Before the season started, Schreiber’s head baseball coach Matt Holzer made it clear that his team’s mission was to clinch a playoff berth. Fast forward to today, the boys have accomplished their goal. Despite losing a heartbreaking first round 2-1 to Valley Stream Central, the Vikings are still proud of the hard work they put into this year. As a result, they got their first taste of postseason baseball in six years.
“I think last year’s experience did help us this year,” said Holzer. “We had a lot of returning players who gained valuable experience. Coming into this year, they knew what it would take to win on the varsity level.”
This year’s squad saw a huge turnaround from last season. They improved their overall play from 3-16 to 12-8. The team also went from 2-13 to 10-7 in conference play. Two reasons for their successful season were their pitching and defense. Their team ERA was an excellent 2.33 and they only committed 23 errors, which is a little over one a game.
“Every team on our schedule this year except for one made the playoffs last year,” said Holzer. “We were able to dramatically increase our win total and make the playoffs while playing really good competition.”
The boys came away with some big wins in the regular season. On April 28, their biggest was a 7-3 victory against conference-foe MacArthur, the team that went on to win the Nassau County Championship. Dylan Livingston pitched a gem by tossing a complete game. Sam Timothy and Issei Kohama provided the offense with big hits and drove in runs for the home team.
Another big game for Holzer’s squad was April 25 against Mineola. It was Coach vs. Cancer day at the high school, when they raised $1,300 for cancer research. The team would put on an impressive performance with a 12-5 win.
Yet another exciting matchup where the boys walked it off was a 2-1 extra inning win on May 7 against Valley Stream Central. Kohama hit a game-winning double to score Erik Klug in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Then came the day they clinched a spot in the playoffs. It was on May 12, Senior Day, and they dominated Plainview JFK 10-3. The Vikings finished the year as the sixth seed going into the postseason. They eventually lost to the 11th-seeded Valley Stream Central in the first round of the playoffs 2-1 in extra innings. Valley Stream Central took on MacArthur in the county semifinals, before the latter went all the way to the County Championship.
Three big names that stood out for Port Washington this season are Livingston, Christian Esposito and Andy Vavaro. Livingston won All-County honors, Esposito took home All-Conference and Vavaro was crowned All-League.
Livingston posted five wins this year on the mound and recorded one save. Three of those wins were complete games. He went 35.1 innings pitched and posted an outstanding 1.37 ERA, while only yielding seven runs. He had a WHIP of 1.15, and opponents only batted .177 against him. Livingston also had a batting average of .386 this year.
Esposito was hitting .308, drew 11 walks, had two doubles and a triple, five runs batted in, scored 12 runs and swiped six bags. The leadoff man also had an on-base percentage of .429.
“Christian and Dylan were the catalysts of our offense,” said Holzer. “Christian was our leadoff hitter and did a great job of getting on base so the middle of our line up could drive him in. Dylan was our clean-up hitter and led the team in average.”
Vavaro also mounted amazing numbers this year for the Vikings. He pitched 35.1 IP, boosted a 2.18 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Vavaro tossed three complete games and held opponents to a .195 batting average. He also pitched well in their playoff game against Valley Stream Central. Vavaro had two wins this year, but Holzer felt he should have had more.
“Dylan and Andy gave us a chance to win every time they pitch,” said Holzer. “Their pitching kept us in games and they were able to win games even when our offense struggled. They allowed us to win games without scoring a lot of runs.”
Although an early playoff exit isn’t what any team wants, it was still a great year for Holzer and the Vikings.
Reflecting back on the season, Holzer is proud of what his team was able to accomplish. Despite losing a number of graduating seniors this year, Holzer is confident in his team’s ability to return to the postseason next year.
“We have some talented juniors returning and some good sophomores coming up so I think we can make the playoffs again next year,” said Holzer. “Hopefully this year will be the start of a good run for the program.”
