The faces may be changing in Harrison, but the mission is not.
On Monday afternoon, the Huskies got their first taste of Northeast spring baseball, hosting Nyack in their home-opener, and it would appear the team’s time in Florida has paid off, as Harrison dominated the Red Hawks, picking up a 5-0 win at Silver Lake Park.
Offensively, the Huskies were led by a two-run double from Jackson Schiro and RBIs from Nick Gabie and Evan Schwartz, as they leapt ahead early on and never relinquished control.
A big reason for that was a dominant mound performance from senior right-hander Marco Citro, who tossed five innings of one-hit baseball, fanning 11 batters on the day to pick up the win. Keni Franck came on in relief to throw the final two innings, preserving the Huskies shutout.
According to head coach Marco DiRuocco, the Huskies’ longtime blueprint to success—one built on winning low-scoring games—was on full display on Monday afternoon.
“Our philosophy here is always defense and pitching, and we got that today,” said Harrison coach Marco DiRuocco. “As long as a play within ourselves, get some timely hitting, we will start to find our identity.”
With so many newcomer on the varsity level this year, DiRuocco said its going to be incumbent upon the team’s underclassmen to adjust to their roles and learn how to play “Harrison Baseball.”
“We talked about it down in Florida, we’re a young team and we have a lot of athleticism and talent, but it’s about playing within yourself,” said DiRuocco. “We’re definitely coming along, but being so young, there are definitely things we can improve on moving forward.”
Harrison will have a full schedule over the next two weeks, with four straight road games against Tappan Zee, Pelham, John Jay Cross River and Fox Lane all scheduled before the team heads back home on April 10 to take on Clarkstown South.
One game of particular note will take place on on May 4, as the Huskies welcome Rye for the annual playing of the Andrew Gurgitano Memorial Game. The game is currently scheduled to be played at 4 p.m. at Silver Lake Park.
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