Lindenhurst's Thomas Charlwood wins Silver Slugger Award
Thomas Charlwood of Lindenhurst poses with his Silver Slugger Award during the Suffolk baseball awards dinner on Monday in Holbrook. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Thomas Charlwood’s instrument of choice is the 2021 Louisville Slugger Select PWR. It measures 32 inches and weighs 29 ounces. And chances are it’s still hot to the touch even though Lindenhurst’s baseball season ended a couple of weeks ago.
The senior leftfielder obliterated the axiom about baseball being a game of failure. When Lindenhurst coach Rob Moore was asked about the performance Charlwood turned in at the plate this season, he replied, “He started hot and never let up. There wasn’t a cold spell or even a slump during the entire year.”
That performance was rewarded on Monday night when Charlwood received the Silver Slugger Award at the Suffolk County Baseball Awards Banquet at Villa Lombardi in Holbrook. The Silver Slugger annually goes to the top offensive performer in Suffolk.
From the leadoff spot, the righthanded hitter batted .551 with a .671 on-base percentage. In 25 games, Charlwood hit eight doubles, three triples and seven home runs. He had 43 runs scored, 31 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.
“Charlie took a quantum leap this season,” Moore said. “There were a lot of special players in Suffolk, a lot of great hitters, but his season was just incredible.”
“I might have been a mid-.300s hitter last season, but this season I had so much more confidence in the box,” Charlwood said. “I started well and it just grew from there. You start having that feeling that you know you can hit.”
It wasn’t entirely clear what Charlwood would be this season after he had Tommy John surgery last fall. Moore knew he wouldn’t be able to pitch but hoped he’d at least be able to be the team’s designated hitter.
“He put time into his rehab like I’ve never seen,” Moore said. “He got himself back to the place where he could have this kind of season. At that point, we talked about being committed and focused because a senior season can go by pretty fast. He wanted one with no regrets.”
During his rehab, Charlwood said he also added 15 pounds of muscle in the weight room. After going without a home run in 2022, he was one of the county’s better power hitters.
“It helped me add a new dimension to my game,” he said.
He also wouldn’t have turned in a season like this without an improved plate approach and better strike zone discipline.
“I always looked for a first-pitch fastball to drive and I tried to keep things in the strike zone,” Charlwood said. “I got better at taking the outside pitch to right . . . I was just a very different hitter this season.”
Very different — and very good.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
