by Ben Diamond
With the new season right around the corner, Eastport-South Manor has been making sure they are ready to go. Eastport-South Manor’s head coach Jim McGowin has had his team participate in tournaments to help make sure his team is ready to go before the season starts. Unlike other coaches who have been unable to see the level of talent and preparedness from their team due to the pandemic, McGowin has been able to see which players on his squad are prepared, and what the level of skill is.
“We’ve been very fortunate, we’ve been able to play in a bunch of tournaments, we played 18 games together in the fall,” McGowin said. “A lot of the guys are playing together, and we’ve been able to take advantage of the time we got and get some of the young guys some work, and allow them to prove themselves.”
McGowin said this season’s group will be a little bit on the younger side after losing players like shortstop Joe Sanguedolce, first baseman and catcher Ben Robles, and pitcher Justin Doskoez. He believes that it will be hard to replace their talent but that there are players that can pull their own weight and be a big part of their roster. Players like junior pitcher and shortstop Jake Deslauriers who hit 90 mph last week, and senior first baseman, St. Thomas Aquinas-commit Peter Devito who will bat 4th for McGowin with huge pop in his bat.
Peter Devito (Eastport-South Manor 2021) pic.twitter.com/AT8gnR70lp
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“Joe Sanguedolce was a three-year starter at shortstop and our captain, he was our catalyst, he was our three batter, and another big loss was our number one pitcher Justin Doskoez and they will be difficult to replace,” McGowin said. “Jake Deslauriers, he is a Division-I player, he is Division-I talent, he has been with us since ninth grade, and he is touching 90 now.”
Other important players on McGowin’s roster include Drew McGowan, a freshman catcher who would have started on varsity as an 8th grader, junior infielder Derek Masino who started on varsity as a freshman, and will see time at 2B, SS, and 3B. As well as the big 6’3” right handed pitcher Joe Condon who will be a big time pitcher this year, and Matt Deall who is coming off an injury, but McGowin believes he will have a big impact on their offense when he comes back in late May.
McGowin knows that his team will be young but they are all excited to compete this year. Eastport-South Manor has a talented roster from top to bottom, even in a tough league, McGowin feels that they should be able to compete with everyone on their schedule. He also believes that the team is aware of what is expected of them and they will be able to live up to those expectations.
“We should be able to be in every game with our pitching, and timely hitting,” McGowin said. “They have really bought into everything we have given them since the end of the 2019 season.”
They will open up on May 8 against West Islip at 2pm.
