ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the Sherrill Silversmiths it’s back to the future. Marty McFly and Doc Brown won’t be on hand for one of the upcoming seasonal promotions, but the leadership group which will take the Silversmiths into the future will consist of a pair of former players.
When the Silversmiths open the 2016 New York Collegiate Baseball League season, Dennis Duffy and Mike Sherlock will be calling the shots for the men in green. The pair, who met as players and later cut their teeth in the coaching ranks, took ownership of the franchise since the end of the 2015 season.
“This opportunity is a dream come true,” Duffy said. “The Silversmiths are near and dear to my heart.”
Duffy and Sherlock played three years with the Smitties including the organization’s inaugural campaign in the NYCBL during the 2011 season. When their playing days ended, the duo embraced the opportunity to coach. Both served as assistants in 2012 with Duffy taking the skipper’s role in 2013. Moving into an ownership role seemed like the natural next step for Sherlock.
“I feel as if my baseball career has come full circle,” Sherlock commented. “To get to the point in your life where they take the jersey off your back and tell you that you can’t play anymore, so you move on to coaching. I thought I’d never get this opportunity.”
Being a part of the Sherrill community was important to both.
“We’ve been there from the very beginning,” Sherlock noted. “We know the type of community Sherrill is, and we fell in love with Noyes Park that first summer we played there. The community has so much to offer. There are valuable resources – businesses, people. It’s smack in the middle of a neighborhood. You can’t get much closer to playing true summer baseball than playing in a place like Noyes Park.”
“We just made a lot of memories in Sherrill and we feel as if we’ve been blessed to have an opportunity to take part in summer baseball in a respected league like the NYCBL,” Duffy stated. “We feel like it’s a great opportunity, and the organization is important to us. We get to give other people the opportunity to develop those memories the same way we did.”
Duffy and Sherlock named Jim Hegmann their manager. Hegmann played at SUNY Oneonta where Duffy and Sherlock have coached.
“We felt one of the most important things was an effective line of communication with our head coach,” Duffy said while discussing the decision to hire a former player in Hegmann. “We feel like we have the best communication and comfort with Jim.”
Sherlock is a second generation NYCBL performer. His dad, Mark, played with the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs during the league’s first season in 1978 when the NYCBL was known as the Northeast Collegiate Baseball League.
“Central New York baseball has always been near and dear to my heart,” Sherlock said. “That’s how I was raised. I was raised in it. I was raised around it. I have seen all sides of it. Becoming a member of the ownership has brought baseball full circle for me.”
“We are very happy to welcome Dennis and Mike to the NYCBL family,” league president Steve Pindar said. “They bring great enthusiasm and energy to the league.”
The 2016 season schedule will be announced in the coming months.
More than seventy former NYCBL players earned spots on the rosters of major and minor baseball teams this past season. Hunter Pence (Schenectady ’02) recently completed his ninth major league season. Pence played right field for the San Francisco Giants when they won the World Series in 2012 and 2014. J.D. Martinez (Saratoga ’08) was named American League Player of the Week in late June while Tom Murphy (Oneonta ’10) represented Team USA in the Pan American Games. The Central Square, New York native saw his first major league action when he was called up to the Colorado Rockies in September.
The NYCBL is part of the 11-league National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB). The alliance partners with Major League Baseball to provide a platform for amateurs to compete.
Eight other organizations along with Sherrill currently comprise the NYCBL: the Cortland Crush, Genesee Rapids, Hornell Dodgers, Olean Oilers, Rochester Ridgemen, Syracuse Jr. Chiefs, Syracuse Salt Cats and Wellsville Nitros.
Best of luck to the Silversmiths…but don’t beat Hornell!!!!