Connor Blandini’s senior season reads like a Hollywood script.
Bow’s standout shortstop hit for a .483 batting average and 1.255 OPS while scoring 23 runs to earn Division II Player of the Year honors as the Falcons went 15-2 en route to the No. 1 seed in the D-II tournament.
That’s when the fun really started.
The Falcons personified the classic playoff cliche “survive and advance.” Bow shook off a slow start to tie Coe-Brown in the quarterfinals and eventually walked off with a win in the seventh. The Falcons used a final-frame rally and walk-off suicide squeeze to slip past St. Thomas in the semifinals. And the Falcons saved just enough magic to stun Hollis Brookline with a two-out, two-RBI single with the bases loaded to walk off with the program’s second baseball title and first since 2003.
The heart-pounding final chapter of Blandini’s brilliant Bow career has one last note: Concord Monitor Baseball Player of the Season.
“I’m just glad having it all end the way I wanted to,” said Blandini, who emerged as the staff’s pick among several strong candidates in the area.
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Blandini will join forces with his older brother next year at Southern New Hampshire University, and while Bow coach Ben Forbes has a young and talented team coming back to defend its D-II crown next spring, he’ll miss penciling in Blandini’s name atop the lineup card.
“He’s got plus speed and a plus arm. For a kid his size, he can hit for power,” Forbes said. “He’s just a dynamic, spark-plug type of player.”
Blandini helped the Falcons to the Division III championship game as a freshman in 2016, but Bow lost to Monadnock in the final. The Falcons jumped to Division II the following season and went a combined 1-2 in the tournament in 2017 and 2018 before breaking through for the title in 2019.
That’s four straight seasons in the playoffs, two championship appearances and a title with Blandini spearheading the offensive attack as the leadoff man while supplying a reliable glove and arm at shortstop.
“If you’re strong up the middle, that’s definitely going to give you a chance to compete against good teams. Knowing that I’ve had a steady shortstop for the last four years has been huge,” Forbes said. “You don’t really have any question marks whether he’s going to play or play in that spot. It’s nice to know that you have somebody that can help adjust your defense, communicate to the infield, communicate to the outfield, and he does a great job of communicating with me from the field, as well, so he will definitely be missed coming into next season.”
Blandini was already a first-team D-II All-State selection as a junior, but he made it a priority to improve his defensive prowess.
“I wanted to become more of an anchor at shortstop,” Blandini said. “Defensively was where I needed to focus on the most. I worked a lot this offseason and I’m trying to get better at that. I’m glad it ended up paying off.”
While some ballplayers begin training when the weather starts to turn in March, Blandini’s effort to improve is year-round.
“Connor’s work ethic is really top-shelf,” Forbes said. “He’s always in the cage. He’s always working out. He’s known forever that he wanted to go play at the next level and he’s done a good job of setting that table for himself just by working so diligently. You know, not only in the season, but in the offseason as well.”
Blandini has spent considerable time trying to hone his skills under Kevin Gray of Ultimate Sports Academy in Manchester, including numerous hours while much of New England was blanketed in snow.
“I was getting in there in the winter as much as I could,” Blandini said. “I’m still going down there now. So he’s helped me out with that a lot.”
He also thanked the Bow coaching staff – Forbes and assistants Chris Vaughn and Dennis Ordway – for their dedication to the program and helping his development throughout his career with the Falcons.
“They’re always free to talk and stay after practice for extra reps,” Blandini said.
Forbes has enjoyed a firsthand look at his progress.
“The mental side of the game has been the biggest piece for him,” Forbes said of Blandini. “He works very hard physically, but mentally, being able to stay in a game in clutch situations, that’s probably the biggest aspect. That, and his physical strength has increased tremendously from his freshman year.”
That physical strength has translated to a dangerous, well-rounded leadoff hitter. He has harnessed the discipline to wait for a good pitch and he possesses the power to send outfielders sprinting to the fence.
“Being in the leadoff spot, obviously my job is to get on. But I like to take a different approach,” Blandini said. “I obviously want to be the guy that drives in all the runs and everything, but you have to do your job sometimes too and get on and I just want to see how many bags I can take. This year, I wanted to see if I could go for a little more power and shoot the gaps a little bit more.”
“As much as he doesn’t like to walk, he’s become more patient,” Forbes said. “Having our best baserunner and fastest ballplayer get the most at-bats has been huge for us.”
While the book has closed on Blandini’s stellar career at Bow, he’ll start writing a new story at Southern New Hampshire University alongside a familiar face. Tom Blandini – a former Bishop Brady star who has hit .307 with 46 extra-base hits and 34 steals in 132 career games with the Penmen – is entering his senior season and will be there to show his younger brother the ropes.
“I’m really excited for it. It’s going to be a new chapter in my life and I can’t wait to get there and play some competitive baseball with my brother,” Connor Blandini said. “I’ve only had the chance to play against him, not play with him, so it’s going to be a fun time.”
Blandini will go from a dramatic championship triumph with the Falcons to teaming with his brother for the first time on a college contender about 20 minutes from their hometown.
It’s a plot that reads like a Hollywood sequel.