Maiorano Taking His Skills to Fairfield University

By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Prior to high school, Bellingham’s Ryan Maiorano really never considered himself playing college baseball, especially as a pitcher. However, now that the Blackhawks season has come to an unexpected conclusion, the graduate’s next stop will be at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

“I’ve always been a pitcher, actually a pretty bad one at that,” Maiorano recalled. “I had never played on a travel team until I was 14, I never had the experience.”

Eventually, he joined the New England Longhorn’s where Coaches Joe Santos (Holliston) and Matt Anderson (Hopkinton) helped him to take his game to the next level while helping him realize that he had the talent to eventually play college baseball.

“I didn’t think that I had the talent to play after high school. I played shortstop and pitched, but as a pitcher, I really didn’t know my true potential, “he said. “I had always been a skinny kid, but the Longhorn coaches taught me how to put on weight properly and turned my mechanics around.”

With his game on the upswing, Maiorano started seeing coaches and scouts at the Bellingham games whenever he took to the mound. 

“It was nerve wracking at first, seeing scouts at the games. I had never had to deal with anything like that before. The first game I pitched in front of the scouts, I went 5 innings with 12 strikeouts, and that day showed me that once I put it out of my mind, that I could pitch with the best of them.”

In May of last year, Maiorano committed to play for Fairfield, and almost immediately, the monkey was off his back.

“Once I committed, it was a great relief,” he said. “Knowing that I didn’t have to impress the scouts anymore, I could just go out and be myself without the pressure.”

In addition to putting on weight and fixing his mechanics, prior to his junior year, Maiorano got himself a strength coach in Tyler Kessler and soon after started to see improvement in his velocity. 

That season, the junior threw 2 no-hitters, recorded 86 strikeouts, and issued 30 walks in 44 innings pitched. He also received the first of his Tri-Valley League Small Division Pitcher of the Year. (He would win the award again this year as a senior). 

“He is a fiery kid on the mound and throws 87-88 with a good slider and a developing changeup that keeps the batters honest,” said the Bellingham Skipper. “Ryan knows that if he gets into trouble, he can always go for the strikeout to get out of it.”

This year, the senior collected his second Pitcher of the Year award, posting a .97 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 29 innings. Nolan pulled Maiorano’s innings back enough to keep the Blackhawks in contention for the State Tournament as well as not to hurt the future college pitcher.

Nolan went on to say stats speak volumes. Over the last two seasons, Maiorano had pitched 80.2 innings for Bellingham picking up 7 wins, posting a 1.48 ERA and .97 WHIP while allowing 39 hits and 39 walks in addition to striking out a phenomenal 146 batters enroute to his two TVL Pitcher of the Year awards. 

“He has fully developed significantly through his AAU team,” Nolan said. “During his sophomore year, he had the arm but not the ability to throw, but once he was able to harness that power he took off.”

Although the now Bellingham graduate is a star when he takes the ball and heads to the hill, things were not always the case. Bellingham baseball Coach Andy Nolan recalls seeing Maiorano for the first time in a game against Ashland when the pitcher had himself a game he’d much rather forget. Finally getting a chance to pitch, Maiorano took to the mound and proceeded to hit six batters. 

“It was a really rough game,” Maiorano said. “Once l realized that I just needed to brush it off and go out and pitch, I knew that I could, I just needed to have faith in myself. Today, that game brings a good laugh when it’s talked about.”

Entering his senior campaign, Maiorano was hoping to expand upon last year’s performance and get his team back into the Division 4 State Tournament. Last year, he was able to fan 16 batters in an 11-2 victory over Clinton before the Blackhawks fell 3-2 to Abington in the next round. This year, Maiorano went out and once again pitched his team to a 7-2 opening win against Monomoy, but once got eliminated in the second round.

During this off-season, the Bellingham pitcher will continue to work with his strength trainer 4-5 times a week. He knows nothing is set in stone as per a starting position on the Stags roster. He may get a chance in the early part of the season when the squad heads down South.

“He has the talent and a good mix of pitches to play for a Division 1 baseball program. My only concern, and I’m an old school type of guy, is that he takes a lot of time to warm up,” the Bellingham coach said. “It’s going to be tough for a freshman to walk in and become a top pitcher; he’ll need to adapt, but he has the promise to eventually get into a game.”