By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

As a young baseball player, Dylan Maw found himself playing third base, but when he was introduced to pitching, it changed his entire outlook on the sport. He has never looked back.

“I played third and had a good arm; one day my coach asked me if I wanted to try pitching, and I did really good, so I stuck with it,” Maw said. “I came to love the position, because everything revolves around me; I am in control of the game – if I do good, the team does good.”

When he was in eighth grade, Dylan began to see his pitching excel. His velocity was getting better, and he was working with pitching coach Roy Blakely, as well as taking part in RBI Baseball clinics.

Prior to entering high school, Maw had played AAU baseball with the Cannons, but when the team ran out of money and was forced to fold, Maw was recruited by the Crush, a team he is still playing for today. When it came time to go to high school, the incoming freshman decided that Tri-County was where he wanted to go.

“Being in the classroom bored me, and I would prefer working with my hands, so I chose Tri-Country, where I could do shop,” he said. “I originally got into electrical, but now it’s just not my thing anymore. I’m just looking to play baseball and get better, so that I can play in college.”

Maw’s college dreams began as a freshman taking part in a nerve-racking tryout for the Cougars baseball team. 

“Coming to Tri-County, I didn’t know anyone,” he said. “It took me a couple of months after making the team to get to know the other players, but once I did, things were ok.”

It was around the third or fourth game of his freshman season when TC Coach Ryan Hippert gave him the ball to start a game on the mound for the Cougars. 

“They let me pitch against Uxbridge. I knew I was only going to be in the game for one or two innings (Maw pitched 2),” he said. “I did alright besides plunking one kid; I didn’t allow any runs.”

Tri-County went 8-10 that year, and Maw didn’t lose a single game when he got to take to the hill for the Cougars. He was also named to the Mayflower League All-Star team, something that he did not expect, especially as a freshman.

“Being named to the All-Star team was definitely a good moment, but it was a surprise,” he said. “They announced it at the banquet, and I was very nervous walking up in front of everyone; I was happy but nervous.”

That award motivated the young pitcher to not only prove he deserved the award, but made him want to work harder to become better during his second season with the team.

To improve his pitching, Maw once again turned to a coach. This time, he worked with an online pitching coach who gave him drills to not only make him stronger, but to also get his mechanics down. With his training, he increased his speed by 6 mph over five months.

According to the TC Coach, Maw is by far the team’s MVP this past season and was once again named to the All-Star team for the second year in a row. He pitched the most innings for the Cougars and averaged 1 strikeout per inning. He also batted in the 300’s with 11 singles, 5 doubles and 12 RBI as the cleanup hitter.

Being named to the All-Star team for a second time has put even more pressure on the young pitcher, but Dylan insists it will not interfere with his game, as he has to be a role model and leader for the team come next season.

“Being one of the best players does put pressure on you,” he said. “But once I step onto the mound, it doesn’t affect me. I get into a zone, and the only thing that I am thinking about is doing my job to help this team win.”

Maw found himself on the mound against West Bridgewater during the regular season with a tournament berth on the line. The sophomore went 7 innings allowing only a single run as the Cougars won the game and clinched a spot in the Division 3 State Tournament. The sophomore would once again find himself as the starting pitcher in the tournament against Tewksbury Memorial, where he would only allow one earned run keeping Tri-County’s chances alive, but the Cougars would eventually fall 3-0.

As he departs his sophomore season with TC, Maw knows that he wants to once again keep working on his game so that he is totally ready for his junior campaign, which will also be his brother Owen’s (an outfielder on the team) last year.

“Next year will be Owen’s senior year, and I want it to be a good year, while having fun playing one last time with him,” the younger Maw said. “Playing with him pushes me, without a doubt, and I really want to have another good season with him.”

In addition to playing well in his brother’s final season, Maw has realized that baseball is more than just playing for his high school team; he is eventually hoping to get recruited to play baseball on the collegiate level. Although it is still early, he is hoping to continue to play baseball somewhere in the south. He is currently looking at the University of Miami and Coastal Carolina University in Conway South Carolina.

“I know that I need to keep working hard and dedicate more time to baseball,” he said. “I plan on playing basketball one more season with my brother, it’s his top sport, before he graduates. After that, my basketball career will be over, and I’ll be concentrating more on baseball.”

Maw continued to say that he wants to work extremely hard at becoming one of the best in the league and would love nothing more than taking the Cougars deep into the tournament. 

“This team has a lot of potential to get back to the states and hopefully go further each year,” he said.