By Dan Whooley

In the world of sports, the underdog is synonymous with a young team, the assumption being that a young team will have to wait on experience before achieving success. On April 1st, the Woodbridge Barrons’ baseball team began fighting that assumption when they opened their 2015 season against South Amboy.

This year, the team will not have a returning senior in the lineup, but they don’t expect that to be a bad thing. At the helm of this undertaking is head coach Mr. Urbano, who isn’t sweating the prospect of fielding a young team. “We’re excited about our young players[…] What good varsity guys we have now will return for next year. So, I see it more as a two year process than a one.”

Coach Urbano expects his players to play “good, hard-nosed baseball,” with an emphasis on proper mechanics and fundamentals of the sport. He also expects passion. “Every time they [Woodbridge players] step out on the field, they should play as hard as they can.”

That work ethic will stem from the team’s captains, who, as Urbano explained it, are voted on by the players, and should show a higher resolve than their brethren. “A captain has to be a good person on and off the field,” he said. “It takes a lot to be a captain, and we take it very seriously.” Leading the Barrons by example this season will be players like one of last year’s captains, junior Nick Bradshaw.

Bradshaw began playing for the Woodbridge summer team in 7th grade, and has been a varsity pitcher since his freshman year. Over his first two seasons as a Barron, he has amassed ten wins including a no hitter, two years as varsity captain, and was named to the GMC Underclass All-Star team his sophomore year.

When going into a season, there’s always talk about what teams will be serious competition. Bradshaw actually doesn’t acknowledge what schools will be tough this year. “We just want to compete with whatever team we’re playing,” he said.

And compete they shall. First on Coach Urbano’s radar are cross-town rivals JFK and Colonia. “We always start with JFK and Colonia, and since I’ve been here, we’re 11-3 against Colonia and 10-5 against JFK, so we always look at those two as rivalry games.”

With that in mind, both Urbano and Bradshaw are looking forward to the season ahead. Yes, experience can only be gained in time, but that won’t prevent any effort from the Barrons. As Bradshaw said, “We just go out and play hard. Results should follow.”