Spring is officially in the air, which means baseball is back.
Coming off of a strong 2023-24 season, winning the league with a 13-8 record (6-2 in league) and making it to the section tournament quarterfinals, the Rye baseball team has big shoes to fill for 2024-25. The goals remain the same: win the league and the section, and head coach Mike Bruno is confident this roster can do so.
“I know it’s cliché, but our goal is to try to get better every practice and play our best baseball when the playoffs come,” Bruno said. “If we win the league, it’s going to help us win the section and put us in a good position.”
The Garnets will be led by a trio of senior captains: Jack Sheridan and Charlie Rupp, both three-year varsity starters, and Vincent Sculti. Sheridan and senior Peter Davies are the team’s top returning starting pitchers.
“Some of these seniors are going to be filling bigger roles this year than they did last year,” Bruno said of Sheridan and Davies. “They’ve had some experience last year pitching, but we had some senior-dominated pitchers. [Now,] these guys have to step up.”
Some notable returning juniors in the lineup include Jamie Morris, Lucas London, Jackson Pineault, and Nolan Hutson. Pineault, at catcher, and Hutson, at shortstop, made All-League last season, and Hutson also made All-Section for his outstanding performance.
As for some new faces, sophomore Ben Findberg and juniors Harry Ellis and Mike Talbott are expected to be big contributors this season. The roster breakdown this year is seven seniors, 11 juniors, and one sophomore, Findberg.
A game of particular importance every season is against Harrison (May 10 in Silver Lake) to honor Andrew Gurgitano, a former junior star pitcher for Harrison who died unexpectedly in 2014. One player from each team is chosen for a memorial scholarship award, recognizing achievements and character in alignment with Gurgitano’s legacy.
“The Rye baseball program is very grateful that Harrison chose us to be part of such a special day,” Bruno said. “It’s a really important game for the community.”
The team is also excited for the annual spring training trip to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, where they’ll play one league opponent (Byram Hills) and one non-league (Ketcham).
Playing in arguably one of the state’s best leagues, the Garnets have a competitive schedule ahead. The team lost 6-3 in the season opener April 1 against Eastchester, then bounced back the next day to beat Port Chester 6-2. It’s just the beginning of a regular season that includes 20 games over a roughly six-week span, 12 of which are league games.
“So far we haven’t played clean baseball and have been fortunate to split the two games,” Bruno said. “We need to improve fundamentally if we want to achieve our goals.”
Rye’s next game is 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Rye Neck before the team travels to Orlando for games April 15 and 16.
