Sachem Baseball Playing 2012 as Defending Champs

Sachem North baseball coaches Tom Gambino and Gary Comstock come from the oldest schools of coaching methodology. After all they are direct disciples of Sachem baseball coaching legend Bill Batewell, who still embodies an old school mentality as the head skipper at Bellport which is hard to come by nowadays.

So it was no surprise when Gambino downplayed the “defending champion” moniker his Sachem North baseball team will carry throughout the 2012 season after a scrimmage between Sachem and Bellport last week. The Flaming Arrows won a Suffolk County title last June for the first time since 1987 - when Batewell was coaching and Comstock was playing - and for just the third time in school history.

“It was great last year, it was great for June, but once we started hitting again in the fall, I don’t think I ever mentioned it,” said Gambino of the title. “I mentioned it today to the young guys who have never been here. They have to know that’s what’s going to happen. [Other teams] are going to want to beat you because it’s a feather in their cap.”

Sachem, who stormed through Suffolk’s Class AA tournament last year with a group of senior leaders that will be tough to match in years to come, is playing in League I this year against tough opponents like Patchogue-Medford and Commack, who should be in the county playoffs come May.

Having lost Alec Sole (Saint Louis), the reigning Yastrzemski Award winner as Suffolk’s top player, Brendan Garry (Rochester), the reigning Ryan T. Caufield Award winner as Suffolk’s top catcher, and pitchers Brian Hennelly (Steven’s Tech) and Mike Vitale, the Arrows will have plenty of holes to fill.

Sachem returns All-League player Justin Carlo and a handful of others who saw some playing time with varsity last year, including Chris Buckley, Danny Farina, Steve Guadino and Lou Ferrari. Gambino said sophomore Bobby Barber will contribute on the mound as well. Luke Leonardi, who has performed well in many off-season showcases, will do most of the catching this season for Sachem.

The “defending champion” status does nothing for Sachem at this point, however.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Gambino said. “You need 10 wins to get in the playoffs. We made the playoffs seven straight years. Bottom line, we expect to win baseball games when we go out there. I don’t care what their experience level is.”