By Michael Malaszczyk
Northport 4, Smithtown East 0
WP: Liam Fodor (1-hit shutout, 11 Ks, 1 BB, 92 pitches) pic.twitter.com/hczy782jXN— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2021
Coach Sean Lynch of Northport is looking ahead to 2022 with a team of mostly young players. Northport played a great season in 2021. They finished with a 13-5 overall record, and made it to the playoffs. In the playoffs, they were able to defeat Smithtown East before ultimately losing to the county champs in Huntington.
That is in Northport’s rear view mirror now, however; most of last year’s team graduated.
“We graduated 17 seniors last year,” said Coach Lynch. “Including our entire pitching staff led by All-County Liam Fodor and All-Leaguer’s Liam Darrigo and Jason Schwartz.”
In addition to those three, other star players Northport saw graduate include All-League and Gold Glove winning centerfielder Dan Thompson and All-League outfielder Rocco Stola, All-League catcher Mike Catrone, and third baseman Will DeRiso.
While these players will undoubtedly be missed, as mentioned above; this type of scenario is where a team has a breakout year.
Coach Lynch feels confident that’s exactly what will happen to his young and inexperienced team, especially with the two returning starters from 2021 who will now be leaders on the team. These two players are Rich Kershow (‘22) and Ray Moreno (‘22).
“In my 20-plus years coaching I have never seen a harder worker than Richie,” said Lynch. “He’s the first one out to the field and the last one to leave. He reminds me of my old college teammate Kevin Boles, who just took over as manager of the Syracuse Triple-A affiliate of the NY Mets. Nobody was going to outwork Bolesy, whether it was in the batting cage or the weight room. Richie has that same work ethic, he’s a switch-hitting catcher who will be counted on heavily to lead our inexperienced team this season. Shortstop Ray Moreno is our only other returning starter. Ray has been working hard all year long and will be a big part of our offense and defense.”
Rich Kershow will be attending Hood College next year, while Ray Moreno will be attending Onondaga Community College.
Despite only two returning players from last year’s lineup, however, there are some promising young players coming in from Northport’s junior varsity team.
“Our junior varsity team had a great season last year,” said Coach Lynch. “Along with our returning seniors, some of the juniors that had great JV seasons. These were pitcher Jayden Paranandi (‘23), outfielder/pitcher Aidan Bisson (‘23), outfielder Dominic Tetta (‘23), catcher/infielder John Dwyer (‘23), outfielder/pitcher Michael Lombardo (‘23), along with several others. There have also been a few sophomores that have looked good in the off season. Who knows; we may even take a look at a freshman to help our team this year.”
Coach Lynch himself is a 21-year veteran of baseball and is entering his fourth year as head varsity coach at Northport. Lynch brings the experience to really make this team into something special.
“We will have to count on some of our younger guys to compete at a high level and help fill the void of losing 17 seniors,” he said. “We will continue to focus on avoiding the big inning on defense, limiting our walks and errors, and having quality at bats at the plate.”
Coach Lynch feels that the entire league will be competitive and no opponent is to be overlooked.
“League 2 is as deep and as tough as they come,” said Lynch. “But overall I think everyone is excited to get back out there and play a full regular season.”
Northport’s opening day is set for March 29th. They will be playing against Walt Whitman High School.
