by Aaron Diaz
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.
The baseball community within Westbury isn’t vast for a relatively large school. But the baseball turnout has gotten stronger throughout the years and last year was a step in the right direction for Coach Ryan Mulholland in his third year at Westbury.
“We had a successful season last year,” said Mulholland. “We had a 9-8 record which was the most wins Westbury baseball has had since 2003. That was a big improvement for us. So that was a testament to our kids and their work ethic.”
Westbury started the year 0-8 and won nine straight games to end the season on a high note. That win streak gave some motivation to the Dragons heading into the 2024 season. “You always want to find a way to motivate a team,” Mulholland said. “So you try to build every year and when we did that last year it builds a special feeling around the school and that buzz about the program. That’s what we want to try and continue to do.”
With a good year under his belt, Mulholland and his staff have goals set in mind for their team to accomplish during the 2024 season. “We want to build off of the success,” Mulholland said. “I think that our participation is high and if we continue to win games and build the program, we can have our students be a part of success and I believe it’s only natural to finish first and take down the teams that have been ahead of us.”
Heading into the season, Westbury is down some significant players from last year with ⅔ of the pitching staff missing. “We have some guys filling in that pitched last year that will be stepping up this year.” The Dragons only graduated five seniors three of whom were starters.
The three were centerfielder and team captain Ali Bolling, third basemen Jonathan Ellis, and Zain Sosa a utility man who hit .490 for the 2023 team. “We’re going to miss those guys,” Mulholland said.
Now for 2024, sophomore All-League player Jonathan Cruz will take the field for Westbury after an impressive freshman campaign. “He’s a very special player,” Mulholland said. Cruz led the team in RBIs with 33 and a .491 batting average. He also thrived on the mound with 63 strikeouts in 26 innings. “He’s one of the top returning players.”
Junior Abhay Patel had a huge presence in the lineup as a sophomore last season. He batted .396 at the catching position for the Dragons. He did throw a little from the mound as well and Mulholland is looking toward that direction. “We’re looking to transition him to the mound full-time this year,” Mulholland said.
Sophomore Benjamin Raskin will get the majority of the looks from behind the plate this season after impressing the staff in 2023. “We’re looking to him to take a load behind the plate and also be one of our starting pitchers,” Mulholland said.
Alex Munguia will be coming off a season-ending injury last season and will be a team captain for Westbury in 2024 as a middle infielder. “We’re looking forward to having him back this season,” Mulholland said. Munguia batted .286 in the games he played before his injury.
Omar Ahmad Ventura is a unique player with his baseball career just starting. Ventura had the highest batting average of anyone on the team in his first year of organized baseball with a .519 average and seven RBIs. Mulholland plans to use him in the rotation and the outfield.
With a young and promising team to manage, Mulholland prepares this player how to endure and play against every other team in the league. “It comes down to pitching. I always preach pitching and you can never have enough pitching. That’s how we are preparing for this season so we have reliable pitching in this game.”
Westbury is ready to take the field with a handful of motivation to start the 2024 season.
