For boys of summer, winter ball is in season

It is the dead of winter. More than three weeks have passed since Christmas. It is four weeks until Red Sox pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, Fla., for spring training.

In other words, it's time to start talking baseball again.

It may be only mid-January, but Nick Campbell of Raynham, C.J. Haddad of Marshfield, and Adam Vuolo of Walpole are already in the midst of preseason workouts.

They are members of the Bryant University baseball team, which opens its season Feb. 17 in Florida when they play three doubleheaders in as many days against Barry University, Rollins College, and Bentley College.

"The NCAA allows us to start practice on Jan. 10, but we started about a week after that," said second-year coach Jamie Pinzino. "We work out in a big gym, and if the weather is good, like it had been earlier this winter, we'll try to go outside. We have a turf field so if it's warm enough, it won't be a problem."

Bryant has put together a killer schedule. Nearly 60 games are on tap before the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs begin May 6.

In his brief time as coach, Pinzino has brought in plenty of talent.

Vuolo, who was an outstanding pitcher at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood (he was 7-1 as a senior), is entering his junior year at Bryant and has earned the job as the team's closer. He was so good that Northeast-10 coaches selected him to the league All-Star team last spring as a sophomore, when he entered 28 games and had five saves. He also pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball to earn a victory over the University of Southern New Hampshire.

"He rose to the occasion last year," said Pinzino. He did a terrific job, and he earned the honor."

Campbell and Haddad are freshmen. Campbell was a standout for Bridgewater Raynham Regional High School and could see plenty of action this year. He had a banner senior year, earning Globe All-Scholastic honors. He batted leadoff and hit.471 with three homers. He stole 12 bases and was a vacuum cleaner in the outfield. Old Colony League coaches named Campbell the Most Valuable Player.

Haddad, who was a three-time OCL All-Star for Marshfield High School, will see action in the outfield. Bryant will also try to get his bat in the lineup as a designated hitter.

Pinzino will have plenty of talent coming in next year, including two more players from the region: Bay State League All-Star Brendan Wheeler of Braintree High School and Atlantic Coast League standout David O'Brien of Whitman-Hanson High School. Both have committed and will enroll in September.

Plenty of this year's top high school players have made their college commitments for September.

Boston College signed Xaverian Brothers High School lefthanded pitcher Nathaniel Bayuk of Canton, Hanover High School righthander John Leonard, and Catholic Memorial outfielder Marc Perdios of Milton.

For Perdios, it will be a reunion of sorts. He will rejoin John Spatola, who was his teammate on the Milton American Legion team that won the state and regional championships and went on to the Legion World Series.

During their college years, Perdios and Spatola will run into an old friend when the Eagles play Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke University. Former Boston College High School ace Alex Hassan, who was a teammate of theirs on the Milton Legion team, begins his first season with the Duke University Blue Devils this spring.

Other members of the Legion team have made their college commitments.

Matt Duffy, who was the Most Valuable Player of the Legion's Northeast Regional Championship last summer at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, selected the University of Vermont. He is a 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound, righthanded hitting senior at St. Sebastian's School. As a junior, he hit.447 with 8 doubles and 15 RBIs as the Arrows went 12-3.

"We are excited about having a player with Matt's experience at shortstop at every level," said Vermont coach Bill Currier in a prepared statement. "He could have an immediate impact at the plate and defensively in the middle infield."

Another member of that prized Milton Legion team, Mark Gormley, a lefthander at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, committed to Brown University, which College Baseball Magazine picked as second behind Harvard in the Ivy League preseason poll.

Harvard has one of the top players from the region set to commit. Greg Malley of Scituate, a righthanded pitcher and a standout hockey player for Thayer Academy in Braintree, received a commitment from Harvard University. He could play both sports as did fellow Independent School Leaguer Brendan Byrne of Milton, now a senior.

Malley will find familiar faces in the Harvard clubhouse. Fellow Scituate resident Tom Stack-Babich is on the Harvard varsity, and Malley certainly had plenty of ISL pitching duels with former Milton Academy star Dan Zalinskas of Marshfield, who is in the midst of his freshman year.

Some high school stars have already played some serious baseball in 2007. Xaverian Brothers High School lefthanded pitchers Corey Shea of Hanson and Bayuk, along with Cardinal Spellman High School outfielder Jonathan Houser of North Easton, spent last weekend at the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training complex in Tucson, competing in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Tournament

The three-day tournament featured 200 of the top high school baseball players in the nation.

Finally, local ballplayers who are interested in shaping up their games might want to head to the South Shore Baseball Club in Hingham. Spring Training Camp for ages 8 to 15 begins Feb. 3, featuring defensive instruction for fielders, time in the batting cage, and lectures.