by Thomas Cregan
Walt Whitman RHP Grant Biederman just threw a perfect game with 11 strikeouts against Hills East pic.twitter.com/2DxZGjQfSR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2021
Walt Whitman High School finished the 2021 season with a 7-11 in league record missing the playoffs by two games. Coach Keith Barrett said that they lost 6 games last season by 1 run and had a lot of close games along the way. He further stated that it was frustrating to have good pitching performances not backed up by proper run support and lots of men being left on base. However, in the upcoming 2022 season, he will be looking for improvements out of his returning players and hopes the experience they gained will improve the team’s overall record.
Whitman lost three key players that graduated in 2021. All-Axcess pitcher Grant Biederman who during their previous season pitched a perfect game and received a 2nd Team All Long Island selection. He compiled a record of 4-3 with a miniscule 1.19 ERA over 47 IP. Biederman has moved to the next level and will be playing college baseball at Pace University.
Their other two graduates were both named All-League in 2021 that being Isaac Rodriguez and Tyler Grosso. Coach Barrett said that losing these players for the upcoming season will be tough, but he will be looking to the returning players from last year to step up and fill their roles in 2022.
Coach Barrett will be looking to his returning impact players to prove themselves this season and make contributions both at the plate and on the mound. Starting with senior pitcher/third baseman John Lupton, Barrett will be looking to Lupton to be a big player for them this year both on the mound and at the plate. Pitcher/outfielder Jordan Henkel, who coach Barrett says gave them a lot of good innings last year will be relied on to provide them the same in 2022. Junior infielder/pitcher Tyler Mezadurian will also be relied on heavily in the upcoming season. He also mentioned seniors Mike Phillips, Connor Asma, Danny Schlansky, and Nick Bottoni. Barrett said, “we have a lot of returning players who are out there trying to prove themselves in this league” and though there may not be a clear standout he will be looking for a team effort out of his group in order to succeed in 2022.
When asked about his team’s biggest strength coming into the new season coach Barrett cited pitching. He said, “we have a good group of guys that got some innings last year and they gained good experience from that.” He further stated that he is looking for improvements at the plate “We have to hit, there were a lot of one-run games last year that our pitching kept us in, but we were not able to score runs to get them the win. If we want to remain competitive and win some games, we will need more run support for our pitching in 2022.”
Whitman is in a very competitive league of which coach Barrett mentioned Commack, Ward Melville, Sachem North, Northport, and Lindenhurst. He went on to say, ‘this is a very good league that is always competitive and there are no easy opponents.” He also said “ I am excited to get the season going again this year, we have a good group of kids that always show up for workouts, and I am looking forward to seeing what we have this year.”
Whitman will open their season against Northport on March 29th.
