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Jack Halloran, who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School just a year ago, is ready to put on a Westhampton Aviators jersey this summer. COURTESY EMORY ATHLETICS Jack Halloran
Jack Halloran, who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School just a year ago, is ready to put on a Westhampton Aviators jersey this summer. COURTESY EMORY ATHLETICS
Ryan Miller, a Westhampton Beach graduate, will be playing for the Aviators this summer. COURTESY NORWICH UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Ryan Miller, a Westhampton Beach graduate, will be playing for the Aviators this summer. COURTESY NORWICH UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
A new era starts this summer for the Westhampton Aviators, one of the most successful franchises of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.
Longtime General Manager Tom Pisaneschi stepped down in the offseason, as did manager Alex Brosnan, who had led the team from the dugout the past few summers. Replacing Pisaneschi is John Halloran, a Westhampton Beach resident, whose son, Jack Halloran, will be playing for the Aviators this season after a successful freshman season at Emory University.
Replacing Brosnan as manager is Jason Jacome, a former major league pitcher who spent five seasons in the big leagues, breaking in with the New York Mets in 1994. Jacome is now an assistant coach at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, with his brother Ken, the team’s head coach.
HCBL Commissioner Jim Pereira had the task of finding a new manager for Westhampton, so he did what he typically does and put an ad on the American Baseball Coaches Association website — and Jacome answered.
“Jason comes in with extensive major league experience, and for the kids coming in it’s going to be an eye-opening experience working with him,” Pereira said. “Not only does Jason have the major league experience but he also has the college background, both playing and coaching. A lot of pro guys come right out of high school, they’ll get some jobs in summer leagues never having coached a day in their lives. Just because you come out of pro ball and the major leagues doesn’t mean you can manage. They lack that experience.”
Pereira added that Jacome is a win-win for the league and the Aviators because of how well he can relate to the college players.
“For many of these players, this is the closest they’re ever going to get to pro ball, and with my experience being down at the Cape for five years, there is a huge, huge learning curve, even from being in college but not playing every day,” he explained. “Or, even if they are playing every day, they tend to think they can skip a few workouts and give up on their training — it’s called a ‘grind’ for a reason.
“I think Jason is going to really relate to those kids in Westhampton. I wish we could find a few more just like him, to be quite honest,” Pereira added.
Jacome wasn’t immediately available to review the incoming roster for the summer, but Halloran, along with his former Westhampton Beach teammate Ryan Miller, who played for Norwich University in Vermont this past spring, also will play on the team. Both Halloran and Miller will play against their former Hurricanes teammate Brandon Erbis, who is playing for the Southampton Breakers this summer.
Atley Jacome, the manager’s son, who also plays at Pima Community College, will play for Westhampton this summer. And Tommy Verga (Farleigh Dickinson), who helped Westhampton reach the semifinals of last year’s playoffs, is returning.
Opening Day for the HCBL is set for Friday, June 10, but the Aviators will start their season the following day, against the South Shore Clippers, at Bellport High School at 5 p.m.
For full rosters, game schedules, stats and more, go to hamptonsbaseball.org.
