Reis Henderson wins it for Hills East with a walk-off single to score Nick Gavilla ! pic.twitter.com/yyZVfPV9MN
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 29, 2019
by Ben Diamond
After losing last season, Hills East had a big senior class graduate. But, Head Baseball Coach at Hills East, Tim Belz, believes that the core of his team is still intact.
Led by junior shortstop Nick Farnacci, who has been with the team since freshman year. Senior catcher Aiden Limerick, who he expects big things from this coming season, and senior RHP Kyle Cavataio. Belz said that Cavataio would’ve been a big part of his pitching staff had the season not been cancelled last year. Belz feels as though the hole left by the departing senior class isn’t as big as other schools.
Uncommitted Kyle Cavataio (Hills East 2021) with a scoreless inning. Fastball 81-83, CB 72, CH 69-70 pic.twitter.com/gwFuzo0e3V
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 3, 2020
“Most of the core of the team does return,” Belz said. “The hole is not as big as we had anticipated going into this year.”
Unlike most schools, Hills East was able to hold a fall program, where Belz was able to get some of the guys together in order to get some practice in. Although, who went to the practice depended on who was in person at school that day. Being able to hold those fall workouts gives Belz and his team a little bit of an edge as it allowed the team to start working together earlier, even if not all of the players came everyday.
“We ran a fall program, it’s a lot different when you can only have the kids that were in school that day,” Belz said. “They’re hitting, they’re training, they are doing a lot on their own, a lot of them are ready to get back to some semblance of normalcy.”
Belz is doing all he can to make sure his players are ready when the time comes to start playing games. He feels that the most important thing is to help them find their team identity. The more they can be around one another, the better teamwork, and bonds will be forged.
“We’ve been focusing on trying to get some sense of team identity,” Belz said. “Being around each other, building camaraderie is something we have to get back to because of the situation that they’re in.”
Belz expects that his team will be ready to go when the season starts in a few weeks. He said that while watching the basketball team he saw the enthusiasm they showed, and he believes that after all this time, and the lack of being able to get out there and play baseball, his players will be just as enthusiastic and raring to go. He knows that when they get the chance to get out there for the first time, his guys are going to be pumped up.
“I think when we get out there in April I think they are going to be really pumped up to have the season,” Belz said. “I watched the basketball team and saw the enthusiasm they had, and I think that’s going to happen for baseball too.”
Belz expects good things from his team this spring, and he himself is excited to finally get out there and start the long awaited season.
This is a program that has had a lot of recent success in terms of both winning games and individual accolades – Matt Hogan captured the Carl Yastrzemski Award in 2018, Patch Dooley captured the Paul Gibson Award in 2017 and Stephen Woods was drafted in the sixth round in 2013, so they are no strangers to standout players, but will be looking to now compete for the County Championship.
