Nick Zammarelli has Everett on the move as AquaSox defeat Spokane Indians 3-1
Many young baseball players’ ultimate dream is to be the star of their hometown team, playing on the same field as their favorite big leaguers.
He may have thought that when he was younger, but as it turned out, it wasn’t Everett third baseman Nick Zammarelli’s dream. He passed up that opportunity because he had the bigger picture in mind.
Zammarelli, who was 2 for 3 for the AquaSox in their 3-1 win over the Spokane Indians on Friday night at Avista Stadium, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 28th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. It was a tough decision for the Lincoln, Rhode Island, native, who was a “huge Red Sox fan” and idolized Nomar Garciaparra growing up.
Instead of entering his favorite team’s farm system, Zammarelli elected to play at Elon University in North Carolina to improve his draft stock. It paid off, as the Seattle Mariners snatched him in the eighth round of the 2016 draft.
“You can only imagine (how tough that was),” Zammarelli said. “But looking back on it, I don’t regret that decision at all … in the end it all worked out.”
Zammarelli could have returned to Elon for his senior season to further improve his draft stock, but that decision was a lot easier than his first one, and the support from his college coaches was a big reason.
“In our exit meetings at the end of the year, they were like, ‘This isn’t really a what-you-need-to-work-on meeting, this a goodbye. … We knew when you stepped on campus freshman year you wouldn’t be back as a senior,’” said Zammarelli, who hit .307 in three seasons for the Phoenix. “I’m just thankful for everything they’ve done for me. They’ve had my back every step of the way.”
The right-handed third baseman has settled in nicely in his first season of minor league baseball, hitting .326 with four home runs for the AquaSox this season.
“He’s been hitting well since day one,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said.
Everett jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth, as Joe Venturino blooped a single to center field to score Dimas Ojeda. The AquaSox added two more runs in the seventh when Johan Quevedo scored on a wild pitch and Jose Leal hit an RBI double to center field to put Everett up 3-0.
Spokane scored its run in the eighth, when Stephen Lohr walked with the bases loaded and two outs. Alex Kowalczyk followed Lohr, but grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
Lohr was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Blaine Prescott was 2 for 4.
Spokane starting pitcher Kyle Cody was handed the loss, surrendering seven hits and striking out seven in five innings.
Danny Garcia (2-1) picked up the win, giving up six hits in five scoreless innings.