Sam Perry‘s introduction to the sport of baseball came at the age of 5.
The Westport native recalls playing in his backyard with his dad Brian. His father happened to notice something different about his son. He was pretty good for his age.
“He said I could tell the first time I threw a baseball that I was going to be something special,” Perry said. “He didn’t know with what, football or baseball. He knew I had a drive to be the best I could be and could see that from a young age.”
The Diman senior star recently signed a National Letter of Intent in front of friends, school members and family to continue his baseball career at Division 1 University of UMass-Amherst.
Perry will play under the watchful eyes of head coach Matt Reynolds, whose Minutemen finished with a 24-29 record in 2024 and first trip to the Atlantic-10 championships since 2012. Perry had offers from Merrimack College and St. Peter’s before committing to UMass-Amherst.
Perry is the first Bengals baseball star to enter a Division 1 College. Diman has had several high school baseball players — Paul Reis (Atlanta Braves), Roy Reis (New York Yankees) and Paul “Buster” Lussier (San Francisco Giants) — drafted to play pro baseball. Japheth Richards was looked at by the Pittsburg Pirates.
“I had offers from other Division 1 schools and I was working on a few more,” Perry said. “I knew when I stepped on that campus this was school I wanted to be at. None of the other schools I visited had that feeling. This was the school I’m going to spend my college years.”
Bengals athletic director Bobby Bailey talked about his experience with Perry since coming aboard in 2021. Bailey said Perry doesn’t want the spotlight and he shines in the classroom with a 3.9 GPA.
Football head coach Luke Bahry said Perry has been a joy to coach and brings positive leadership during his four years on the gridiron. Baseball head coach Floriano Lima expressed right from Day 1 with Perry, he has opened eyes on the diamond.
“I know he’s going places after high school,” Lima said.
GROWING UP
Perry’s time to shine started during a summer tournament at the age of 12.
“I did not know where it was going to take me,” he explained. “You could tell I was above the competition. I had a knack for the game than most people did. It showed at a very young age.”
Perry displayed power for the game and on the mound he was unhittable, which had his teammates in awe.
“Everyone was kind of looking up to me because I was the one who was hitting all the home runs,” Perry said. “These kids were like wow. I was hitting home runs far and players couldn’t hit a pitch I was throwing. I took the game more serious than kids my age.”
Diman three-sport athlete
He would face his next challenge entering Diman his freshman season. He went 3-1 in his first season on the hill and led the team with a .377 batting average while playing third base and outfield. As a sophomore, Perry batted .466 and led the team in hits and RBIs. He was 4-2 as a starter.
Perry had a breakout season during his junior year for the Bengals. He batted .627 with 32 hits in 51 at-bats, had 4 triples, 23 RBIs and stole 15 bases. On the mound, Perry was 8-0, including three no-hitters with 68 strikeouts and just 5 walks.
“The guy is incredible,” Lima said. “He’s powerful kid. He works at it in the offseason. What stands out to me is his desire to win. He hates losing.”
Perry never played football until his freshman year at Diman. This past fall, Perry put up some eye-popping numbers including nearly 3,000 yards passing and rushing while scoring 36 touchdowns. Over his career, he went over 6,000 passing yards and 82 career touchdowns — 56 passing, 22 rushing, and 4 receiving.
“It’s going to be real hard to replace him,” Bahry said. “I don’t know if we’ll get another one like him at multiple positions. He was a great receiver for us and an unbelievable quarterback. He’s a special athlete in the history of the school.”
Perry took a year off of basketball after three seasons to soley concentrate on baseball this spring.
Thankful
Perry said he’ll miss Diman after graduation. There were many memories and moments.
“I am going to miss the community and Diman,” he said. “I look up to a lot of people here. I get looked up to by a lot of people. I love everyone in the school. It’s a great feeling. I’m so happy I came to this school.
Perry also spoke about his coaches.
“Coach Lima is one of my biggest supporter,” Perry said. “I have my parents, summer coaches I look up to and then I have Coach Lima. He has a different style of coaching, a little bit of old school, not something I was used to. He’s more than a coach to me. I need to be motivated and keep me going. It makes me want to win more.
“Coach Bahry same thing. Even though it was not the sport I was going to do the rest of my life. I still took that game like it was. I don’t like losing. I like being competitive and Coach Bahry taught me to be more of a man.”
Now its one season before a big career move for Perry.
“If everything goes right, we should have a good year,” Lima said. “As far as going to college, Sam is a smart kid. I’m proud of him.”
Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Chezsports
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