It’s the nature of the beast in High School athletics – kids graduate when they finish 12^th grade.

The 2021 Northport High School Baseball team had 17 of its players wear the cap and gown last June. That graduation ceremony was just a few weeks after making a playoff run that ended with a thud against eventual Suffolk County champion Huntington.

But the Tigers finished with a 14-6 record which is a mighty fine .700 winning percentage. They did it with timely hitting, strong starting pitching, and gold-glove level outfield defense. While it didn’t end the way the wanted it to, the season could only be considered a success from any objective point of view.

But that was 2021 – this is 2022 and hope springs eternal. Thus, Tiger Head Coach Sean Lynch wants to focus on who he currently has on his roster rather than who he does not.

“We are coming out to compete every game,” said Lynch. “We’ve had a lot of great productivity in practice with a lot of focus on limiting mental mistakes, not giving the other team extra outs and learning how to be a group that will battle every game, every inning and every at-bat. As coaches, we are trying to establish a culture of not beating ourselves and the kids we have are like sponges and have really bought in to this.”

Two players that have returned to the lineup for 2022 are Catcher Richard Kershow and Shortstop Ray Moreno, both of whom are expected to take on leadership roles on the club.

“We know we can win if we stick to the game plan and grind it out,” said Kershow, who last year played all around the diamond, but will primarily wear the tools of ignorance (catcher’s equipment) this year. “We have some guys coming up from last year’s J.V. team and I think we will have a successful year.”

The 2021 J.V. team was 16-1 so they’ve enjoyed success.

“Some of the younger guys really have a chance to step up and show what they’re all about,” said Moreno, who will also be a part of the starting pitching rotation this year when not playing short. “They are going to have a lot more opportunity and I we are going to be fine.”

The team has had a string of inter-squad games over the past week and these have given the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluate the new talent and formulate a starting nine.

“We have been stressing the little things, the fundamentals, throwing strikes, and putting the ball in play on offense, we’ll compete in every game, said Assistant Coach Jim DeRosa. “If our guys start to believe and the results of this hard work on the fundamentals start to show up in the standings as wins, they are going to build confidence and good things will happen. We are gonna take the field expecting to win every game. If you don’t think like that, you’re doing it wrong.”

With Moreno, who features a curveball and change, filling one spot in the rotation, the rest of the pitching staff is still in a state of spring flux. Junior Aiden Bisson, who is an outfielder by trade will start the season in the rotation and start against Whitman in the opening series.   There are a few candidates to fill the other spot in the rotation, but the coaching staff has yet to make that decision.

“We had a great pitching staff last year,” said Lynch. “Liam Fodor, Liam Darrigo and Jason Schwartz put up All-County numbers, but we like our group of guys. If we pound the strike zone, we’ll be fine.”

When Moreno is pitching, 10^th grader Thomas Hardick will get a chance to show his ability with the glove, as he has built a reputation in the Northport baseball community as a defensive whiz and senior outfielder Jacob Lubeck has impressed with glove and bat in March workouts

Pitching Coach John DeMartini, who has been with the Northport baseball program for close to 40 years sees a lot of potential with this young group.

“We’re still feeling our way, said DeMar. “I like working this group of kids in particular, because they all seem eager to learn and then apply what they learn, so I think once we get our lineups and pitching staff established, we will start to click.”

The 2022 season will revert to the pre-pandemic three game series format. Weather permitting, the Tigers will open at Whitman on Tuesday, March 29^th at 4:30 PM and the home opener will be on March 30^th at 5:00 PM. That will be the first regular season game for the team playing a game in the now officially-named John DeMartini Baseball Field. When told of this, DeMarini was typically humble.

“I didn’t realize that,” said Demar. “Sometimes it (naming the field after him) still seems like a dream.”

The Tigers hope that with hard work and fundamentally sound baseball, they will make their maiden season on DeMar’s namesake their own Field of Dreams.