Greenport baseball got foul news in 2024.
The tiny district on the tip of Long Island’s North Fork, which has just 319 students from 7th to 12th grade, had to cancel its varsity season last year due to insufficient numbers joining the Porters squad.
“It taught me not to view certain things as a setback, but more of an opportunity to experiment,” senior Daniel Rivas told The Post of his glass-half-full perspective of playing JV as a junior last year.
Rivas, a baseball diehard whose father played in the Dominican Republic before moving to L.I., used the opportunity to broaden his skill set by learning to play all positions on the diamond — including catcher — should the varsity squad be resurrected for his senior year.
However, he, along with some teammates, knew it would fall on them to recruit enough players to have a proper last dance on the East End.
“We would go around classrooms asking people, ‘Hey, are you playing any sports? Oh, you’re not? Maybe you should check out some baseball,’ ” said Rivas, Greenport’s valedictorian and lead in their school play.
“It worked a little bit.”
The tenacious team managed to assemble a skeleton crew of 13 boys, which was enough to resurrect the varsity program for the 2025 season.
“To have it back and to see kids out playing ball just brings a smile to my face,” said longtime manager Chris Golden, who is retiring at the end of this season after 38 years.
Greenport’s new recruits, however, are a tad green to baseball.
“Most of the guys coming in are freshmen who have really never played the game before … not even Little League,” senior shortstop Cayden Wills said. “With that young team, though, we’re trying to build it strong for the future.”
Golden, who said he is thrilled to see assistant coach Chris Ryder take over next year, preaches the message of “getting better at getting better” and simply wants to see smiles on the field from those who will return.
It may be a culture shock to see a varsity practice focusing on extremely basic fundamentals — such as point, step and throw — but Ryder says it’s paving the way for the program’s future.
“They’re all like a ball of clay,” said Ryder, who uses his skills as a first-grade teacher to break down “baseball language” to the inexperienced teammates.
“It’s really special that we can put our imprint on the program now and what it should look like going forward. We have fun, we know having fun is important, and everybody is on board 100 percent.”
Still, there have been some teachable moments, like when a base runner tried tagging up from first when there were already two outs, five-tool senior Kal-El Marine said.
“They know all the rules, but they just need a reminder sometimes,” added Marine, who is named after Superman’s comic book Kryptonian identity.
The more seasoned players take the newcomers under their wings rather than ribbing them for their mistakes, Marine said. Long bus rides to schools off the North Fork provide plenty of opportunities to teach the newbies more about baseball — and they’re picking up quickly.
“I definitely noticed after just a couple weeks of practice, kids were starting to throw the ball across the entire field and batting better, too,” Wills said. “It’s nice to know that there is definitely potential in the future.”
The fun-first mentality has inspired ninth grader Markus Kruszeski, who had limited prior competitive experience playing, to return for his sophomore year in 2026.
“I’ve really improved, and that’s thanks to my coaches and teammates,” he said.
“It’s really fun. I’m happy they gave me a chance.”
The Porters have a 1-9 record with four games to go, but everyone agrees it has been an excellent year for the program — all things considered.
“Even if we’re losing, we’ll always get up, we’ll talk on the bench, we’ll support our team, and never really give up, no matter what the score,” Marine said.
Their sole victory came in a 5-4, neck-and-neck showdown with their neighboring rival, Southold, earlier this month.
“It meant a lot to us after everything,” said Marine, who is hoping to pull out another victory over either Amityville or Smithtown Christian.
“Two wins are better than one, and one is better than not having a varsity season. Hopefully, next year we can get three and just keep working our way up.”