Tough Season but Blue Devils Notch Highlights

It wasn’t a championship year, but the Huntington High School baseball team played hard during a tough season that saw the Blue Devils finish with an overall mark of 5-15 under head coach Keith Barrett.

The Huntington baseball program hasn’t won a league crown since 1965, but it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. It was tough to lose three games for every one contest the team won this spring, but the Blue Devils never despaired. “They could have put their heads down and quit, but they did not do that,” said Barrett, who was assisted by Keith Flynn. “They all showed up to practice every day.”

Huntington won three of its finals five games, completing the year on a relatively positive note. The 16-player strong Blue Devil squad went 5-13 in league play.

Seniors Rob Fiato and Jake Freitag captained the team and each earned All-League honors for their sharp play. “Rob is a very good catcher,” Barrett said. The teenager has signed an NCAA Division I letter of intent to play at New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury next year. He plans to study physical therapy.

Freitag was the Blue Devils’ shortstop and also a pitcher for the team. “Jake batted third for us,” Barrett said. “He led the team in on-base percentage and was also our best pitcher, finishing the year with a 10 strikeout game against Comsewogue.” The teenager compiled a fine 3.89 earned run average. He will attend SUNY College at Cortland in the fall.

Centerfielder Joe Cacciato, a junior, was another standout player for Huntington. “Joe hit the ball well all year,” Barrett said. “I think he will have a very good senior season.”

Fiato led the Blue Devils with eight extra base hits, including six doubles, a triple and a homerun and he drove in 19 runs. Cacciato’s .338 batting average was tops among all hitters. Freitag whiffed a team-high 39 batters.

Junior Kevin Montefusco’s three victories led the pitching staff. The junior hurled 35.1 innings, fanning 27 batters along the way. Sophomore Alex Borman, junior Lee Reiver and senior James Byrnes also played key roles for the Blue Devils.

Despite the losing record, there were some season highlights. Huntington took two of three games against both West Babylon and Comsewogue and also topped second place Kings Park. “This was a great group of kids to coach,” Barrett said. “The record was not great, but they were into every game.”

Senior Justin Fleiss, who will begin studying criminal justice at Towson University in the fall, was named to the Academic All-League team. He had six hits, including a double, scored two runs and drove in another, walked twice and stole a base over the course of the season.

Looking ahead to next spring, Huntington varsity program has plenty of work to do in order to be competitive. Coupled with the Blue Devils losing many key players to graduation the junior varsity team is coming off a 0-19 season.

Blue Devil Notes: Cacciato banged out a team-high 23 hits, including six doubles and scored 11 runs . . . Reiver collected 18 hits, swiped four bases and crossed the plate 12 times . . . Freitag had 10 hits, a team leading 13 walks and nine runs scored . . . Byrnes punched out 13 hits and drove in six runs . . . Borman had 15 hits, eight runs scored and 11 RBIs.