Warriors get their game faces on


Webutuck’s varsity and junior varsity baseball teams converged at the Eugene Brooks Middle School gymnasium this past Tuesday afternoon to prepare for the upcoming season.

Although all the players present have earned a spot on the team, currently it’s a question of where they will be placed, varsity or junior varsity, Head Coach Gary Murphy said.

For the past three weeks, the team, whose assistant coach is Ken Pomeisl, has focused on hitting and fielding drills, as well as calisthenics to build their stamina.

"We were outside for a couple of days last week, doing infield and outfield drills in the parking lot, but the snow has set us back," said Murphy, who has coached at Webutuck for the last 11 years and the varsity squad for the past nine.

Murphy noted that standout players this season should include Matt Pomeisl, Chris Matteo, Alex Reda, Jimmy Robertson, Alex Murphy and Steve Bradley, who all started on last year’s varsity team.

According to Murphy, last year was an "unusual" season.

The warriors beat baseball powerhouses such as Spackenkill High School at the start of last season, but faltered against teams in their division, Class C, such as Rhinebeck and Millbrook.

Murphy said he hopes the wins will be spread more evenly next year. "Certainly, our goals are to win our division and qualify for sectionals," he said, also noting that Millbrook High School’s varsity baseball team earned a spot in the Class C championship game and is consistently a tenacious competitor.

Murphy is hoping that his team will improve its base-running skills, which were "fairly strong" last year.

The team is usually a defensive force, the coach added, but "hitting is inconsistent."

The Warriors have two scrimmages in the next two weeks, but the coach speculated that they will most likely be cancelled because all teams lost practice time due to last week’s blizzard.

The date of the first game is to be determined, as well.

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