Finn Ramseyer’s towering RBI triple landed on the center field warning track just below the final lingering artifacts of the Lowell Spinners era at LeLacheur Park.
The outfield walls were once decorated with various signage and decor to fit the bill of the Minor League Baseball treasure’s palace.
But all a sprinting Saint John’s of Shrewsbury outfielder saw when he chased Ramseyer’s go-ahead hit in the fourth inning to break a scoreless stalemate in last spring’s Division 1 semifinal clash was the memorable Hood Milk carton and Coca-Cola bottle perched atop the wall adjacent to the batter’s eye 400 feet from home plate.
Meanwhile, teammate Matthew Hall was dashing around the bases before reaching home to give Chelmsford a 1-0 lead in its upset victory on its way to a state championship.
There’s a good chance LeLacheur Park will undergo a makeover in the coming months to bring the treasure back to life. And there’s an even better chance that the pair of lifelong friends will make plenty more memorable highlights along the shores of the Merrimack River.
Ramseyer and Hall recently signed with the Lowell Spinners of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. The franchise will begin play in the Mill City this spring. The Chelmsford natives will play 31 of the team’s 62-game schedule at LeLacheur.
To couple his hit in the fourth in the thrilling 5-3 victory over Saint John’s, Ramseyer also pitched over five innings on the mound against an ultra-talented lineup. Hall came through with a timely two-run knock in the fifth with two outs and a full count.
“I never really thought I was going to play another game there until they announced the Lowell Spinners,” Hall said.
Hall (Assumption) and Ramseyer (Saint Anselm) are just weeks away from commencing their first seasons as collegiate baseball players. After that, they will embark on a new journey with the Spinners in the FCBL, a premier summer league for collegiate stars looking to advance to the next level.
The Spinners and the New York-Penn League folded in 2021 when realignment rocked the Minor League Baseball landscape. City officials and UMass Lowell worked tirelessly to bring back the longtime staple ever since, and they delivered on that initiative last summer with the announcement of a long-awaited return.
While Lowell won’t feature Boston Red Sox prospects like Mookie Betts or Andrew Benintendi, expect the roster to be littered with local talent who are standouts in the college ranks. UMass Lowell commit and former Lowell Catholic star pitcher Seamus Scott is one of the other locals recently announced to be joining the team.
“They made a commitment to us that this was going to be something where they leaned on us to get players,” said Chelmsford baseball head coach Lou DiStasi. “They recognize the baseball in the valley is good, and what better place for it to be showcased than in Lowell.”
The reunion is a dream come true for the pair of lifelong friends who played baseball throughout the youth circuit and with the Junior Spinners and new part-owner Marc Deschenes.
“Now we get to play baseball again together for the entire summer,” Ramseyer said. “It should be awesome.”
Hall and Ramseyer played with the Junior Spinners from the ages of 10-14 and worked with Deschenes along the way. That connection with the former MLB draft choice and UMass Lowell star was a big part of signing to play this summer.
“They’re very dynamic pieces of this roster where they can do a lot of things,” said Deschenes, the principal owner and chief baseball operator of the new Spinners team. “Finn can be a two-way guy, and he’ll be on the mound a lot for us. And then Matthew is a dynamic infielder that can run and disrupt on the bases. So they just fit really well into the lineup.”
The roster, which will be fully announced in late February, will consist of 20 pitchers and 20 position players.
Hall is a five-tool infielder who makes the most of his 5-foot-10 frame.
“I’m definitely not the biggest guy in the field every time I go out there, but I think I can kind of do everything at a pretty good level and look to run for speed, throw the ball pretty hard and hopefully hit for a little bit of power,” Hall said. “Try to just bring a scrappy, high-energy, steal some bases and do everything I can and do all the little things right.”
Chelmsford natives Finn Ramseyer, left, and Matthew Hall during their days playing for the Junior Spinners. Now in college, they’ll be reunited as members of the Lowell Spinners. (Courtesy photo)
Ramseyer was one of the best hurlers in the Merrimack Valley Conference a year ago. He dominated with a 1.81 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He kept both Saint John’s of Shrewsbury and Bishop Feehan at bay in the tournament, two high-powered offenses. He totaled 14 strikeouts across those two games.
“In order to win a state title, you need to have two aces,” DiStasi said. “Every team has one ace. It’s those middle two games that are the difference. Finn had to face the three seed and the two seed in his back-to-back outings, and he was unbelievable. He pitched completely dominant.
“The two of them sort of delivered that semifinal win against what I would call probably the best team in the state.”
That talent will be on full display when they don familiar Spinners threads on a field that is woven into their baseball identities.
“He’s my best friend,” Ramseyer said of Hall. “We’ve just kind of always done it together. We pretty much do everything together.”
“I get my throwing partner back, so that’ll be good,” Hall said.