With the start of spring sports approaching, the varsity baseball team is hoping to make it back to the sectional finals for the third straight year, this time with some new faces. After the end of last season, the previous varsity coach since 2019, Simon Dudar, stepped down from the coaching position, leaving a vacant spot in the coaching staff. For months, there was no answer to who would be filling the position, until mid-November, when the new coach was announced to be Mike Trainor.
Michael Trainor is currently an associate Scout for the Cleveland Guardians, an MLB team, and looks for talented high school players in the area that the Cleveland Guardians may think about drafting in the future.
Players on the team are excited about the new coach, as he was a good high school player who received Division I offers and has coached multiple travel baseball teams. Milo Pearsall, a senior on the varsity team who has committed to Plattsburgh State to play baseball next year, was optimistic about the season’s prospects. “An experienced coach goes a long way to having a good team,” Pearsall said.
The team goes into this season without key players who helped the team get to back-to-back section finals the last two years, such as graduates Trajan McCarthy and Jeremy Hall, who were All-Section and All-League, respectively. Though they lost three starting players, Haldane is returning six starters this year and the team is hopeful that the addition of a new coach will keep Haldane on a winning path.
Thanks to the efforts by Coach Trainor, the players have been able to play throughout the winter via morning workouts before school. One of the biggest challenges of baseball training is that it is harder to practice during the offseason, as you need space to hit and throw. The morning workouts help this issue and make it easier for the players to retain their baseball skills.
The varsity baseball players are excited for the season ahead, especially under the leadership of Coach Trainor. Regular practices officially started on March 17 and won their first game at Peekskill 10-0 on Wednesday, April 2. Their first home game will be Friday, April 4 at 4:30 against Valhalla.
