Westfield Post 124 pitcher Ryan Tettemer follows through on a pitch during a 2013 American Legion Baseball game. Tettemer is set to attend Brandeis University this fall where he will room and play baseball with another player from the city, Anthony Nomakeo. (Photo by Fred Gore)
WESTFIELD – Nearly a decade ago, two local Little Leaguers were teammates on one of the Whip City’s 9-Year-Old All-Star baseball teams. In a unique twist of fate, the stars have aligned to allow these two athletes to come together again.
Ryan Tettemer, 18 (at least for one more day), has spent the past four years playing baseball at Suffield Academy, and was one of several players who helped fuel Westfield Post 124’s run in American Legion baseball with a sizzling bat and pitched in on the mound.
Anthony Nomakeo, 19, used to run through opposing defenses, carving up high school secondaries at Westfield High before suffering two separate injuries (a broken left leg, and right leg) at the tailback position. He made a successful return late in his high school career on the gridiron, and even lent an important hand in his team’s Western Massachusetts Division I championship run on the mound and at the plate.
Nomakeo spent the last year at Northfield Mount Herman.
Anthony Nomakeo delivers a pitch for Westfield High School during the 2012 Western Massachusetts Division I baseball semifinal against Central at Szot Park in Chicopee. Nomakeo will be attending Brandeis University, along with another player from the Whip City, Ryan Tettemer. Both student-athletes will be roommates, and teammates on the college’s baseball team. (Photo by Fred Gore)
Beginning this fall, the two Westfield athletes will bring their heart, determination, and hard-working attitudes to Brandeis University. They both share the same enthusiasm, similar expectations, and the same…room.
“Two days after I received my acceptance at Brandeis, I found out that I would be rooming with Anthony by random coincidence,” Tettemer said. “I had no idea he was going.”
Nomakeo feels the two could forge an unbreakable hand, helping both achieve their individual and team goals.
“It’s someone for me to talk to about the team,” Nomakeo said. “I can bounce some ideas off around him. It’s going to help a lot … I’m going to do anything I can to help the team out and make it on the field.”
Nomakeo and Tettemer will leave for school on Aug. 25. Just a few short days later, the two athletes will begin fall baseball practice in preparation for next spring.
“Even though we are just two out of 30-whatever players … I’m really looking forward to my time with him. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life.”
SUMMERS HEATS UP: Another player looking to turn the pages of the past is one of Nomakeo’s best friends, Westfield native Ryan Summers.
The Whip City masher fled Westfield High for a college preparatory boarding school some time ago, caught the attention of pro and college baseball scouts, but now one question remains.
Can Summers catch an ace for the Cards next spring?
Summers is currently rehabbing from a broken hamate bone (wrist) and Lisfranc injury (foot), suffered after running into the outfield wall for Berkshire School last June. He is confident though that he will be ready to play for the University of Louisville next spring.
“First off,” said Summers, “my expectations are to recover, and second, become bigger and stronger.”
Summers has been lifting weights twice a day, and riding a stationary bike. He plans to begin jogging in late September and enter into a full-time hitting regimen soon. Barring any setbacks, he will compete for playing time as one of the Louisville Cardinals catchers in spring 2014.
Seven players from Louisville were selected by Major League Baseball teams in the most recent Amateur Draft, possibly opening a door for Summers.
“I’m hoping to make a contribution,” said Summers. “There are two senior catchers, and the outfield is stacked, but I just want to contribute. If that means putting me on to steal a base, or putting me in to lay down a bunt, I’m going to do what I need to do.”
According to one source close to the team, typically 3-4 catchers are kept on the roster annually, meaning, if all goes well, Summers could arrive early next spring.
Nick Noblit winds up for the Holyoke Blue Sox during his junior year of college. Noblit made some noise – actually he silenced hitters – this summer for People’s Bank in the Tri County Baseball League, capturing the Wes Carr Award for being the league’s top pitcher. (Submitted photo)
NOBLIT NAILS TRI’S CY: Former St. Mary High Schooler, Nick Noblit, won the Tri-County League’s Wes Carr Award, equivalent to Major League Baseball’s Cy Young Award, for being the league’s best pitcher this summer.
Noblit, 24, the ace of People’s Bank’s staff during 2013, led his team to the regular season title and league championship. He went 4-0 during the regular season with a staggering 0.72 Earned Run Average, recorded 36 strikeouts, and allowed just 13 hits and 2 earned runs through 25 innings pitched.
“It was a pretty good season,” Noblit said. “It was an honor to receive the award.”
Noblit is a well-traveled collegiate ballplayer, having played at Franklin Pierce, American International College, and, finally, Westfield State, his senior year. He joined the Manchester Silkworms of the New England Collegiate Baseball league in 2008, and played for the Holyoke Blue Sox in the 2009 and ’10 seasons, before playing for DiFranco, of the TCL, in 2011, and People’s Bank the last two seasons.
