Boulter and Guilmette garner league honors

Dave Brust knows baseball talent when he sees it. The Yankee skipper saw plenty of talent clad in pinstripes this summer. That being said, there are only so many post-season awards to hand out. Those getting the honor represent a team of quality players. 

Matt Boulter (So. New Hampshire) and Bryant Guilmette (U Mass-Lowell) earned the right to represent the Webster Yankees as part of the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s 2010 all-league team.

Boulter led the home nine with 232 chances in the field and finished second in the league with 147 assists. The native of Wrentham, Mass. led the Yankees in at bats (145), hitting (.331), runs scored (29), hits (48), slugging (.434) and hit the only home run out of a park this summer.

“What can you say,” commented Brust. “I thought he was the best shortstop in the league. He got to more balls than any other short stop.”

As Brust noted, Boulter’s contributions to team’s playoff run went beyond statistics. “He was a quiet, lead by example guy,” added the third-year coach. “Everybody did their part. He was the missing link.” As a freshman, Boulter hit .290 in 33 games for the Penmen.  

 Guilmette’s ERA of 2.49 topped the list of Yankee starters.  The southpaw tossed 61 innings (second in the league) in nine starts over two months.

 “Bryant developed into a legitimate number one guy this summer,” said Brust. “He has an outstanding change-up that he uses well to set up his fast ball. He was one of the better control pitchers in the league.”

 Last season, Guilmette made 17 appearances out of the bullpen for the home nine. None more impressive than three-game stretch in June. In three relief appearances, the lefty allowed zero earned runs while striking out five and earning two saves. In his first appearance of the summer, he struck out the side on nine pitches. One night later, with the pinstripes clinging to a 1-0 lead, Guilmette entered the game with bases loaded and one out. Two pitches later, Guilmette extinguished the threat with an inning-ending double play. To round off his week, the lefty came out of the pen with bases loaded and one out. The first batter Guilmette faced flew to left field. The next popped up to third base.

 “Bryant talked to us last year about the possibility of starting,” menitoned Brust. “It worked out pretty well, and he took advantage of the opportunity.”

 Webster finished the regular season 22-19. The campaign ended with a 3-2 loss in the deciding game of the NYCBL West Division semi-finals.

 “We had a lot of talented kids,” noted coach Dave Brust. “It was a different guy every night and several guys got the job done. I thought more guys deserved all-league honors.”

Shawn Bailey, Ollie Bertrand, Michael Craig and Steve Muoio represented Webster on the 2009 all-league team. Muoio also earned the honors in 2008. Bryan Gardner and Joe McIntyre nabbed all-league spots in 2007. The Cincinnati Reds drafted Gardner the following spring. McIntyre earned a spot on the Wallace Award Watch list for the top player in the NCAA.