With the playoffs upon us, it’s a perfect time to look at who could take home our end-of-season hardware as MIAA Player of the Year.
The winner will be announced following the championship games of the state tournaments, which will be held on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, at Polar Park in Worcester. Below is a list of 19 players, plus honorable mentions, all under consideration, ranging from two-way forces to offensive catalysts and lockdown pitchers. Whether they competed in Division 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 does not matter, either.
Of course, there are many other players outside of those listed who are deserving in their own right. Honorable mentions or others not listed are still eligible.
If you have a nominee not listed or stat updates, please do not hesitate to email them to patrick.donnelly@baseballjournal.com. Any help with season-long statistics is greatly appreciated. This is, after all, the perfect time of year for players to set themselves apart.
Last season, St. John's Shrewsbury left-hander Brayden Mercier took home Player of the Year. In the regular season, the left-hander went 4-1 with a 0.82 ERA and 38 strikeouts, surrendering just four earned runs. Mercier, now a freshman pitcher at UMass Amherst, found another level with a whopping 21 strikeouts across 13 innings in two playoff starts, posting a 0.53 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP in the postseason. Mercier saved one of his best starts of the season for his last, a complete-game one-hitter in the Pioneers’ 3-0 win in the Round of 16 against conference foe St. John’s Prep. The southpaw struck out nine in the effort.
Wihtout further ado, let's dive into 19 players to watch this postseason. Players are listed alphabetically by last name.
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