. It definitely makes for exciting baseball.”

Regular season ends May 24.