North Fork Ospreys ready for the season

A year older and wiser, Vinnie Morelli will get another opportunity at the helm of the North Fork Ospreys as they begin their Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League season on Friday night.

The Ospreys will host the Shelter Island Bucks at Cochran Park in Peconic at 7 p.m.

Morelli, who turns 26 on Friday, enjoyed his time on the North Fork, crediting Ospreys general manager Todd Newman as a big reason for his return.

“The community around the league was awesome,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. I’m really close with our GM, Todd Newman. We just really connected last year. He’s a baseball guy. We share a love for the game. I’m just so appreciative of him and the league for bringing me out to such a beautiful place.”

Last season, Morelli directed a team for the first time. The Susquehanna University assistant coach guided the second-place Ospreys (20-15-1) to the playoffs.

“It’s obviously just good baseball,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity again to gain some more head coaching experience. My ultimate goal is to be a head coach.”

Morelli isn’t the only one returning. Six players will wear the Ospreys colors again.

They included catchers Nick Pratt (Maryland-Baltimore), the league’s all-star game MVP, and Steven Kienzele (Southern New Hampshire), pitchers Brian Espinal (Pace) and Matt Guido (Lycoming) and infielders Rocco Cimino (Pace) and Anthony Equale (Washington).

They are familiar with the community and Morelli’s team culture.

“That’s a big thing,” he said. “I don’t plan on changing much from on how I ran things last year. Trying to tweak some things. Those guys will have a feel, be able to help other guys out. They understand how I write lineups and why I write them. Guys knowing each other, it makes it more enjoyable. Everybody in the league has good players. It’s really just about who wants to hang out the longest. You have the guys that enjoyed being around each other and want to do it again this year. It’s going to play a big role.”

Former Southold High standout and outfielder-infielder Brendan Duffy (SUNY-Oneonta), a former All-Suffolk County selection, also is on the team.

Morelli would love to win the HCBL championship, but he has other goals.

“We want to develop the guys,” he said. “If we win great, we win a championship, even better. If I get to look back next spring and see guys starting half the games or more, throwing 20-plus innings on the mound, guys getting a bigger role than what they had the year before, they took the preparation time seriously. It worked out for them.”