By Lauren Rose
To instill stability in Derry Legion baseball, Dylan Mullin and his dad, Don, decided to become the coaches for a team that has had numerous coaches throughout the past seasons.
"We wanted to be long-term coaches, unlike in the past," said Dylan, who graduated from Plymouth University and also played for the Londonderry Legion team.
Now, on his fourth year as coach, Mullin has been leading the way for the 16- to 19-year-olds in the Derry area. Helping out with the coaching have been two of Mullin's friends from college, along with Don.
More and more players have gotten used to the summer-ball feeling that follows the high school season.
"Legion is more competitive and the level of play is much better," said Tyler Pacheco, going into his senior year at Pinkerton.
"It's fun because we get to play baseball and not have to to go school. You're able to focus and mentally prepare, not having to worry about doing school work."
With several district games already played, the team has gotten off to a rough start (2-3). But don't count them out too early. With about 20 games in a season, both district and non-district, the team looks to bounce back. The schedule is demanding with almost four games a week, practicing every day once the high school season ends, up until the Legion season starts.
"It's not too bad on position players, as long as we can stay healthy," said TJ Souhlaris, who will start at UConn in the fall. "It can get difficult on our pitching staff, especially because Bryce (Calvetti) is on the mend. Once he gets back we're going to have three very effective pitchers in Bryce, PJ Singster and Brandon Bell."
The players, from Pinkerton, Raymond, Timberlane and Pelham, have bonded for a special relationship.
"I think we have really good chemistry," said Souhlaris. "All of us have been playing with each other all through high school and over the past couple summers. We all get along very well with the coaching staff."
This is a league where college students are able to come back home for the summer and play the sport they love. It's a chance to see players grow into adults when they return from college, and it's even rewarding to the coaches.
"It's great to see the ones that go on to play at the next level," said Mullin.
