After a 3-11 record in his first season as Pembroke manager, John Graziano isn’t anticipating a championship, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t expecting improvement.

And why not? The Spartans are already a third of the way to their 2007 win total, and they’ve played one game.

On Monday, April 14, Graziano’s squad traveled to Bedford and held off a late rally by the hosts to win, 8-5.

Aside from a couple base running gaffes, the manager was elated with the effort.

Not only did PA play solid defense all day, but the infield turned three double plays. “I don’t remember seeing that in a high school ballgame in a long time,” said Graziano, who added that starting pitcher Kyle Cooper, a junior, provided six innings of strong pitching. “He threw 92 pitches, which was probably 20 more than we were looking for from him, but he had a quick sixth inning,” Graziano continued. “He was just masterful out there.” Knuckleballer Nate Langone entered in the seventh and finished off Bedford.

“This is the first one … Now hopefully we can build on it,” said Graziano. “We still made some mistakes out there that hopefully we can change, but overall I’m excited about what I saw out there.”

Leading the Spartans this season are captain Ben Mitchell, a catcher who played designated hitter against Bedford because of an injury, and senior center fielder Drou Goff, who contributes both with his speedy defense and his bat.

Senior Jon Gattuso knows how to get on base, said Graziano, and Tom Steele provides stellar defense from first base. Sophomores Zach Cogswell, a third baseman, and Connor Maroney, a shortstop, are both expected to have fine seasons as they become more comfortable as high school players.

Rounding out the starting lineup are left fielder Doug Turnbull, right fielder Jake Demchak and catcher Mike Verville.

Others contributing at the varsity level in 2008 include Brandon Valley, Nate Derkacz, Geoff Soriano, Josh Hardy, Brian Pahigian and Mike Giovanditto.