A lot has changed since the last time the PV baseball team took the field in 2019. Suffering from the cancellation of a promising 2020 season in which the team was set to feature double-digit numbers in seniors, Valley looks to its remaining upperclassmen to lead the team.

“Basically last year we lost just about everybody from graduation because last year we would’ve been a very senior [dominated] team,” coach Will Lynch said.

PV has defeated Old Tappan on back-to-back nights in Valley’s first two games this season, first on Monday by a score of 9-5, then again on Tuesday by a score of 12-9.

Pascack Valley returns just four players from 2019 in junior center fielder Charlie Saul, as well as senior pitchers Aiden Martin, Cole Porter, and Jared Shiffman.

“I think [the returning players] should be leaders because they understand how we like to do things and have gone through a whole season with us,” Lynch said.

With almost an entirely new team this year, it is essential that everyone is able to be versatile on the field.

“Diversitility in players is going to become very, very important for us,” Lynch said.

Lynch has been coaching baseball for around a quarter-century, yet he’s never experienced a season quite like this one.

“It’s sometimes tough because sometimes [the players] wear masks in the dugout and sometimes they don’t,” Lynch said. “If they are on the field then they are not wearing it because we are spread out quite a bit anyways.”

Having to deal with COVID-19 during the season will be a challenge for the team, however it pales in comparison to the complete loss of the 2020 season.