NBHS Baseball Starts Season Hot
By Matthew Cannata | Sports Correspondent at May 1, 2024 | 8:30 am | Print
The New Britain High School baseball team, led by head coach Roberto Mercado, has been making a lot of noise in the early part of the 2015 season. As of press time, they have come roaring out of the gates with a 5-2 record, knocking off teams such as Conard, Hall, Middletown and others. Heading into this season, many believed this would be a rebuilding year based off the fact that so many seniors had graduated. However, Mercado said he did not buy into that perception and knew since last year that he would have a strong group of kids ready to lead the way this season.
“We graduated 13 seniors, 7 starters and every single varsity pitcher. We have a new group of varsity players that have been prepared by our Junior Canes program and our excellent coaching staff at all levels of the high school program. We have a tough bunch who have a lot of heart and fight that play the game the right way. It’s not just about baseball, it’s about being a student athlete, hard worker, good teammate, being responsible, respectful and representing New Britain and New Britain High School in a positive way,” said Mercado. “The program is built on the ‘Hurricane Way’ and our coaches do an excellent job of implementing this philosophy. On the field, it’s been defense, pitching and timely hitting. We have been able to win some tight ball games. Being ‘locked in’ the entire game is something we stress as a coaching staff.”
Being “locked in” is going to take on an even bigger meaning as the season progresses. Having such a young and inexperienced team can also mean that early success will lower their guard, causing them to take future opponents lightly. However, Mercado and his coaching staff are prepared to keep preaching that notion every day of the week.
“We have a young inexperienced team and our coaching staff does a great job of stressing that we need to play in the moment and try to win every inning we play. People have come to me about our hot start and my response is always, ‘Yeah, good start but we have a long way to go’,” said Mercado. “Our players understand the three goals we set every year and they are not satisfied yet. We still have a ton of things to work on and continue to improve everyday no matter if we win or lose.”
The team has been led by numerous players, including two returning starters in Elvin Silva and Tyree Burns. Their leadership on and off the field have paid off big dividends thus far through the first seven games.
“Our senior leadership has been excellent. Our two returning starters, Elvin Silva and Tyree Burns, have saved games with their gloves and have had timely hits when we needed them. Our pitching staff has done an amazing job so far,” Mrtcado said. “Senior Mike Ortiz-Santana, freshman William Homar and junior Justin Lawson have been excellent early on. Junior Jakari Pellegrini has just been recently cleared to pitch and will be a part of our pitching for the rest of this season.”
The team still has 13 left and need to win three more to qualify for the state tournament. They’ll be heading into the thick of conference play over the next few weeks so every game will be critical. That’s why Mercado and his staff continue to preach the three goals they set during off-season workouts.
“We have the same goals every season and that is to win eight games to qualify for the State Tourney, win the conference and win the State Championship. It doesn’t matter if we are uoung, inexperienced, rebuilding or seasoned veterans,” added Mercado. “The goals never change. As the season moves along, we will get better and continue to learn and make adjustments. We have a great group of student athletes that work hard.”
That hard work will need to continue if the Hurricanes want to make an appearance in the state tournament for the second consecutive year.
