By Christopher Tremblay

Two-sport senior captain Giacomo Serratore is entering his final athletic season with Norwood and is hoping that he and his teammates can put together a season worthy of remembering. Over the past two seasons, the Mustangs have fallen in the Round of 16 in the Division 2 State Baseball Tournament; last year, Norwood was ousted by the eventual D2 State Champion, Milton High School.

Serratore has been playing baseball for the Norwood town league since he was a youngster, but it wasn’t until the eighth grade that he could envision himself playing baseball on a higher level and decided to put his effort into the sport.

“Around that time, I started to see myself doing well on the baseball field and knew that I had a lot more potential,” Serratore said. “I was fortunate that my parents put me into a lot of sports growing up and I eventually stuck with the ones that I enjoyed.”

With his father’s encouragement, and practicing together, something happened that really got him thinking about the sport.

“In middle school, I started hitting balls further and when I hit my first homerun on the big field, it was really eye opening to me,” Serratore said. “I realized that if I continued to put the time in and hit the weight room, I could be really successful.”

Upon entering high school, Serratore’s goal was to earn a spot on the varsity squad, but unfortunately that didn’t come to fruition; but he was not upset as he was still playing a game that he loved. By not making the varsity team, he would continue to work hard on his game hoping to eventually make the jump. As a sophomore playing on the junior varsity team, he began hitting the gaps in the outfield for extra base hits, something that would become his forte.

“I trained hard to do gap hitting at the RBI Academy (in Mansfield),” Serratore said. “The coaches there were awesome and helped me take the ball to the gaps for easy doubles, sometimes a triple.”

Norwood Coach Kevin Igoe noted that Serratore is the king of gap hitting.

“He is a super athletic kid, but we’ll go as far as he takes us with his bat,” the Mustang skipper said. “He has a lot of power and hits a lot of extra base hits. I can’t remember him having many singles, he has a knack for finding the gaps.”

With his skill at bat, Igoe called the sophomore up to the varsity team at the tail end of the season to give the team a boost heading into the post-season. Serratore would also join the Norwood American Legion team during the summer to help him get ready for the talent level on the varsity team. Playing during the summer not only helped him to progress, but it also gave him the motivation to work harder.

In 2023 as a junior, Serratore played all 22 games for Igoe on the varsity team in left field.

“Last year was his coming out,” Igoe said. “He is the epitome of an athlete that is continually looking to make himself better and he did just that.”

Serratore would bat .319 with two homeruns, including a walk-off against Millis. The other four bagger would come against a tough Ashland pitcher.

“The Millis homerun was obviously a highlight to remember, but against the Ashland pitcher it was something to recall,” Serratore said. “He owned me the first time, but I focused and watched him pitch, so the second time up I was timing his pitch and on the first pitch I put the ball over the bullpen. That homerun really fired me up.”

As the season is fast approaching, Serratore and his other captains have been holding captains’ practices to get the team ready for opening day (April 2 at Hopkinton). In addition to helping the team get ready, Serratore has also been working on his game.

 

“Coming into the season, I have set my goals high,” Serratore said. “I am hoping to bat .400 with a lot of consistency at the plate while seeing the ball well. Last year, I was focusing on the power and didn’t see the ball as well as I should have. I want to hit as many homeruns as possible and looking for more triples than I’ve had in the past. I’ve been working on hitting the ball inside out to right field. I’m hoping for five triples and at least three homeruns to get my career over 5.”

When his high school career comes to an end, Serratore is hoping to continue to play baseball on the collegiate level. He is currently speaking with the coaches at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. 

“Unfortunately, I was injured last summer and couldn’t attend their prospect camp so I may have to possibly walk on for a chance to play there,” Serratore said “If I can walk on, great, but if not, education comes first and there are plenty of other good schools I could play for. I’m looking to get into construction management, so if a school has a good education, I could possibly play baseball there.”

No matter what becomes of next year, this year Serratore is hoping to not only accomplish his individual goals, but by doing so would help the Mustangs earn a spot in the Division 2 State Tournament where he is hoping that he can help the team make a deep run.