High school coach has no college ambitions

METHUEN -- For conspiracy theorists, the exodus of two baseball coaches in the last year from Methuen High School to Merrimack College might suggest that newly named head coach Dave Fabrizio has an eye on the North Andover college.

That would be wrong.

Fabrizio said Methuen athletic director Brian Urquhart ''asked if I was going."

''I said, 'Where am I going to go? I'm closer to retirement than I am to the beginning. Where am I going to go?' " Fabrizio said.

Former assistant Methuen coach and current Merrimack assistant Rob Aziz laughs when the possibility comes up.

''It's funny," Aziz said. ''You figure people must think the whole thing was planned. The comical thing about it was it wasn't in the cards; it just happened to come about."

Within a year of each other, Aziz and former head coach Eric Cyr exited Methuen for the allures of college baseball, leaving behind a program they had combined to raise from a middling Merrimack Valley team to one consistently at the top of the conference, reaching the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North sectional last year.

No conspiracy, they said. Really, it was simply a matter of an old friend and an opportunity.

That would be Joe Sarno, named head coach at Merrimack in July of 2003 and a former teammate of Aziz and Cyr on the Nashua Hawks (now the Nashua Pride), an independent league team.

''He thought we'd be a good fit with him," Cyr said of Sarno. ''He wanted us to be with him when he rebuilt Merrimack. It's more of a coincidence than him stealing us. If he were at Salem State, we'd be at Salem State."

Aziz and Cyr grew up in Methuen together, went to Central Catholic together, attended UMass-Lowell together, signed with the Nashua Hawks together. So it was only fitting that, after spending a year apart when Aziz came to Merrimack in 2004, Cyr would join him in the North Andover dugout after nine years at Methuen.

And Cyr's already happy with the perks of college coaching.

''I enjoyed the Florida trip," said Cyr, who also teaches in a Lawrence elementary school. ''Didn't get to do that at the high school level. We missed two snowstorms while we were down there. I didn't feel too bad."

But, more than that, Cyr gets to work with a staff that is far more fundamentally sound than any he had in Methuen. At the high school level he might have had three pitchers. At Merrimack, he has 12.

College coaching. Better pitchers. And Aziz, of course.

''I think he wanted to follow me," Aziz said. ''We've been playing together since we were eight years old -- he couldn't take it."

That left the job open for Fabrizio, a history teacher at the school and former Cyr assistant. Not long into the season, Fabrizio, who also coaches basketball at Whittier Tech, already has fans among his players.

''Mr. Fabrizio is more of a people person than our last coach," star pitcher Adam Aliano said. ''Our last coach was great, but [Fabrizio] knows the kids more because he's in the school system. He knows how high school kids are. He's more into the social aspect. He teaches us, as far as being a father-type figure."

Fabrizio admitted he faces high expectations in a city that just saw two league championships out of the Cyr-coached Rangers. With a strong No. 1 pitcher in Naval Academy-bound Aliano, the top of the rotation looks to be solid, despite Aliano's sprained ankle, injured last week. Paired with senior catcher David Wendt, the pitching staff shouldn't be a source of too much concern for Fabrizio.

''Eric did a great job," he said. ''Taking over for him is very easy -- everything's in place."

But, while Methuen-bred coaches appear to be the norm at Merrimack, not a single roster spot has gone to a Methuen player. They've got Andover and Wilmington and Reading, but no one from Methuen.

It might not be too long before that's corrected.

''It's a matter of time, I think," Urquhart said. ''A matter of time. That's a healthy connection. When we have a kid who wants to play at the college level and is interested in Merrimack, we know who to call."