April 26th, 2022
Under a new Head Coach for the 2022 season, the Newark Pilots will be looking to have a lot of success this summer.
This year’s Pilots team will be led by Brian Griesman, a first-year Head Coach in the PGCBL. He is familiar with the Upstate New York area, having played professional baseball in Plattsburgh.
“It’s awesome. I couldn’t be happier or more excited, more thrilled and blessed to be in this opportunity. This big-time league with big-time players, I’m very thankful for this job,” Griesman said.
The Pilots went right to work with getting players to come play for Newark this summer and have brought in talent from all over the country.
“They know this is a big-time league and this is a big-time opportunity for them, not just only to play and win ballgames, but also to get their name out there for people to see them. Most of those guys haven’t been to that part of the country. All they know is New York City and not the upstate part,” Griesman said.
Griesman said that having this mix of players from different parts of the country will result in them seeing different brands of baseball they may not have played before because of where they are from.
“When I’m recruiting them, I’m telling them that they’re going to see a different brand of baseball, a different brand of ballplayers and a different area of the country they’ve never seen before. I think they’re very excited about it,” Griesman said.
As is the goal with many teams across the PGCBL, they are looking come out of the gate strong and evolve as the season goes on. Newark would like to have early success while hoping to peak at the right time.
“From day one, I expect us, from our couple practices and meetings before our first game, I expect us to play as a team and work hard.” Griesman said. “I expect us to slowly climb the ladder and get better each day.”
On top of that, Griesman and the Newark program want the players to get better throughout the summer.
“Hopefully, in the summer, they get better, but I also want them to return as leaders, not just followers,” Griesman said. “Hopefully, this is a transcending summer.”