The varsity boys baseball team has high expectations for the new head coach with hopes of going far in playoffs.

“The team has been preparing with captains’ practices. People have been going to the cages on their own and definitely taking it seriously because we have a lot of potential for this season,” senior captain Jack Henningson said.

The team has a new head coach this year, special education teacher Mike Mocerino, who has been an assistant coach for eight years.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect from coach Mocerino this year. He’s been an assistant coach for a while. He’s full of energy and demands the best from us all the time,” senior captain Malik Daley said.

As the new head coach, Mocerino is looking forward coaching such an experienced group with 12 returning seniors.

“I don’t plan on changing much. It’s a new year with a new coach and it’s up to us to find a new identity and be successful,” Mocerino said.

After last year’s 12-10 season, the four captains have high hopes for the team this year as they expect to make it far in the playoffs.

“Our ultimate achievement would be to win the state championship. We gotta set the bar high,” senior captain Mike Baker said.

“We have a good enough team to do really well this year, but we have to make sure everyone is on the same page,” junior Ryan Solomon said.

Solomon is one of two returning juniors this year and has already committed to play baseball at Northeastern University.

“Committing to Northeastern definitely took a huge amount of pressure off of me. The decision was very difficult because there were a handful of other schools that wanted me in their programs, but Northeastern was where I felt most at home,” Solomon said.

The captains hope to build off of the winning streak they had towards the end of last season and start this season off strong.

“I thought last year’s season went pretty well. We started to go on a run but came up short against a tough Nashoba team. That season is in the past and we are just looking forward to build off of last season and continue our winning ways,” Daley said.