Waves2.jpg

The Ocean State Waves line up for the national anthem during a New England Collegiate Baseball League game last season. The team opens its ninth NECBL season at Danbury on June 7. The Waves’ home opener is June 8 at Old Mountain Field in Wakefield. | William Geoghegan, Special to The Sun

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Summer arrives at Old Mountain Field next week as the Ocean State Waves return for their ninth season of baseball.

The New England Collegiate Baseball League club will open its 44-game slate at Danbury on June 7 before the home opener June 8 in Wakefield. With the makings of a strong roster and more opportunities to connect with the community, ownership is hoping for a big summer.

“The roster is really strong and they’re really good kids,” said president and general manager Eric Hirschbein-Bodnar. “We’re really excited for them to get here and start playing baseball together. It should be a fun summer.”

Last season ushered in some normalcy to the South County summer as the Waves returned after the pandemic canceled the 2020 season.

In planning for the return, league officials weren’t sure what the landscape would look like, but the season ended up being largely normal. The Waves aimed to make their games a place for the community to gather in a way it hadn’t done since 2019. A few pieces of the puzzle were missing, though, namely school reading days and other visits to schools. Those will return this year. Waves mascot Splash has already attended Narragansett and South Kingstown Little League opening-day ceremonies, as well.

“I think the school reading days will be huge for us this summer because we’re actually going to be able to be in classrooms,” assistant general manager Carly Bauckham said. “We did a few Zoom calls last year, but this will be a lot better, with our players actually meeting the kids in person. That’s what we’re all about — we’re part of the community and we’re in the community.”

The product on the field should also entice some fans. Last year, the Waves had NECBL MVP Travis Honeyman and as many All-Stars as any other team in the league. After an up-and-down start, they got hot in the playoffs and won a single-elimination matchup before falling in the division semifinals. Seven players are set to return from that squad, giving the Waves a solid foundation — something that was missing last season.

“Really strong roster, built around the fundamentals of the style we want to play,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “Gritty, blue-collar, hustling, aggressive kind of team.”

The list of returners features All-Star pitchers Ryan Gleason and Nick Payero and All-Star infielders Nick Hassan and Kyle Maves. URI’s Alex Ramirez and Zach Fernandez and Rutgers’ Nick Cimillo are also back.

Cimillo joined the Waves late last summer and hit four home runs in just 17 games. He batted .385 with 16 home runs this spring as one of Ocean State’s top collegiate performers.

Cimillo has some Waves company on the NCAA leaderboards. Belmont’s Guy Lipscomb became the first player since 2011 in college baseball to bat at least .400 and steal 40 bases.

The roster also includes 10 players from power-conference teams, including North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia Tech.

Three Rhode Island natives are on the roster in Duke’s Nicholas Conte of North Providence, URI’s Alex Ramirez from Providence and UConn’s Jake Studley, who hails from Barrington.

“Our rosters have gotten better every year, based on our notoriety nationally and the technology we have now,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said.

That includes a new Trackman system, which provides troves of data. The NECBL has a new partnership with Trackman, which has brought the technology to all league parks.

“It gives us a more analytical view of our guys for us and how we develop players and for scouts who are watching them,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “We’re really excited about that.”

Hirschbein-Bodnar will also serve as field manager. He’s joined in the dugout by longtime hitting coach Pete Clays and pitching coach Will Dawson, as well as assistant T.J. Lynch and bullpen coach Matt Rienzi. Joe Mello is the director of baseball operations and Ben Bilotti is the director of analytics.

The Waves will play in the NECBL’s new Coastal Division, part of the league’s debut of a three-division format. The Waves will be joined by 2021 league runner-up North Shore, 2019 runner-up Martha’s Vineyard, perennial powerhouse Newport, and 2016 champ Mystic.

Unlike last year, when schedules were limited to divisional opponents, clubs will play teams from each division this season.

The Waves will play most of their 21 home games in July. They’ll face Newport six times in the Pell Bridge Series. The franchise is planning a “Bark in the Park” event and a military appreciation night.

“It gives us a more analytical view of our guys for us and how we develop players and for scouts who are watching them,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “We’re really excited about that.”

Five Waves to watch

• Nick Cimillo of Rutgers earned second-team all-Big Ten honors after leading the league in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS.

• Guy Lipscomb of Belmont batted .406 and stole 42 bases en route to OVC Player of the Year honors, a history-making campaign.

• Donovan Cash is part of the rich Kennesaw State to Ocean State pipeline and is hitting .356 with 10 home runs for the NCAA regional-bound Owls.

• Drew Holderbach is batting .417 with seven home runs for D-III powerhouse Marietta College, which is in the Division III World Series.

• Brandyn Garcia led Quinnipiac with 74 strikeouts in 61.2 innings pitched.

Recommended for you

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.