LYNN– When the Lynn Tech baseball team takes the field Friday afternoon (4) at Hamilton-Wenham, the Tigers will end an 11-year state tournament drought. That’s because Tech hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2008- meaning this year’s team has already had a season worth remembering.
First-year Tigers coach Rich Germano came in with limited familiarity of his new team and the competition it would play throughout the season but that didn’t stop the Tigers. Tech improved its offense drastically from last season and along with a handful of freshman contributors, the Tigers built a winning team.
“I believe our hitting came a long way from last year to this year,” Germano said. “That’s been a big change. We developed a few younger players. We’ve had a few young kids pitch some really good games for us.
“We have three or four kids that are starting as freshmen,” Germano added. “They’re extremely talented. The future looks very good for us for the next couple of years.”
Tech, 9-9 during the regular season, earned the No. 14 seed in Division 4 North. Germano and the Tigers don’t know much about the Generals. Hamilton-Wenham, 14-5, is the No. 3 seed.
“I don’t know a lot about Hamilton-Wenham, other than their record,” Germano said. “They beat some good teams, like North Reading who just won the Clancy Tournament. We’ll have to play a good game. Mistake-free, that’s what we’ve been talking to the players about.”
The Tigers have had a bit of a lay-off from their final regular season game to the start of the state tournament. They’ve stayed fresh over the past few weeks by working on hitting and pitching. Germano believes mistake-free baseball is the key in the postseason.
“We’ve done a lot of hitting,” Germano said. “We’ve had some of our pitchers getting some work in. We have a few pitchers that are on the rise for us, that’s a pleasant surprise. We’ve been working a lot on those two areas. We’re just trying to focus on playing mistake-free baseball. All the teams in the tournament are good teams.
“We have to play mistake-free,” Germano added. “We have to hit and play mistake-free baseball. I believe we can play well with anyone if we do so.”
Germano and his players are looking forward to experiencing state tournament baseball.
“I think they players are very happy,” Germano said. “I’ve heard from a few of their teachers they are. That’s the most important thing. I’m happy especially for the seniors. They’ll get the chance to opportunity to experience the playoffs. They’re really looking forward to it.”
