If you were forced to come up with a single word to sum up the 2025 campaign that senior Townies pitcher Dylan Annicelli just put together, there’s really only one choice in the dictionary.

Dominate.

And while you might not immediately assume that within the tall frame of the bespectacled, polite young man resided the heart and spirit of a splitter-chucking assassin that strikes fear into the hearts of whatever poor soul happens to step into the batter’s box downwind of him — just let the stats do the talking.

Nine starts — nine victories. Only 38 hits and 16 walks given up over 56.2 innings, compared to 79 strikeouts. A double-take-inducing 9 runs given up on the whole season (only five of those attributed to him), amounting to a ridiculous 0.618 ERA and a 0.953 WHIP.

That’s the kind of dominance on the mound that led to Annicelli earning the Cy Young Award as the the top pitcher in Division I in the state, as well as earning First Team All-State, All-Conference, and All-Division honors by the Rhode Island Baseball Coaches Association.

Undisputed dominance, is more like it.

“To be honest, no,” Annicelli said during a recent interview on if he expected things to go so well. “You don’t ever really think of something like that. You just want to go out there and dominate and have a good season. But when I looked back at the stats at the end of the season I was like, holy crap, I really just did that.”

Looking back
A lifelong Townie, Annicelli said he knew early on that baseball was his sport, and pitching specifically was his way to make a name for himself.

“I've never been known for my hitting or my fielding. I was known for my pitching. I think I took more initiative of it,” he said. “I’d say probably 8th grade was when I started to be like, pitching is my thing, and I need to perfect this because realistically I’m not really going places hitting or fielding.”

Once he got to high school, Annicelli got put to work immediately on the varsity squad as a freshman, where he would remain his entire high school career. That first season he traded starts with Elijah Barber, who now pitches for Johnson & Wales University. It was also a tough year for the Townies, as they only won a handful of games in a rebuilding effort that featured a heavy roster of freshmen, and wound up going down to Division II after the season.

But the young Townies would take the opportunity to relish the new field of competition, immediately going on to capture the D-II championship the next season, and battling back to the semifinals the following year.

“When we moved down to D2 we just completely dominated,” Annicelli said. “Granted, they were mostly one-run games, but we came out and got the dubs.”

This year, Annicelli’s senior season, the Townies found themselves back in Division 1 with a more battle-tested and bonded team. Although expectations were realistically low, they managed to fight to sixth place in the division and earn a playoff berth with a 3-0 win over Moses Brown — a game where Annicelli threw a complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts and only allowed 5 baserunners.

Although the Townies would fall in the next game to South Kingstown, they dug deep and refused to go down without a fight, dismantling Cranston West by a score of 7-2 (with Annicelli throwing four innings and giving up one unearned run). Unfortunately, an error-laden game against Cumberland ended the Townies run on May 30. Still, the overall exceeding of expectations was a nice note to go out on for Annicelli.

“I thought we were going to be around a .500 team, to be honest. But then everybody just started clicking and our pitching and our hitting came along,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is everyone on the team stuck together and had each other’s backs.”

Annicelli gave shout outs to his pitching coach, Mason Feole, who helped fix his mechanics during the last two years of his high school career and led to him approaching 90 miles per hour on his fastball.

“Sophomore year I was in the high 70s to low 80s and now I’m sitting close to 90. He fine-tuned everything in my first session with him,” Annicelli said. “He’s just the smartest person I’ve ever met, pitching-wise.”

And of course, like any good pitcher, Annicelli gave due credit to his partner in crime, catcher Brian Rutkowski Jr.

“If I didn’t have him all these four years, I don’t know,” he said. “He’s the smartest dude I know.”

Looking ahead
Annicelli has committed to the University of Southern Maine, which plays in the Little East Conference in Division III, alongside schools like Rhode Island College, UMASS Dartmouth and UMASS Boston, and Keene State.

“Our pitching staff is going to be disgusting. I want to say pretty much all of our pitching throws in the mid- to high-eights, and the majority are touching nine,” Annicelli said. He will be joined by fellow Rhode Islander, Chase Collins, who competed against the Townies many times as a member of the Westerly High School squad.

As for life outside baseball, Annicelli is majoring in exercise science and said he might want to pursue a career in physical therapy. However, he has another passion that he might want to pursue; working with kids.

Annicelli has worked multiple summers at YMCA summer camps, participated in elementary after school programs throughout East Providence, and has helped run Little League camps and youth baseball activities for years.

“I’ve always been good with kids, always enjoyed them, and everyone tells me I just kind of have a natural way of being around kids,” he said. “If they see me in the hallways, they’ll come running up to me.”

And if you spend a little time talking to him, you’ll see what he means. There’s a positivity and friendliness that seems to emanate from his person, which is reflected in what his coach, Bobby Rodericks, had to say about him when asked for this story.

“It’s was an absolute pleasure to be Dylan’s teacher and coach for the past seven years and has been nothing less than extraordinary,” he said. “During his middle school years Dylan showed signs of being a true Townie in the classroom and on the field. Always respectful and caring to the adults and peers around him, Dylan naturally became a leader and an example any successful student athlete needs to model after.”

“I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this very talented and bright young man,” Rodericks continued. “Much love to Dylan and his extremely supportive family.”

Asked what advice he would give to young players just starting out in the sport, Annicelli had plenty to offer.

“To be honest, I used to have the worst mentality on the field. Freshman and sophomore year, my body language and everything was just horrible. I would get so inside my own head,” he said. “So I think one of the most important things I learned was to not show my emotions on the mound anymore. Even if there was a bad call or something went wrong, I wouldn’t let it show. Just keep going pitch by pitch. Now, I control what I can control, and the only emotion I’m showing on the mound is if I get a big strikeout at the end of the inning and I'm coming off screaming at the dugout.”

“Go out and do your thing like you’re the best person on the field,” he concluded.