Teamwork makes the dream work, if you ask first-year Lynn Classical baseball coach Leon Elwell, who’s just days from coaching his first game of the spring this Thursday.
“It’s going to be a collaborative effort and a team effort,” said Elwell, who has coached Greater Lynn Babe Ruth throughout the years. “We’re trying to put in some new things and get them used to the new coaching staff.”
Yes, with coach Mike Zukowski hanging up the hat last June after 15 seasons, now’s the time for Elwell and his players to become one cohesive unit.
“We’ve been seeing each other every day for two, two-and-a-half hours in the gym, just in a closed environment,” Elwell said. “We’re getting to know each other as we go along.”
Admitting that practice time has been affected by being a gymnasium, Elwell said there has been one key attribute he’s excited about.
“The only thing we’ve been able to see so far is a strong work ethic,” he said. “They’re showing up every day and making an effort – you can’t ask for much more than that right now.”
The Rams come with three returning players in junior captain Christian Figueroa, senior captain Almani Gerardo, and senior captain Yoniel Cabral.
“Those are the guys we’ll be looking to for leadership, and the young freshmen are those looking to make a positive impact right out of the gate,” Elwell said.
Speaking of freshmen, 15 attended tryouts.
“Which is really good. We’ve got five of them on the bus and three more who will be working out on varsity and JV – we’re excited about that,” Elwell said. “Marky Walsh. He’s a freshman and we’re going to be counting on him a lot. He’s going to be bouncing around the infield and doing some pitching. Brayden Curley is another freshman, and Braeden Ohannesian, among others.”
But for Classical, which went 17-4 last spring before falling to Durfee in the first round of the Division 1 state tournament, Elwell is “looking for anyone to step up.”
“We have eight seniors, and I think only two of them have varsity experience,” said Elwell, whose dugout will be without Brady Warren’s .436 average. “It’s a new challenge.”
“Every game is important for us,” according to Elwell, but he did mention a few opponents on his radar.
“We scheduled some tough non-league games and we’ve got some Northeast Conference teams in there. We’ve got Saugus and Danvers, who I’m really excited to play… We have Reading and Lynnfield, who we kept on the schedule from the previous staff.”
When asked about goals across the next few months, look no further than Classical returning to the state tournament.
“Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll get to the 10 wins and be a tournament team,” Elwell said. “I don’t think we’re expecting anything less than to be a tournament team, which is the goal, but right now… be better today than we were yesterday.”
Well, step one is Thursday against Medford with first pitch set for 7 p.m. at Fraser Field.
“Win the first game. That’s our ultimate goal right there, right now,” Elwell said. “It’s a cliche, I know, but for us, it’s going to be one game at a time. I have things that I need to learn. Kids have things they need to learn. We’ll do it together.”
