(Photo Credit: Craig Macnaughton )
With a young team, wins don’t come easy.
But young teams bring more experience to the table the following season.
After a three-win 2018 season, East Hampton High School baseball head coach Vincent Alvera said the youth of the team was the story line last season.
“We had a pretty young squad,” Alvera said. “We only lost three seniors last year. Now we have four seniors.”
“We were so young it wasn’t really going together,” he added.
The team was on a 51-game losing streak before winning their final three games of the 2018 season.
“It was nice to get away with a win,” Alvera said. “It was a good way to end the season and hopefully bring that into this year.”
In 2019, the team is led by junior Elian Abreu, who spends time on the mound as well as in the outfield. Alvera labeled Abreu as the team’s MVP last season and looks for him to continue his success in 2019.
Tucker Genovesi, the sophomore shortstop and third baseman, also had a successful 2018 season as a freshman.
Having a young core with varsity playing time is something Alvera is excited about when it comes to the 2019 roster.
“A lot of the younger guys have had the varsity experience, so hopefully there are … less nerves and we can compete a little better,” Alvera said.
One younger guy making his varsity debut this season is freshman Colin Ruddy. Ruddy is the lone first-year on the varsity roster and will spend time at first base as well as on the mound.
Consistent pitching and hitting have been a focal point for the team in the offseason. The team has had open gym two nights per week during the offseason to work on their bats.
There are a few specifics that Alvera is looking for from his team this season.
“More consistency on the mound,” Alvera said.
“I’d like to see us string some more hits together,” he added.
Alvera says his expectation for this year’s team is to move forward from last season.
“[I want us to] compete a little more this season,” Alvera said. “Which we should be able to do.”
“A lot of the guys spent the offseason working out so hopefully we can smack the ball around a little bit,” he added.
The team enters 2019 in a different league than last year, which means a lot of unfamiliar teams on the schedule.
“Everyone is kind of new to us,” Alvera said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us a little bit.”
Alvera has one thing in mind entering the 2019 season:
“Time to get to work.”
