It was certainly a wild season in 2019 for Whitman. After beginning the season 0-4, they quickly completely turned the tables and won 10 of 11 qualifying for a postseason berth in the loaded League II.
What turned it around?
“We were up 3-1 against Sachem North in the last inning and gave it up to go to 0-4,” said Coach Keith Barrett. “After that, we went on a run. We won a couple one-run games and then the winning was contagious. We expected to win after a while. Also, we made some changes in the lineup and really took off,” he added.
After their incredible streak, they had the misfortune of drawing a bracket with Longwood and Smithtown East. They drew Adelphi-commit Steven Murphy (Longwood) and SUNY Oswego-commit Jai Sharma (Smithtown East) and lost both games facing tough lefties.
They graduated three starters from that team; notably All-County RHP Charles Hardwick who hit four HRs and was dynamite on the mound.
Overall, five players made All-League. Aside from Hardwick, the other four return and that’s reason for optimism.
The biggest reason to believe in them this season is the presence of their two hard-throwing RHPs atop the rotation; Andrew Ledbetter (Stony Brook-commit) and Jake Fullerton (NJIT-commit). Barrett is confident in the job that they will do. Ledbetter is also their starting catcher; a unique situation that rarely occurs at the high school level. Two players that come to mind in recent years are Hermes Abreu (Bay Shore 2017) and Robert Brust (William Floyd 2017) that were able to pull that off.
Ledbetter is the unicorn pitching prospect that can throw 92 MPH and has little mileage on his arm from not being overused. Expect him to not only dominate this season but also to be in the conversation for the MLB Draft.
They have another premium player in CF Aneudy Nunez. Barrett called him a “fantastic hitter.” He is difference-maker that could wind up doing significant damage or getting pitched around. He is also returning All-League infielder/RHP Raymond Hoffman, who did a terrific job last season.
“Catcher is the key,” said Barrett. When Ledbetter is back there, they are in good hands, they will need someone to step up when he is pitching.
If they can do so, they are in good hands due to the presence of their returning All-League players.
“The expectation is to make playoffs, we made it the past two years. We’d love to compete for a League II Title but that’s going to be difficult with Connetquot and Commack as well as Bay Shore,” he said.
Last season, they were trailing Bay Shore, 7-0, in the third inning and went on to storm back and win 13-12.
“That gave us a lot of confidence, and we carried that right into Commack where we took all three,” he said.
It’s been an impressive few years for Whitman who have been able to make the most with what they have. The town eliminated their Little League and they have been gouged with top talent attending private school such as Aidan Larkin and Sean Lane. They have only 17 kids trying out for the team which means they need everyone to contribute.
They will open up the season with non-league games against Deer Park and Smithtown West before opening up league play against Riverhead.
