April 28th, 2022
It’s been a long time coming for the Adirondack Trail Blazers program.
The Trail Blazers have not played a season since 2019 due the cancelation of the season in 2020 and having to back out of the season just days before the 2021 campaign due to COVID issues within the program.
Now, the organization is back and ready to go.
This year’s squad will be led by Head Coach Mike Pepperine, who is ready to bring baseball back to Boonville.
“It’s been a long process getting back into this league after a two-year hiatus. We’re really happy to be back where we are. Night and day from one year ago, amazing turnaround, so we’re really pleased with things up in Boonville right now,” Pepperine said.
The Trail Blazers have some exciting players coming to play for them this summer. They are particularly excited about shortstop DJ Prampin (Dayton), who Pepperine thinks will have a major role on the team. They will be bringing in a pair of players from Mount St. Mary’s in outfielder Giovanni Calamia and catcher Efrain Correa. They also bring in local product pitcher Marcus Liss (Mohawk Valley CC).
As a first year Head Coach in the league, Pepperine has worked hard filling his roster with talented players from both near and far.
“It’s a constant process,” Pepperine said. “It’s seeing what you need every day, trying your best to fill it… for me, it’s been a learning experience.”
With a group of players that are being gelled together, they are hoping to have a style of play that excites the fans and gets them back to the ballpark.
“In the end, we’re going to try to be exciting. We’re going to see what we bring in athletically and go from there,” Pepperine said. “Try to run with a little speed, try to excite the crowd, play small ball, try to go station to station, do what we can do to score runs, play good defense.”
In addition, he wants his players to be good people off the field.
“They’re all young, they’re all coming ready to compete; they can’t wait to get at it and play every day,” Pepperine said. “We’ll run a competitive and respectable program. We want all of our players to leave as better young men both on and off the field.”