Summer Plays Key Role in Baseball Program Development

To play varsity baseball in today's game, you have to play as many games as possible, especially outside the high-school season.

Three Sleepy Hollow High School players who played varsity in the spring were members of this year's Sleepy Hollow Mustangs 16-and-under Westchester Putnam Baseball Association squad that made the finals of the playoff tournament this summer.

Those players were shortstop Ronnie Rodriguez, center fielder Armando Cabrera and second baseman Chris Lopez.

"Ronnie has got a lot of confidence in himself in playing shortstop," King said. "He has all the tools. With him playing so well this summer, it's just going to give him the confidence to continue on in the high-school season."

King feels that Lopez and Cabrera are two other players who have developed a healthy dose of confidence in their game through their years of playing baseball. During the high-school season, Cabrera was named all-league and batted close to .400.

"Chris played a very good second base and hit the ball well this year," King said. "It's going to help him also. Armando is also a very good ball player and the more he plays, the better off he'll be as well."

Outfielder Ronniel Munoz, who was called up at the end of the varsity season, also was a member of the Mustangs.

"Ronniel developed immensely," King said. "He's going to playing on the varsity this year."

Munoz is the perfect example of what can happen when a player puts in the time to improve themselves.

"Out of all kids, Ronniel has just progressed more than anyone else," King said. "Ronniel went from this shy kid who really gets upset when things went wrong to really becoming a starting outfielder. He took over that and became a real good hitter and became an excellent outfielder with an excellent arm. He's probably the kid that has the most progress the last couple of years."

King also feels that third baseman/pitcher Gio Nunez has a great chance to play varsity ball next spring as well.

"Gio has the talent to play varsity baseball," King said. "Hopefully, with playing summer ball he sees how important being at not just the games but the practices is."

King feels that playing in the summer is an invaluable experience for his players and that both the high school and off-season performances will play off of each other. 

"I think summer ball helps these kids immensely," King said. "We play fall too. Two years ago we played over 50 games between the summer and fall. Last year we played around 40 and this year between the playoffs and fall ball it will be between 40 and 50 extra games these kids will get to play outside the high-school season. The more you play, the better it's going to be for you."

King will coach this year's fall team, as he has done on and off the last eight years. Assisting King in the fall will be Steve Brabazon, who is also King's assistant during the summer.

"Most of the last eight years we've had a fall team though there was a year or two where we didn't do it because the kids were playing football," King said.