Harrison Baseball Preview

The Harrison Varsity baseball team has been building toward this spring's season since Thanksgiving. The team has been taking batting practice and throwing bullpen sessions twice a week through the winter with the hopes of making a run at a division, or even section, championship. The following is an interview with head coach Marco Diruocco, previewing the 2010 season:

Do you expect to have a young team, a veteran team or a mix somewhere in the middle?

"We definitely have more of a younger group this year than in previous years.  We lost several seniors last year, so we are primarily young. We have some younger players that are going to really have to come on board quickly and really take everything in."

What were some of the weaknesses the team had last year that you hope to improve this year?

"We want to be able to hit consistently this year and play productive and quality defense."

Who are some players coming back this year that you expect to be big contributors?

"We are going to have Mike DeLasi back who was a big time hitter, he is going to hopefully do big things for us. We have Ryan Mustacato and Zack Eklund as returners. Zack Eklund we are looking at to be our number one starter and we are also looking for Ryan Mustacato to have an impact on the mound as well."

"We also have some other guys in there who are going to have an impact, but those guys did well last year and I hope they continue it this year."

Has the team been taking batting practice or throwing over the winter?

"Our fine group of young men have been dedicated since November and putting time in trying to improve their level of play and get better."

"We started real early this year, we put a lot of time into the program and we are hoping that it will benefit us at the end of the season when it counts."

What do you hope to accomplish this season and how far do you guys hope to go?

"Every year we want to try to win our league and eventually our goal, our big picture, is to win the section. It's always what we strive to achieve every year."

"We want to have a winning season and we want to do well in the playoffs, getting past that first game is always difficult for us and this year we would really like to get a win in the first game of our sectionals and then move on forward into, ultimately, crowning ourselves as Section 1 champions."

What are some big games, or rivalry games, that you guys are looking forward to?

"We have Rye, we play them twice which will be a big rivalry. Then we've been battling Fox Lane and Horace Greeley, which are two double A teams, so those will be two pretty big games for us as well."

What are you looking forward to the most about this season?

"Me personally, I look forward to working with the kids and being outside with them, working with them and seeing them improve. That's why we do it, that's why I'm a teacher and a coach because I love to profession, I love working with kids."

Harrison baseball begins official practice on March 8.