AquaSox’s Zammarelli is a man of many gloves…and he can hit

Published 10:00 pm Friday, July 22, 2016

EVERETT — Being Nick Zammarelli means bringing several gloves to Everett Memorial Stadium.

There is the infield glove that he uses at third base, the position at which the Seattle Mariners selected him out of Elon University in the eighth round of this year’s major-league draft. He also has a bigger glove that he uses when he makes starts in either corner outfield position. Zammarelli also spent time using a scoop-shaped first baseman’s glove two weeks ago while filling in for the injured Kristian Brito.

With Brito’s return on Everett’s recent road trip to Hillsboro, Zammarelli has found himself back in his familiar haunt at the hot corner.

“I went into college as a third baseman (and) I ended up playing every position except pitcher and catcher,” said Zammarelli, who played five different positions, including designated hitter, in Everett’s first 34 games.

“If they end up putting me at short, second, whatever, I’m fine with that as long as I’m on the field,” he continued. “I’m used to being thrown around everywhere.”

At short-season Class A ball, five steps below the majors, the goal is development. Players get the opportunity to try different things at the plate and in the field without worrying too much about where they will be if and when they reach the big leagues.

“The more versatile he can be and the more positions he can play, that’s something that the organization stresses,” said AquaSox manager Rob Mummau. “The more versatile someone is, the more valuable he’s going to be.”

While bouncing around in the field, the thing Zammarelli has done most consistently is hit. Entering the weekend he was hitting .301/.360/.434, with .794 OPS, three home runs and 15 RBI. The left-handed swinging Zammarelli got off to a slow start on Everett’s season-opening road trip to Tri-City and Vancouver, a fact he attributed to the three-week layoff from the end of his season at Elon and the beginning of his pro career.

“I like his quietness and for him, just like all these other guys that are new from college, just making that transition into pro ball he just has to get the reps and (at-bats) under his belt,” AquaSox hitting coach Brian Hunter said. “I really like his approach, thinking middle-oppo(site field) and he’s going to be just fine.”

Growing up in Lincoln, Rhode Island, Zammarelli excelled in hockey as well as baseball. He started on the varsity in both hockey and baseball at Lincoln High School as a freshman. A collarbone injury wiped out his sophomore hockey campaign, and he eventually chose to focus exclusively on baseball during his senior season.

“As soon as I developed more as a baseball player I saw it as a window to go look at schools down south and play Division I baseball in the south, which is what my ultimate goal was,” said Zammarelli, whose father, also named Nick, played collegiate baseball at Holy Cross.

Zammarelli was originally taken in the 28th round of the 2013 draft out of high school by the Boston Red Sox. He chose to play at Elon, a Division I program in North Carolina, over offers from Wake Forest and Stetson.

He hit .284/.367/.387 with a home run and 22 RBI in 155 at-bats as a freshman before his numbers jumped significantly to .288/.356/.443 with seven homers and 50 RBI in 212 at-bats as a sophomore. It was enough to earn an invitation to the Cape Cod League where, coincidentally, he was a teammate of current AquaSox players Bryson Brigman and Kyle Lewis.

Like Zammarelli, Brigman also played hockey growing up in California before choosing the baseball path. For now, their hockey experience is confined to the virtual realm.

“Me and Briggy will go at it playing NHL the video game,” Zammarelli said. “We’re pretty intense with that. We’ll talk hockey every once in awhile, but other than that it’s all baseball.”

This past spring Zammarelli erupted for a .342/.425/.590 slash line with nine home runs and 51 RBI in 222 at-bats as a junior before the Mariners took him 237th overall in the June draft.

While it might be tempting to view Zammarelli as having power potential, Hunter’s tutelage has emphasized contact and hitting line drives.

“There are really no power guys in baseball, even though guys may think they are,” Hunter said. “You’re either a contact-line drive hitter or a gap-to-gap guy. He has the ability to have gap power, but he’s a line-drive contact hitter. It’s my job to remind him of that.”

It will remain a constant learning experience for Zammarelli in his first professional season as he adjusts both to playing multiple positions and continuing to refine his offensive approach.

“At the level I’m at right now there is always room to grow and to learn as a hitter,” Zammarelli said, “and just to keep working on that offensive aspect of the game is good for me.”

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