by Aaron Diaz
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.
After a 1-19 record during the 2023 season, Huntington’s head coach, Bill Harris, decided to step down. John Romano was named head coach and he is preparing for his first season with the team.
“With this being my first year in Huntington, it’s my job to change the entire culture, which we’ve done since day one,” Romano said.
Huntington didn’t have a big senior class but they did lose player Matt Gerardi in the process, being the MVP of the team last season.
However, as he shifts the culture, Romano has had time to see what kind of baseball players he has and he believes he has a lot of good ones. “When it was time for baseball workouts, you can tell we have a very athletic team,” Romano said. “This group has potential.”
Starting with that potential is senior catcher Harry Baliber. He is committed to playing baseball in New Paltz during the 2025 season. “Last year he threw out 11 runners on the base paths,” Romano said. “He’s our backstop and our leader and he’s the type of kid our younger guys look up to. He is the definition of Huntington Blue Devil baseball.”
Harrison Baliber (Huntington 2024) commits to SUNY New Paltz @LITitanbaseball pic.twitter.com/EaBXzlg0tM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 1, 2023
The starting shortstop for the Blue Devils will be senior Kaedan Halbeisen. Both Baliber and Halbeisen were on the Long Island championship team in 2021, so experience goes a long way for both of them. “They have experience of being in a winning program and a losing one for the past two years,” Romano said. So they are our leaders.”
Besides those two seniors, the Blue Devils consist of a talented group of young players. Freshman Will Donaghy and Sophomores Presley Moss and Henry Gerberg have impressed Romano and his staff during the off-season. All three players will serve on the pitching staff with Donaghy in the lineup as well.
Some lefty bats will be out in the lineup as well with Harrison Uvena in the outfield as a junior. Junior Jibreel Murtaza will be another key piece to the rotation. “He has a live arm and will be integral to the staff this season,” Romano said.
Pitcher/1B junior George Mueger is a power bat in the lineup with some gap-to-gap pop. Junior Griffin Kanzer will also be a solidified bay in the lineup, who has been a silent leader for Huntington during the off-season.
With a new team and season ahead of him, Romano and his staff look to make certain goals for their team, especially after last season.
“We want to improve on what the record was last year,” Romano said. “We also want to keep the momentum going from year-to-year. They need to build confidence, especially after coming into summer workouts not knowing what to expect. So we have seen the confidence build up and we want to continue to build that for the future.”
Within their league, Romano emphasized how he believes his team plays in one of the best leagues in the county. Preparing for that will be a challenge for his new team. “Looking at the teams this year, we want to be ready for game-like situations,” Romano explained. There’s an understanding that every game that they play is going to be tough. We have to work as hard as we can, every single day and we have to grind and fight.”
Huntington starts their season in a non-league matchup against Copiague and will play Smithtown West starting in-league play for the 2024 season.
