Baseball is back! What to expect from the North Harford Baseball Club this season

Ben Sersen, REPORTER

  Spring sports are back in Maryland! Baseball, lacrosse, softball, and track and field are all back at North Harford (as well as the rest of the county) as players and coaches alike anxiously await the upcoming season.

     Brooks Bondura, sophomore stated “You should expect good things” for the long awaited season as well as claiming “I have spent a lot of time at the gym in the off season” and “Both teams (Junior varsity and Varsity) seem like they have a lot of potential to be very good”

     Brooks has not been the only one in the gym this off-season, Garrett Reinecke, junior stated “Me and my teammates have been working out consistently since COVID first hit.” Reinecke is looking to finish out the school year as a varsity baseball player after missing his shot(s) at regaining his spot on varsity for football and basketball due to the cancellation of the season.

     Reinecke was also quoted saying “The team is looking good so far, the players are playing fluently and teamwork has been amazing. We’re just trying to make the most out of our season.” Bondura backed up the Reinecke’s claim by stating “There (are) a lot of players that played the ‘game’(baseball) and made a lot of smooth and clean plays”

     Varsity coach and UCBAC champion Timothy Larrimore stated “I don’t have any underclassmen on varsity, a first in a long time” due to a large portion of the starters being seniors. 

     In regard to the strong senior class, Coach Larrimore stated “We have a very good Senior class.  Mitchell Wittkamp is our top starting pitcher and plays 2nd. Charlie Canapp is our anchor behind the plate.  Kevin Halford and Jeremy Weber play 1st and DH.  Jeremy is also one of our top pitchers.  Keegan Bowling, Patrick Weber, Jackson Miller and Tristan Pomeroy are middle infielders.  Austin Bach and Gavin Barker are starting outfielders and Barker is also one of our top pitchers.”

    When asked about names that stuck out as candidates for a breakout year, the 31 year coaching veteren claimed “From what I have seen in the first 3 days, I’m expecting big things from Wittkamp, Canapp, Halford, Jeremy and Patrick Weber, Bowling, Bach, Barker and Kole Iddings (junior) at third andBrian Hauer (junior and third year varsity starter)in center field.”

     Coach Larrimore had plenty of good to speak about the team however when asked about what he has seen from the boys so far, he stated “I like what I have seen defensively and on the mound in practice.  We need to work on our hitting but that is one of the toughest things in all sports to do.  All the time off does not help with a skill like hitting.” as well as stating “We have noticed that many of our players are out of playing shape.  Everything we do at practice we do at full speed.  We hustle from drill to drill and are constantly moving.”

     The coaching staff at North Harford isn’t just good at coaching their players on the field, the well experienced group keeps their players in check off the field as well. Head coach Larrimore stated “ I have also talked with the team about eating habits.  We spend quality time each practice stretching.”

     Experience in coaching staff is one thing that the North Harford Baseball Club has down pat, Coach Larrimore leads the pack with 31 years of experience and he claimed “We have a very experienced coaching staff and that is to our advantage in a year like this.” as well as stating “Coach Burrows and Coach Heeter have over 20 years in, Coach Martinek has over 10 years in and Coach Fries and Martinelli have a couple of years’ experience with us. “