Northport was a team that was chomping at the bit to start the 2020 season considering how strong their roster was. With a rotation and offense led by Charleston-commit Larry Citrola, the Shashaty twins atop the lineup, Queens-commit Danny Deutsch plus a great group of juniors, “we thought it could be a special group,” according to head coach Sean Lynch.
Once the season was on pause, he said they were intently following along every update from the governor and Section XI, hoping they could at least play a condensed season knowing they had a chance to make a run.
When it was canceled, “it was a very tough pill to swallow,” said Lynch. “It would’ve really been nice to play, between our senior leadership and seniors bats plus our junior pitchers, we thought we had a chance to win our first league title since 1984.”
While they didn’t get a season, they did get to play in the Town of Brookhaven Varsity Wood Bat tournament and they finished in the final 4 among the 36 teams – proving that they were for real, and they did that without Citrola who had Tommy John surgery.
Final: Northport 3, Connetquot 1
WP: Liam Darrigo pic.twitter.com/sGVgjeXzsS— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 9, 2020
Turning the page to 2021, the team is still in very good shape thanks to that aforementioned group of pitchers. They are now a year older but Lynch really likes their depth. Liam Fodor will anchor the rotation, he was named All-League as a sophomore and 2019. He will be joined by Liam Darrigo, another sophomore that logged innings for them on varsity two years ago. He also shutdown Connetquot in the TOB tournament last July.
KJ Lavoie is a pitcher he has high hopes for. He was the ace of their JV team two years ago and Lynch stated that he’s “made a nice jump since then and he looks even better,” he added. Molloy-commit Jason Schwartz is senior pitcher that could either be in the rotation or their go-to guy in the bullpen depending on what’s needed. Another senior is Joe Gonzalez who will be a big contributor for them on the mound. Left-handed pitcher Danny Thompson will be an outfielder/reliever for them as well.
Lynch said their pitching staff is “senior heavy” and that “we view all of these guys as potential starting pitchers for us. If we have to play four games in a week – it’s a good year to have depth.”
While the pitching will certainly be the strength of the team, the offense has plenty of pieces as well.
Their biggest offensive weapon is Rocco Stola, a freak athlete who is also a starter on the football team. He started in LF for them as a sophomore and will hit anywhere between leadoff and cleanup for them due to his skillset.
Catcher Mike Catrone is another football player who will split time with junior Richie Kershow behind the dish and he will also DH. Lynch stated that Kershow made the team last year as a sophomore and has made tons of progress since then.
Senior Will Deriso will play third base and they are hoping he can contribute with the bat.
Lynch emphasized the team’s desire to get a taste of the playoffs this year – not just for themselves but for the seniors last year.
“We missed the playoffs by one game in 2019 and these current seniors know how hard last year’s seniors worked and how bad they wanted it – so it’s almost like they’d be doing it for them too.”
They will open up the season against Smithtown East on May 7 at 8pm.
