by Zevan Shuster
For most high school and college coaches, consistency and continuity are the things they crave the most, yet have the least. However, for Seaford head coach Michael Milano, he has the luxury of having them en masse.
“I don’t think it’s going to take us time to gel because we have 15 seniors. They are all in their 4th year of playing Seaford high school baseball. Well over five of them have been starting players since they were sophomores, and two juniors also played every day last year as sophomores. So I think this team is used to being around each other. They played four playoff games last year. Only one everyday player graduated,” Milano said.
As big of an advantage as Milano’s squad may have, and as much of a proverbial head start they may be afforded when it comes to familiarity with one another and team chemistry, there record will still be 0-0 come game #1. Not only does Milano not lose sight of this for a second, he is adamant on making sure his team doesn’t lose sight of it either.
“I’ve been telling people all along, that that only means something if you hit with runners on base, if you make plays, and if you throw strikes,” said Milano. “So many teams in Class A are walking into this season confident and experienced the way we are.”
Milano’s squad is the second smallest Class A team, so he has tended to play the same group of teams, whether it be Mineola, Locust Valley, or Island Trees, or anyone else. But unlike in previous years, this is the first time he can remember not playing anyone in a three-game series, and instead, playing everyone one time each. Instead of making adjustments from game to game against one team, Milano and his squad will have to make adjustments from inning to inning. Regardless of the changes, Seaford will have to find their way quickly, or else, their experience will be moot.
“It’s a new format. It’s something where the team that adjusts to it quicker is going to get out in front, and getting in the top ten is going to be a challenge for everyone. We’ve always made the playoffs… I’ve never had a season where we didn’t make the playoffs since I’ve been here. But it’s never been this format before,” said Milano.
Seaford’s head coach is optimistic, but he also knows his team’s outlook is one shared by other teams. He knows every team feels good going into the season, and everyone thinks they look good and feel good before game one. Indeed, every coach is confident in the guys he has, but it’s as if Milano tries to instill appropriate fear into his players, a tactic famously employed by championship coaches Gregg Poppovich and Steve Kerr. For Milano, one of the guys he is most confident in, is catcher Nick Barreiros, who will be going to New York Tech to play next baseball season.
“He caught as a junior, and he caught half the season as a sophomore. And we couldn’t be more excited about Nick in his senior year. We’re expecting another great year out of Nick. He had a wonderful year last year as a junior, and he hit just under .400 in the regular season, and he is one of the better defensive catchers that I’ve had around here in awhile,” remarked Milano.
Elsewhere in Seaford’s lineup, three infielders will be seniors; including Joe Cain, who is coming off a season where he broke his leg (but is now healthy, and will go to Saint Joseph’s next year), Richie Apollo, who will also pitch some, and is on track to play college baseball at Nassau next season, along with Logan Masters, who is back for his third year playing for Milano.
Milano certainly knows what he has, and is optimistic about it, but he knows their previous accolades doesn’t mean a thing once his team takes the field.
“Like I said, they have to hit with runners on base. They have to throw strikes, and they have to make plays,” he said.
It all sounds simple, but Milano has been around baseball long enough, to know that things are rarely as easy as they seem.
