Max Miranda: I’m here with seniors Nick Duarte and Zach Baer.
Zach Baer: Thanks for having us.
MM: Okay, so being that your season has finished, tell me how you guys did.
Nick Duarte: In terms of Port baseball, we’ve had a lot of success. We doubled the amount of league wins and established ourselves as an upcoming team in a community that really doesn’t have a large focus on baseball. And we did so with a pretty young team, only four returning seniors.
ZB: Yeah, we made the best of what we had, day in and day out.
MM: What was different between this year’s team, compared to prior ones?
ZB: I think it was mainly a difference in mentality, we went into each game thinking that we could win, and it paid off.
ND: We definitely had a greater desire to be better, and although it would’ve been great to make the playoffs, this year served more as a building year. We were a real competitor in league competition, which we felt was a great improvement from last year.
MM: As you said, baseball is a great team sport. How did you guys feel about your team’s unity?
ND: We’re all really close. Occasionally, we all hang out. After a certain amount of time being with the same kids, we form a bond, and at the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of friends playing together.
ZB: I think this year it was more about being close with each other than anything, as opposed to one player or a couple of players leading a team.
MM: What kind of role does the captain play on the team?
ND: Being the captain on the team is really huge. We’re responsible for the team, and we see more than the coach sees, being that everyone on the team is so close. However, I felt like everyone on this team has been a leader.
MM: How do you feel about next year’s team?
ND: I think that people are going to see a big change in Port Washington baseball. This year there are a lot of guys who work hard at a young age.
ZB: We’ve got five sophomores who played a great deal. Once they move up and have two years of varsity baseball under their belts as seniors, we’re going to have a really great team. Frankly, after playing with these guys it’ll be really great to see how they transform this team.