Huntington Baseball Looks to
be Competitive
The Huntington High School baseball hasn't won a league title in nearly 50 years, but the Blue Devils start every season with high hopes and 2013 is no different.
Huntington is led this spring by Rob Fiato, Jake Freitag, Joe Cacciato and Alex Borman. Blue Devil head coach Keith Barrett. After losing its first three games, the team won two-of-three against league foe West Babylon.
The Blue Devils topped the Eagles in the third game of the series, 8-3 when Joe Cacciato scored on a fielder's choice to give Huntington a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th inning. James Byrnes followed by driving in a pair of runs with a blistering single up the middle. Reliever Justin Fleiss picked up the victory after hurling six shutout innings. The senior surrendered just two hits while fanning six.
Cacciato is the team's centerfield. "Joe is out best outfielder and is off to a good start on the season," Barrett said. The junior collected five hits in the first three games of the season.
An All-League player as a junior, Fiato is the Blue Devils' catcher. He has been on the varsity for the past five years and is headed to New York Institute of Technology next fall on a baseball scholarship. "He's a very good defensive catcher with a strong arm and he's our team's best hitter," Barrett said.
Freitag pitches and plays shortstop for Huntington. The senior is expected to provide some punch in the middle of the team's lineup. Borman, a sophomore infielder is an up-and-coming player for the Blue Devils. "Alex has a lot of potential to go far in baseball," Barrett said. "He has a lot of ability and can play many positions. He will be counted on to play everywhere."
Huntington had trouble executing some basic fundamentals during its first series of the season against Deer Park. That changed in the three games against West Babylon. "The outlook on the season is to hope to be able to compete," Barrett said.
The Huntington baseball program won its last league title in 1965. The players now in the Blue Devil pipeline hope to change that before they graduate from high school.