Peter DiCarlo’s recent visit to Fenway Park for a Braves-Red Sox game with his daughter, former Revere High softball star Logan DiCarlo, rekindled a glorious childhood memory for the longtime baseball fan and legendary high school coach.
For it was 75 years ago on August 2, 1949, that DiCarlo, then a 10-year-old Boston Braves fan, was sitting in the right field stands at Fenway for a St. Louis Browns-Boston Red Sox game.
“Lo and behold, a foul ball came out to right field, and I was pretty fast on my feet back then,” recalled DiCarlo. “I got the baseball and I still have it my possession today.”
DiCarlo’s magical moment was captured by a Boston Herald photographer and the photo appeared in the next edition of the daily newspaper.
“In the photo, I’m holding the ball in my left hand, which is even more ironic because I’m left-handed,” recalled DiCarlo. “
DiCarlo later contacted his friend, Bippy Dever, who was a vendor at Fenway Park. DiCarlo gave Dever his baseball and Dever was able to secure autographs from Red Sox greats Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky and manager Joe McCarthy.
“I varnished the baseball, and you can still see those signatures,” said DiCarlo.
DiCarlo said growing up in Revere he was a big fan of the Boston Braves, who were in the National League and played their home games at Braves Field which was later reconstructed and became BU’s Nickerson Field. The Boston Braves moved in 1953 to Milwaukee and in 1966 to Atlanta where the Atlanta Braves carry on the tradition as a National League franchise.
DiCarlo’s loyalty to the Braves is still in effect. In 1995, DiCarlo attended the World Series when the Braves won the championship.
Memories of Revere High’s greatest all-time softball team
Peter DiCarlo, who was a multi-sport standout in high school, enjoyed tremendous success at every level of baseball that he coached. Notably, he helped his nephew, Steven DiCarlo (son of Peter’s brother, the late Sen. JC DiCarlo) become one of the most celebrated Little League and high school (RHS) players in the city’s history. Steven went on to play hockey and baseball at Brown and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics.
But of all his achievements as a coach, including for the formidable Revere Babe Ruth Senior traveling team (that featured MLB draft pick Brian Bright and other standouts), DiCarlo’s best work may have been as the founder and coach of a Revere Middle School softball team. The players on that team went undefeated in 2009 and would go on and become Revere High School softball’s greatest-ever team in the 2014 season.
“Sabrina Palermo was our pitcher in the sixth grade, and she was lights out then,” recalled DiCarlo, who has an encyclopedic mind for all things baseball/softball-related. “Our team played mostly freshman and JV teams. We were 16-0 in our second season.”
Peter’s daughter, Logan, was the starting shortstop on those Middle School teams and became the second baseman for Revere High under head coach Joe Ciccarello.
“When I was the varsity baseball coach at Savio, Joe was the varsity softball coach, so I knew what a great team-builder and motivator of players he was,” recalled DiCarlo.
“My daughter played second base (for the RHS varsity in that unforgettable 2014 season),” said DiCarlo. “We had Lauren Hayes at first, Ally Hinojosa at third, Kristina Stella at short. The outfielders were Victoria Russo in left, Noelle MacDonald in center, and Cassandra DiBella in right. Juliana Cecere was behind the plate, and Sabrina Palermo was the ace.”
DiCarlo wouldn’t boast himself about his daughter, Logan DiCarlo, who fielded 130 of 131 chances for a remarkable fielding percentage of .992. Logan went on to excel academically at UMass Amherst’s prestigious Isenberg School
of Management.
The pitching was also phenomenal in the RHS 2014 softball season and clutch hits and fielding gems by Hinojosa, Hayes, Cecere, DiBella, and others were plentiful as Joe Ciccarello’s team rode a wave of momentum to the Division 1 North title and a state-semifinal showdown with Bridgewater-Raynham before a packed house at Martin Field in Lowell. Revere lost a heartbreaker when B-R rallied for three runs to erase a 1-0 deficit. Bridgewater-Raynham went on to win the state title, 9-0, over Holy Name, so it’s safe to say that the two best teams in Massachusetts were on that field in Lowell.
“Revere had some amazing wins in the State Tournament,” said DiCarlo. “The team just got together this month for a reunion, and it was wonderful.”
What’s also wonderful is Peter DiCarlo’s unheralded contributions to Revere baseball and softball players through the years as their coach and mentor. His love of the game has never diminished, and it all began as a Boston Braves fan many years ago.
