The Alvirne High School baseball team got a taste of glory a season ago.
Alvirne's Travis Terrill delivers a pitch during a scrimmage against Lebanon.
This year, the Broncos want more.
Alvirne made it to the Class L championship game last year, the Broncos’ first trip to the finals since 2001 and just the third title game appearance in school history. They came up short in 2009, losing to Keene, 9-4, to finish the season with a 17-6 overall record.
Gone are 10 seniors who were key to Alvirne’s success. Just three starters return to a team that is loaded with juniors, but short on experienced varsity players.
Despite that, the Broncos are still thinking big.
“We got a taste of what it feels like last year,” Mitch Brun said. “This year, we’re going for it. It’s made me work a lot harder this winter. Everyone else is, too. It definitely was special. It was an experience that most kids never get to have, and once you have it, you want more of it.”
Brun, a senior outfielder, is one of those three returning starters, along with senior pitcher Travis Terrill and junior outfielder Bryan Lessard.
After going 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA a year ago, Terrill is expected to be Alvirne’s top pitcher this season, according to coach Mike Lee.
“We have a solid No. 1 pitcher, who pitched against many of the better teams a year ago, in Travis Terrill,” Lee said. “He beat Keene during the regular season, and lost to them in the title game. We expect him to give us a chance to win every time he takes the mound.”
Terrill knows it will be a different season for him, being one of the few returning players.
“My first three years, two on the varsity, I was the guy looking up,” he said. “Now it’s them looking up to me. It was kind of overwhelming, but I’m used to it now.
“We’re getting there, we just need to work it out. You have to tell (the younger players) where to go and what to do. They just have to get used to it. We just need games to play.”
Lee expects there to be some early-season growing pains as the team gains experience.
“We should be solid defensively and a pesky hitting team,” he said. “Pitching coach Adam Perkins did a heck of a job with last year’s staff. The key to our season is how well this pitching staff develops.”
No matter who is playing where, or how much experience anyone has, it all comes down to executing.
“You still have to hit the ball no matter how old you are,” Brun said. “We have a lot of younger kids, but I think everyone worked enough in the offseason for us to be right there.”
Alvirne will start the season on April 14 when it hosts Exeter.