Eric Duquette was driving to New Jersey for the biggest tournament of the summer for his Concord Cannons AAU baseball team. But he was heading there without his best player, who was making his way to the other side of the country for the chance of a lifetime.
Adrian Siravo, a gifted athlete out of Gilmanton, had been side by side with Duquette all summer, and really for the past seven years between the Cannons program and Gilford High School where Duquette also coaches.
But a unique opportunity called for both separation and celebration.
After pitching for the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 2 in the East Coast Pro Showcase – a premier event for the top prospects across the East Coast held in Hoover, Ala. – Siravo hopped on a flight to Long Beach, Calif., to participate in the highly regarded Area Code Baseball Games where he’ll make his pitching debut in front of scouts from every MLB team on Thursday.
“It’s awesome to come from Division III (high school) and be seen as one of the best players in the country and competing with the best of the best. It’s just an honor,” Siravo said. “Just to be a kid who comes out of New Hampshire, it’s not likely. It’s not likely at all. So I just feel super proud of myself and what I’ve become as a player and a pitcher.”
The type of player Siravo’s blossomed into is one Duquette could only describe as “freakish.”
At 17 years old, Siravo is listed at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds. He wears a size 16 shoe and runs like a player half his size. His arm generates pitches exceeding 90 mph and the sound generated when the ball meets his bat is just different from his peers.
“He’s a one-of-a-kind player as far as being able to do everything,” Duquette said. “He runs a 6.6 second 60 (yard dash). He throws 90-plus. He hits for power. There isn’t more of a five-tool player around in New Hampshire than this kid and maybe hasn’t been for the last however many years.”
After opening eyes with his talent in 2018, Siravo committed to Division I University of Connecticut last August.
This past spring, he led Gilford to the NHIAA Division III semifinals, going 6-2 with a 0.58 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 48 innings while batting .408. So far this summer for the Cannons against even tougher competition, Siravo compiled a 0.80 ERA with 70 strikeouts, allowing just 14 hits in 35 innings while hitting .428.
Siravo reached 93 mph with his fastball during the Baseball Coaches Association of New Hampshire’s Underwood Games in June and topped out at 94 mph on the radar gun during a showcase event in Philadelphia.
“UConn pitching coach (Joshua) MacDonald told me personally that they think Adrian has the potential to throw harder than any kid they’ve ever recruited and they have pitchers drafted every year,” Duquette said. “He’s the real deal.”
The velocity will only go up as Siravo matures, but it’s the development of his secondary pitches that’s making the biggest difference.
“That was the priority for us this offseason,” Duquette said. “We worked on that slider and developing the splitter. His slider is 80, which is like the perfect differential when he’s throwing the fastball in the 90s. (The slider) is almost unhittable. Everybody is so geared up for the fastball that they swing right over the top of his slider.”
Siravo is aware of the impact those pitches have had.
“I noticed with my fastball through the second or third time through the lineup, I could see kids timing it up and see kids hitting the ball a lot more,” he said. “To become a good pitcher, you have to have secondary pitches. It’s a must.”
Up against the most elite competition he’s faced to date, Siravo tossed two innings with two strikeouts and two hits allowed during his appearance in the East Coast Pro Showcase.
The Area Code Games is a significant step up from that as the very best high school prospects from around the entire country flocked to Blair Field this week. It’s the same event countless of current major leaguers participated in before either being drafted or opting for college.
But one thing is certain: if MLB organizations didn’t know about Siravo before this week, he’s on the radar now for the draft class of 2020.
“You see kids in the other parts of the country like Adrian, but in the Northeast you don’t see a lot of them. That’s really the difference,” Duquette said. “I don’t think there’s any question that he’s going to be drafted in my mind, anyways, with the people I’ve talked to. It’s just a question of how high.”
Siravo will throw for the New York Yankees (Northeast region) on Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds (Four Corners region) at 4 p.m. (EST). Fans who want to follow along can watch Siravo pitch when its streamed on Twitter @ACBaseballGames.
“My biggest thing is just going out there and letting it rip,” Siravo said. “Just throw as hard as you can, as good as you can and let it rip for the scouts. You can’t care about the results. You just have to show what you’re made of in front of these guys.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)