By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The Holliston baseball team hasn’t had all that much in the post-season lately. Last spring the Panthers fell in the Round of 32 during their first game of the Division 3 State Tournament to Dover-Sherborn 3-1. The year prior they completed a 14-7 season and earned the eight seed in the Division 2 Tournament where they defeated Salem 3-1 before being upset by Plymouth North in the Round of 16 4-1. Holliston had captured their first Tri-Valley League Title in 32 years that season. 

Coach Joe Santos is hoping that this year’s roster depth will not only get the Panthers back to the State Tournament but go further than they have in the last few campaigns.

“This years group of seniors is the biggest that I have ever had; it gives us a depth of talented athletes,” he said. “This group kind of reminds me of the 2023 class, the team that put Holliston back on the map for baseball. There are a handful on this year’s team that was young and learned from that experience.”

At the time of this writing, Holliston was 11-5 overall with a 10-1 TVL leading record. Santos knew that his team had potential but not this much.

“If you told me that we’d be 10-1 in the TVL at this point I’d be surprised but definitely would believe that we’d be having success with the returning players we have,” Santos said. “I knew we could have a good season, we just needed guys to take the next step. I thought that we had the pieces, it was just a matter of putting it all together.”

Twins Evan and Lucas Engel are two skilled baseball players that have been giving the Panthers quality innings on the mound and timely base hitting in the designated hitter role. The Coach sees the twins as good role models for the team that have given the squad success on the mound as well as bats off the bench when they are not pitching. The Engels brothers are building the culture in the right direction.

Evan, who has taken over as the team’s number two pitcher, is 5-0 with a 1.40 ERA, while at the plate he is hitting .409 with 7 RBI, 2 home runs and 2 doubles. Lucas, who primarily comes out of the bullpen for the Panthers, is 1-1 with 1 save over 12 2/3 innings. At the plate he is hitting a sizzling .625 with a .727 on base percentage.

“Being pitchers they are not everyday players but have been huge off the bench and are always ready to step into the action whenever called upon,” the Coach said. “I’m a big believer in karma and character; they both are reaping the success.”

Senior captain and four-year varsity player Arav Prajapati is the team’s ace on the hill. Although only posting a 3-2 record thus far the senior gets the ball against the majority of tougher opponents. He has held the opposing bats to a 2.4 ERA and leads the team in strikeouts, just about averaging one strikeout per inning. Santos noted that Prajapati, who has great composure and attacks the zone, has been the Panthers opening day starter since his sophomore season.

Another Panther captain, Sam Schoenberg holds down the starting shortstop position and will be taking his talents to Johnson and Wales next season. The senior is a three-year starter and has been hitting .370 this spring with 17 hits, half of them for extra bases and has 12 RBI and 13 stolen bases, which leads the team.

Drew Kafka has been calling the pitchers from behind the plater for the majority of his high school career, but due to an injury he has been playing more first base this year. At the plate his stats don’t speak of his impact batting in the fourth spot for Holliston, He leads the team in hit by pitch and according to santos it shows that he is willing to do whatever it takes for the sake of the team.

Junior centerfielder Ben Maiorano is one of the best players in the league according to the panther coach. He primarily leads off and is a game changer with his speed and power. He has 26 hits with 3 triples, 3 home runs, 13 RBI, 18 runs scored and has 11 stolen bases on 11 attempts.

Brogan Roche is a baseball first type of player and the coach is unsure of what he’d do without him. A lifelong infielder, he has filled in behind the plate for Holliston.

“He’s the ultimate dirt dog, the perfect baseball player – tough and does whatever the teams needs,” the Coach said. “His main position is second base, where he has started for the past two years.”

With a minimal six games remaining on their regular season schedule Santos is looking for his squad to improve the areas that they’ve been struggling with as of late. They need to learn from the mistakes that have cost them in the past.

“Come playoff time against quality opponents, we wont be able to get away with the mistakes we’ve been making,” the Coach said. “We need to play complete baseball and build off our success while learning from our mistakes.”

If Holliston can hold on to what they’ve been able to do, while picking up on their miscues they should be able to not only get back to the State Tournament but should be able to put forth one of their better showings.