Showcasing the talents of the best players in Massachusetts, last weekend's Lynn Invitational Baseball tournament again featured two of the River Rival Region's premier players in recent Pentucket graduate and Bridgton Academy-bound catcher Peter Creamer along with Newburyport senior-to-be Tyler Stotz.
The fourth annual tournament put together four teams of roughly 25 players each, attracting the attention of colleges from all over the country and professional scouts from teams like the White Sox, Phillies, Astros, Twins and Dodgers. To make the team, players must be nominated by their respective high school coach and then weeded out for selection based on their spring high school season statistics.
Of last year's group, three players were drafted by major league teams — Scott Weismann of Acton-Boxborough to the Detroit Tigers, Brett Anderson of Bristol Eastern School also to the Tigers, and Keith Landers of St. Peter Marian to the Baltimore Orioles. This year's tournament featured household names from the North Shore as well including St. John's Prep junior outfield Michael Yastrzemski, grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, Joseph Papa of Buckingham Brown and Nichols, and Ronnie Rosario of Haverhill.
Both Stotz and Creamer played well enough for their respective teams to earn a place in the all-star game under the lights at Fraser Field Wednesday night at 7:15, and according to Newburyport Legion coach Tim Southall, it was a good way to end their summer seasons.
"Both kids worked really hard to get invited to the tournament," Southall said. "It's a good reward for them and a good opportunity to display their abilities in front of a bunch of scouts."
Creamer, who caught all 14 innings of the double-header Saturday and another five innings Sunday, said the over-powering pitching was as good as he has ever seen at any level.
"Just playing against those types of pitchers was an honor," said the catcher who is being recruited by UMass Lowell. "It was probably better than what we saw even in Legion ball out in Chicopee because the kids were throwing 92-93 mph with good junk and off-speed stuff.
"I'm going to be swinging to try and get a good hit against these pitchers because if you can get a good hit, you are something special."
Stotz, who had the game-winning hit in his team's first game and played some of his trademark steady defense, said the tournament was a good way to kick off his college search.
"There were a lot of scouts there that I noticed, and it was nice to get my name out there," Stotz said.
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