Deposit-Hancock baseball looks to defend state title in 2023

DEPOSIT, N.Y. (WBNG) - The Deposit-Hancock baseball teams is coming off one of their best seasons in program history. In 2022, the Eagles went 23-0 and won the Class D State Championship.

It was their program’s first state title since 2018 and since there were no state playoffs in 2020 and 2021, Deposit-Hancock won two of the past three available Class D Championships.

Now for the players still in the program, looking back at last year gives them valuable experience for this season.

“We had this saying, ‘We get to.’ So we got to show up to every single practice and try our best and be happy to be there no matter what the conditions were. Throughout the year we had leaders on the team that would help you stay positive no matter what. You could have a bad day and it wouldn’t matter because the team overall would have a good day. It was just a great experience to be a part of that team,” said junior shortstop Thomas Reis.

“It’s crazy to think about 23-0. We just had all these coaches and players surrounding us that were positive and passionate about the game. So we just did our best and got the job done,” added sophomore pitcher Blake Fortunato.

This year’s team will feature some new faces after a core of seniors graduated.

But there’s a strong group of sophomores and juniors who will step into starting positions and look to continue the rich tradition of playing baseball at Deposit-Hancock.

“It means a lot to play for D-H baseball. It’s just hustling on and off the field, trusting your teammates, competing against your teammates. Knowing that you do have a real goal in the future to want to be great and these kids can take on that challenge any given day,” said head coach Ryan Smith.

“We’ve had a lot of great athletes go through Deposit and we’ve had a lot of great teams. Just to be a part of that organization is just a great feeling. You get to go in the gym everyday and see that there’s banners lined up everywhere, state championships. But the most important thing is working towards the next season and that’s what we’re happy to be doing here,” added Reis.

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