When Sal Frelick takes the field, spectacular things happen.
The Boston College-bound freshman and Lexington High School graduate introduced himself to North Shore Navigators’ followers by hitting a grand slam in his first at-bat for the Futures Collegiate Baseball League team.
Frelick, 18, is off to a potent start for the Navs, emerging as a prolific right-handed batter who can hit for average and power, a speedy baserunner, and a versatile performer who has played five positions to-date.
“We’re very happy to have Sal playing for our team this summer,” said interim General Manager Joe Gill. “He brings excitement to the organization and he’s played well.”
If you’ve followed high school sports in Massachusetts the past few years, you know who Sal Frelick is. Last fall, Frelick was the Flutie-like quarterback who led Lexington to the Middlesex League championship and was named the Gatorade Football Player of the Year.
If one play defined Frelick’s greatness, it was an 80-yard touchdown run on a broken play versus eventual Division 1 state champion Everett High in the North sectional playoffs. Frelick eluded the rush, quickly raced across the field, and then turned on the real jets, outracing the Everett High secondary (that featured the top college prospect in the country) to the end zone. Everett ultimately won the game after readjusting their defense and assigning multiple defenders to specifically key on the Lexington legend on every play.
By the way, Frelick scored his touchdown in front of a standing-room-only crowd, possibly the largest to ever attend a football game in Lexington.
Following a stellar ice hockey season, Frelick took the field for the Lexington High baseball team this spring and he was “lights-out” from start to finish, leading the Minutemen to a berth in the Super 8 Tournament. He was selected the Massachusetts Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. He was a two-time Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic in football and a three-time All-Scholastic in baseball. He was the Globe Athlete of the Year and the Mass. Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Frelick accepted the Gatorade Football and Baseball Awards, the multiple Middlesex League MVP Awards, and the All-Scholastic recognition in typically humble fashion.
“It was awesome to receive the awards, but I had a lot of support from my teammates, my coaches, my family, the community,” said Frelick, who is 5-foot-10. “It’s been an amazing experience. One thing that I can look back on is that I was able to play three sports and have a healthy career for four years. I know a lot of kids today play only one sport, but I was really intent on playing all three sports and I was lucky to be able to do that.”
Frelick, son of University of Pittsburgh football player Jeff Frelick and Patty Frelick, is headed to Boston College on a baseball scholarship. He is projected as a middle infielder for the Eagles, who compete in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference.
There are many sports followers who are already adding Sal Frelick to the list of the greatest athletes to ever play high school sports in Massachusetts. Harry Agganis (BU), Dick Jauron (Yale), Doug Flutie (BC), Brian St. Pierre (BC) to name a few – and now, Sal Frelick, the newest BC Eagle, deserves a spot among the true elite.
“I’ve definitely heard of Harry Agganis and know all about his entire career and what a legend he was,” said Frelick. “I think just having my name in the mix is an absolute honor among so many greats.”
Looking back on his feats of athletic splendor, the play against Everett High School (“They were like a small college team,” he recalled) remains a highlight for Frelick and the thousands who witnessed it in person.
“I like to scramble and the play was originally a pass play,” recalled Frelick. “The play broke down and I found an opening and I just ran with it. Luckily, I took it all the way.”
North Shore Navigators fans will enjoy Sal Frelick’s intense brand of baseball. And so will Boston College fans – and perhaps one day, we’ll see him at Fenway Park, hopefully wearing the hometown Red Sox uniform.