Local players lead youth movement for Northeastern baseball

The three local players, according to 24-year coach Neil McPhee, are "a combination of a couple of the strongest recruiting classes we've ever had in our program from the western suburbs."

A redshirt freshman outfielder from Sudbury, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Miller was honored as the Colonial Athletic Association's first Rookie of the Week this season, after batting .500 with a .650 on-base percentage that included a 4-for-5 performance in a 6-4 victory over Northwestern during the team's Florida swing. The former Lincoln- Sudbury Regional High star was second in team batting for the Huskies with a .357 average through 17 games. His 13 runs scored were a team high, and he also had three stolen bases in as many attempts.

McPhee noted that Lincoln-Sudbury coach Kirk Fredericks had "told us he was a player who never makes a mistake on the field, and the start that Matt has had this year is almost unprecedented in our program.

"He is an on-base machine."

Ross, who won the Hamill Award his senior year at Newton North as the city's best high school baseball player, appeared in five games last season for NU, one as a starter, and posted a 14.14 earned run average. The 6-2, 205-pound left-hander earned his first collegiate career win this spring by going six scoreless innings in a 5-4 victory over Fairfield, and had an 0.69 ERA in 13 innings.

"J.T. has made an incredible jump, because we thought he might need another year to be a contributor," said McPhee, a Needham resident whose team started the week at 10-7 overall. "The most important aspect of J.T.'s development is his ability to throw strikes with all his pitches in all situations."

Leenhouts, a 6-3, 190-pound lefty, had a 1.87 ERA while striking out 15 hitters in 9.2 innings. Last spring, he led Franklin High to the Hockomock League title.

"He has the potential to be a high-round draft pick and he reminds me of Greg Montalbano from Westborough, who was a fifth-round selection of the Red Sox" in 2000, after his senior season at NU, said McPhee. "He has the same smooth delivery and superb command."

Senior catcher Frank Pesanello of Plainville, who set a school single-season record last year with 20 home runs, was batting .224 with one homer. The Bishop Feehan graduate, according to McPhee, has been pitched around because of his power potential, "but has gotten some big hits, including a double that drove in the game-winner last Sunday at James Madison. He's being scouted heavily for the 2009 draft."

Jason Roth, a freshman first baseman and left-handed pitcher from Sudbury, has been redshirted this season, but the former Lincoln-Sudbury High standout is highly regarded by McPhee, who called Roth "a complete athlete with size, strength, and natural skills at every phase of the game."