Joe Cronin of the Scarborough baseball team didn’t get to pitch much in the early season because of a sore arm. Cronin’s arm is healthy now, as Cheverus can attest.

Cronin, a junior, allowed only two hits while striking out 11 in 9-plus innings of relief as the Red Storm beat Cheverus 6-3 in 14 innings Saturday.

Cronin, who also plays shortstop, worked out diligently in the offseason. The result is 20 pounds of muscle. Feeling stronger, he may have tried to throw too fast too soon in the spring, causing the sore arm.

Cronin has been timed with radar guns by local college coaches and they have his fastball in the high 80s, and touching 90 mph on occasion.

Cronin has a gun of an arm from shortstop and it’s translated to the pitcher’s mound. He has been used in relief as a complement to starters Ben Wessel, Ryan Mancini and Ben Greenberg.

In a 4-3 loss to Deering last week, the Red Storm brought in Cronin in the top of the seventh inning.

Advertisement

Coach Mike Coutts lamented that he wished he had brought Cronin in sooner.

Cronin has verbally committed to play baseball at Boston College, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.

The speculation is that by that time, Cronin could be more valuable to the Eagles as a relief pitcher than as a fielder and hitter. He could do both or he could specialize, but there’s plenty of time before that plays out.

TED ACETO is regarded as one of the best softball umpires in the area. Last Wednesday he showed he is pretty tough too.

Aceto was umpiring the bases of Fryeburg Academy’s 11-1 win over Lake Region when, in the top of the third inning, the game was halted and he limped to the pitching circle.

He had been moving into position following a hit and felt his calf muscle snap.

Advertisement

Amazingly, Aceto didn’t miss anything. While he couldn’t move around as much, he stayed in the game.

FRYEBURG IS at Falmouth today in its softball season finale. The Raiders are 15-0 and secure in the No.1 spot in Western Class B. The teams switched sites earlier this season because of field conditions.”

“Yeah, the day after graduation,” said Fred Apt, the coach of the Raiders. “It’s a trap.”

He laughed and said he wasn’t really concerned.

“It is what it is,” he said. “We go out and play Fryeburg softball every day and then leave the field happy. If someone beats us now the way we’re playing, they deserve it. They beat us.”

— Staff Writers Tom Chard and Mike Lowe contributed to this report.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.