MIAA baseball tournament: Favorites, sleepers, players to watch, for Divisions 1-5

The race to Polar Park is on.

A breakneck two-week dash to the state championships is underway, as the MIAA’s high school baseball tournaments began Thursday.

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Here’s a breakdown of all five divisions, with favorites, sleepers, players to watch, and analysis.

Favorites: No. 1 BC High (18-2), No. 2 Bishop Feehan (14-6)

Sleepers: No. 7 Taunton (16-6), No. 9 Natick (15-5)

Best first-round matchup: Sunday, No. 18 Chelmsford (14-8) at No. 15 Weymouth (12-10), 7:30 p.m.

Longest first-round road trip: Friday, No. 36 Diman (10-8) at No. 29 Arlington (12-8), 65 miles, Noon

Players to watch: SS Brody Beale (BC High, Sr.), P/1B Brody Bumila (Bishop Feehan, Sr.), 2B Conor Secrist (St. John’s, Sr.), 1B Joey Benoit (Taunton, Sr.), P/OF Ollie Henke (Cambridge, Sr.)

Analysis: Once again, it’s a loaded Division 1 field.

Top-seeded BC High, winners of nine straight and the Catholic Conference championship, captured the late-season Fredericks Tournament. The Eagles have championship pedigree from their title two years ago. Bishop Feehan, with bona fide MLB prospect Brody Bumila, have the best trump card in the tourney. But the Shamrocks also have valuable offense. Western Mass. Class A champ Springfield Central is a strong third seed, and a potential quarterfinal matchup of No. 4 St. John’s (Shrewsbury) and No. 5 Catholic Memorial is eye-catching.

No. 7 Taunton, No. 6 Xaverian, and No. 9 Natick are all teams that could break off strong runs. And there’s plenty of capable double-digit seeds, including No. 17 Braintree, No. 12 St. John’s Prep, No. 14 Franklin, No. 18 Chelmsford, and No. 22 Plymouth North.

Favorites: No. 1 St. Mary’s (17-3), No. 2 Walpole (15-4)

Sleepers: No. 7 Longmeadow (16-5), No. 11 King Philip (12-8)

Players to watch: RHP/OF Rolky Brea-Arias (St. Mary’s, Sr.), RHP Luca Digiulio (Walpole, Jr.), 1B/3B Isaac Robinson (Reading, Sr.), RHP/2B/3B Tim Sullivan (Milton, Jr.), 1B/3B Amir Cartagena (Bishop Stang, Jr.)

Best first-round matchup: Monday, No. 18 Barnstable (10-10) at No. 15 Duxbury (12-8), 4:30 p.m.

Longest road trip: Monday, No. 25 Masconomet (12-8) at No. 8 Minnechaug (12-8), 104 miles, 6 p.m.

Analysis: A top-heavy bracket, to say the least. There are four clear frontrunners in top-seeded St. Mary’s, which moved up a division from last season, defending champion No. 2 Walpole, 2025 runner-up No. 3 Reading, and No. 4 Milton, which has made a resurgence after a first-round exit in 2025. St. Mary’s and Walpole each possess true aces, with 6-foot-4-inch righthander Rolky Brea-Arias and 6-2 righty Luca Digiulio, respectively, which is crucial in the postseason. Averaging 6.3 runs per game, the Milton lineup is dangerous one through nine. Don’t count out fifth-seed Bishop Stang, either, as the Spartans have proven they can rake at a clip of 7.2 runs per game.

Favorites: No. 2 North Reading (17-3), No. 3 Middleborough (18-4)

Sleepers: No. 8 Hanover (13-5), No. 10 Gloucester (17-3)

Best first-round matchup: Sunday, No. 17 Newburyport (14-6) at No. 16 Dighton-Rehoboth (10-9), Sunday, 2 p.m.

Longest road trip: Friday, No. 38 Cardinal Spellman (11-11) at No. 27 Taconic (8-11), 153 miles

Players to watch: P/OF Tylor Zamora (Middleborough, Sr.), C Matt Mancinelli (North Reading, Sr.), P/INF Nico Alves (Gloucester, Sr.), P/OF Josh Matta (Falmouth, Sr.), P/OF Ryan Levesque (Apponequet, Sr.)

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Analysis: The Division 3 field is as wide-open as they come.

Any of the top 17 seeds are legitimate contenders, with each showing mettle this spring. The top seeds are, naturally, the favorites, with Pittsfield as the No. 1 seed a year after making the D4 semifinal. Defending champ North Reading is back as the No. 2 seed, with the Hornets looking just as scary as last year.

Middleborough can beat absolutely anyone — evidenced by a statement win over Bishop Feehan. No. 5 Apponequet made it through more than half the season unbeaten, and keep an eye on No. 4 Falmouth, No. 7 Norwell, Hanover, Gloucester, and No. 11 Latin Academy.

Favorites: No. 1 Hamilton-Wenham (19-1), No. 2 East Bridgewater (13-7)

Sleepers: No. 8 Sandwich (10-11), No. 14 Frontier (16-4)

Players to watch: RHP/SS/UTL Cormac Heney (Hamilton-Wenham, Sr.), SS/3B John King (East Bridgewater, Jr.), SS/3B Ben Rondina (Dennis-Yarmouth, Jr.), RHP/1B Brian Mancinelli (St. John Paul II, Sr.), LHP/OF Nuri Gutman (Latin Academy, Sr.)

Best first-round matchup: Monday, No. 17 Clinton (14-4) at No. 16 Amesbury (10-10), 3 p.m.

Longest road trip: Sunday, No. 39 Hampshire (9-9) at No. 26 Upper Cape (12-7), 148 miles, 4 p.m.

Analysis: All aboard the Generals train! With only one loss this season, top-seeded Hamilton-Wenham is poised for a massive tournament run if it can continue what it has done all season long — score, score, and score some more. Defending its 2025 title, No. 4 Millbury will be a suitor to upset the back-to-back Cape Ann champions, but the entire top 15 is loaded with legitimate contenders. Keep an eye out for No. 5 St. John Paul II with Navy-bound righthander Brian Mancinelli, who tops out around 92 miles per hour, as well as 2026 Boston City League champion Latin Academy, the 11th seed.

Favorites: No. 1 English High, No. 2 Georgetown

Sleepers: No. 8 Charlestown, No. 13 Madison Park

Best first-round matchup: Monday, No. 20 Brighton (9-10) at No. 13 Madison Park (13-2), 3 p.m.

Longest road trip: Monday, No. 22 Cape Cod Tech (8-9) at No. 11 Westfield Tech (15-4), 169 miles, 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, No. 19 Rockport (1-17) at No 14 Lenox (12-7), 167 miles, 2 p.m.

Players to watch: P/SS Luis Mejia (English High, Sr.), P/OF Cesar Casado Jr. (Madison Park, Sr.), 3B Criss Luna (Charlestown, Sr.), P/3B Ty Southall (Georgetown, Jr.), P/3B Connor Hinkell (Drury, Sr.)

Analysis: For the third-straight year, English High looks like the team to beat in Division 5, with the Eagles taking the top seed for the first time since moving down to D5 three years ago. After finishing runner-up last year, they challenged themselves with the most difficult strength of schedule in the division. And we could see a rematch of last year’s title game in just the second round, if No. 16 Pioneer Valley can join the Eagles there.

Georgetown is the only team to beat D4 top seed Hamilton-Wenham, and the Royals closed the year with four straight wins. Watch out for No. 3 Hopkins Academy, No. 4 Drury, No. 5 Greenfield, and No. 7 Mt. Everett.

Boston City League contenders Charlestown and Madison Park will both look to surprise — the Townies, who won the Dual County League for the first time, are coming off a quarterfinal trip, and the Cardinals lasted 13 games before taking a loss this spring.

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