Four out of the five of the Pascack Valley’s baseball team pitchers from last season have departed due to graduation. Hopefully, the only remaining arm can keep PV’s pitching intact.

Junior left-handed pitcher Nick Verost was the only underclassman of the rotation in last year’s lineup, but this year he is the oldest of the staff and has helped lead the team. When he pitches, he’s effective. Verost has been plagued with injury issues and some pitches may be more developed than others, but he still goes out there and works for the win.

“He’s a workhorse, he’s our workhorse,” states Head Coach Will Lynch. “He’s got a great fastball, a great curve, still working on his change-up.” Nick’s fastball reaches the mid-eighties and his curve is in the low seventies.

As for what Coach Lynch expects from his junior, it’s pretty clear cut: “I expect him to go out there every day and just compete. That’s all I want him to do. If he can go out there every day and compete, he’ll be just fine and we’ll be fine as a team.”

Last year as a sophomore, he pitched 18 innings, had a 1-2 record, 22 strikeouts, two saves, and a recorded a 2.89 ERA. Being one out of five other pitchers who were all seniors, Verost got minimal time on the hill. This year, it’s his year to throw his resumé of pitches.

For the team as a whole to thrive though, Verost cannot be the only hurler who can knock out batters. Perhaps this is a sign to the current underclassmen who need to model Verost’s command on the mound.

“Everyone definitely needs to step up. We need Jordan [Issackedes], [Jake] Klag, [Ryan Dimeglio],  [Christian Estupinan], and everyone else to step up. I think the younger guys have been pitching well.”

Verost also expressed his responsibilities to help out his team. “I feel like it’s my job to mentor the younger guys a little bit since I’m older. Like I said, everyone on the team needs to step up.”

According to Verost, he likes what he has seen from the team thus far. Through sixteen games, PV is 8-8, ” I like where we’re headed. We should do well this year.”