Head Coach Helms Bohringer had much to consider as he prepared for the 2008 Mustang baseball season. Pondering the effects of ability-based scheduling that has been phased into all interscholastic sports, Bohringer looked out on his newly refurbished facilities and wondered who would lead this year's charge after sending last year's exceptional senior Mick Oswald off to Sacred Heart University. For a team that was able to win its first playoff game in five years despite many uncertainties, 2008 presents a season of firsts in Bohringer's 13 seasons as the skipper of the Mustangs.

The biggest, and most pleasant, remodeling comes courtesy of captain Anthony Raguseo's Senior community project (as mentioned in a previous issue of the Mineola American). Raguseo undertook a significant fundraising effort to construct two new fully covered dugouts for the Mustangs home field, complimenting the new scoreboard in leftfield and "Mustangs" banner (donated by the Mineola Athletic Booster Club) along the centerfield fence. With a fresh coat of Mineola scarlet minting the dugouts, the catcher joins fellow seniors John Aven, TJ Gessner, Walter Sherman and Terry Mooney as the leaders of the squad. The mound skills of Mooney and Aven will be critical to the team's success as well as the offensive prowess of outfielders Gessner and Sherman.

Bohringer and his assistants, Barry Silverstein and junior varsity coach Andrew Visconti, will carry the largest roster of their tenure. This includes Jimmy Bulva, Helms' first freshman, competing in his second consecutive varsity assignment after a tremendous hoop season. Stepping up from the junior varsity diamond will be junior hurlers John Carlo Clancy and Robert Sallie, longtime stalwarts of the MAA. Fellow juniors Matt Manteria and Jon Dias keep the Mustangs strong up the middle as the team's catcher and shortstop, respectively.

The Mustangs face a variety of new opponents in Conference ABC III including Oyster Bay, Cold Spring Harbor, Malverne and South Side. While the schedule is competitive, the inclusion of a few non-Class A schools provides greater probability for a playoff appearance. Mineola has the advantage of playing the majority of their conference series on the comfort and ambience of their new home field. In many ways, the biggest game of the year took place at Keyspan Park, home of the New York Mets minor league affiliate Brooklyn Cyclones, versus Roslyn. The relief corps consisting of Paul Freitas, Pete Aiello and Nick Conte combined to shut down 16 consecutive Bulldogs over the final six innings for a 6-1 win.

With a large roster this season, finding playing time for this talented group may be the biggest challenge. With a 75 percent success rate of making the playoffs and a career record 16 games above .500, ex-Adelphi Panther and Los Angeles Dodger farmhand Bohringer will be well pointed in attempting to duplicate last year's performance in reaching the quarterfinals.