by Ben Diamond
After the cancellation of last year’s season, head coach of the North Shore baseball team Scott Lineman lost a few important players from his roster. Players like Will Scarola who now plays at Hofstra, Andrew Jarkow who pitches for SUNY Cobleskill, and Danny Pepe who pitches at Montclair. According to Lineman, these guys would have played a significant role on his team last year had the season not been cancelled. They leave a hole that Lineman hopes his players this year can fill.
“Will [Scarola] was a three year starter for us, he would have been hitting in the middle of our order. He would get 20 stolen bases a year.” Lineman said. “He would have made a huge impact on helping us score runs that’s for sure.”
“Danny [Pepe] and Andrew [Jarkow] would have been the two star pitchers in our rotation.” Lineman said. “We are definitely going to miss having them in our rotation.”
Uncommitted RHP Luke Vaccaro (North Shore 2021) pic.twitter.com/jf7D1NaBmM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 16, 2021
With those losses, Lineman is looking for players who can step up, take control, and fill in the holes where they had lost players. One of the players Lineman believes will have a big impact on the team this season is senior, pitcher/shortstop combination Luke Vaccaro. Another player Lineman has slated to be a star player is senior center fielder and SUNY Maritime commit, Chris Bartlett. Lineman has high standards for these two players as he believes that they can be huge factors on how the team plays this season.
“Luke [Vaccaro] has started with us since his sophomore year at third base. This year he will be our starting shortstop.” Lineman said. “He is the ace of our staff, he is our best pitcher throwing in the low to mid 80s. We expect big things from him.”
“Chris [Bartlett] is going to hit at the top of our lineup with his excellent speed.” Lineman said. “If he gets on base we should be able to score a good amount of runs.”
Other important players on Lineman’s squad include seniors Ryan Dattner who plays catcher, first baseman Rylan Gaynor, and pitcher/designated hitter Matt Rosen. As well as a few juniors like pitcher Nick Caprerella, right fielder Julian Sferrazza, and second baseman Gavin Goss.
With the cancellation of last year and the difficulties most coaches have faced when trying to get their team together to practice, Lineman has been fortunate to have been able to put a team together to play in the Boys of Summer. This allowed a bunch of his players to start building team chemistry which Lineman has been trying to build up for this season. Lineman has also been fortunate to have been able to hold workouts and practices since January whether it be in the weight room, or in the batting cages. He had also started his pitchers on a throwing program. He also appreciates the work assistant coach Rob Gates has put in because he has to hold the practices when Lineman has to coach the varsity football team.
Lineman believes that the most important things that his team is going to have to do this coming season are the little things. He believes that if they can do that they will have a successful season. He expects his team to hold their own and be able to play with anyone.
“They are going to learn how to do the little things well very quickly. We pride ourselves on good baserunning, bunting, fielding, executing first and thirds, so we are going to have to learn those pretty quick.” Lineman said. “We have talent, but it’s the little things that will help us compete to make a playoff spot and win our conference.”
