The success that Brentwood has had on the basketball court and soccer field is second to none. In fact, they are among the elite soccer programs in the nation. They have the largest enrollment on Long Island with 4,400 students which has allowed them to take advantage of their pool of talented athletes.
That success has not translated on the baseball field as the best athletes in the school have simply not chosen the diamond.
Fourth year head coach, Rich Gonzalez, was candid and admitted that their program is “a struggling one” namely because the “town really doesn’t have a little league.”
“There’s really no particular year that there’s six kids coming from one grade”, and “we are building from the ground up,” he added. Additionally, he noted that while kids “try baseball and like it, they aren’t introduced to it until seventh grade and that’s too late,” he added.
It doesn’t help that they compete in League I “with the big dogs”, said Gonzalez. He added that it’s “tough to compete with teams like Sachem East.”
Despite this, they are poised for an improvement in 2020 following a 4-win season in 2019. He said a big reason for that was that three of their impact seniors from last year “didn’t really compete as they should’ve”.
This season, they have the benefit of returning all three starting pitchers from last year. Anchoring the staff is Darien Gonzalez. He led the team with three wins last season. “He had a good year, he threw strikes, and kept the team in the game,” he said. Making that more impressive is that last year was his first year as a pitcher – he was a primary catcher his whole life, and will catch on the days that he doesn’t pitch. When he is pitching they will rotate between Wilmer Cuevas and Eric Campaverde behind the dish.
Joining him in the rotation is junior southpaw Jason Lopez.
“If he throws strikes, he can definitely keep us in games. He needs to keep his composure. If he allows two or three runs in an inning we need him to compete.” He will play CF on the days he doesn’t pitch.
Rounding out the rotation will be sophomore Randy Ramnarance.
“He’ll be one of our main cogs,” said Gonzalez. He will be their starting SS when he’s not pitching, he’s also a lefty hitter.
Leading the offensive attack will be Sean Penalver, “a stud hitter that hits line drives”, according to Gonzalez. Justin Espinal will be their second baseman, Gonzalez called him a “solid ballplayer with decent pop and he can play all over the place.”
Dallas Crespo, who will be heading to Pace to play QB in the fall, will play in the OF. Two other potential impact players will be Andrew Acosta, a 3B/1B/RHP as well as Kevin Navas, a 1B/OF that is up from JV last season.
They will open up against Sachem East this season.
Gonzalez stressed to his team the importance of hard work, and they are hoping to reap the rewards of that.
“We have been working out since November, twice per week for 2-3 hours. They hit the weights, go through drills, hit and take infield if there’s room. They are putting in the work but I preach to them the importance of getting work in on their own. They need to be taking 200 or 300 swings per night, maybe even more in order to catch up. We are so behind the 8-ball,” he said.
They are hoping that work ethic will translate to wins, and ultimately a playoff berth in the ultra-competitive League I.
