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08/25/2016 12:00 AMThe middle infield has been Nick Perrillie’s home from the moment he first stepped onto a baseball field. Nick grew up mostly playing shortstop, then switched to second base with the North Haven Junior Legion baseball team this summer, and wound up having a great year that culminated with him winning the club’s Most Valuable Player Award.
“My primary position has always been in the middle infield. It’s usually shortstop, but for Legion, I played second base and it helped me because I started to hit better when I played second base this summer,” says Nick. “I don’t know exactly what it was. Obviously, it wasn’t just that I was playing second base. I changed my swing from what it used to be and tried it out this summer to see if it would work. It did for me, so I stuck with it.”
The change in Nick’s swing wasn’t that substantial. All he did was alter the way he shifted his weight throughout the swing to remain balanced and drive the ball. Still, the small change yielded big results for Nick, who also enjoyed using a wood bat at the Legion level this season.
“It wasn’t really a big change. It was a little tweak in my stance to have better balance through the finish of my swing to help me put the ball in play better,” says Nick. “I really like hitting with the metal bat, but prefer the wood bat. I personally like the way it sounds and I like the feel of it.”
Post 76 co-Head Coach Pete Civitello liked what he saw from Nick as the recent campaign progressed. In addition to being named MVP, Nick also won the Batting Award for having the highest average on North Haven, which finished the year with 18 victories and won two games in the State Tournament.
“Early in the year when Nick started, he was uncomfortable at the plate, putting pressure on himself. The only advice I gave him was to have an easier swing, not look to do too much, and get confident and comfortable. At the end of the year, he became our best hitter,” Civitello says. “He got a lot more comfortable in himself and playing with us; his confidence, whether in the middle infield, pitching, or hitting, grew; and he became more comfortable and had more fun with the game as the season went on.”
When all was said and done for the Legion season, Nick felt that he improved greatly from the way he played for the high school program in the spring.
“During the JV season, I wasn’t playing my best baseball. I wasn’t hitting too well and that’s where the tweak in my stance came in. I realized I needed to make a change because I was struggling to hit,” says Nick, who will be a junior at North Haven this year. “I think when I started hitting the ball, it got me really excited to play. I was always excited to go out and play, but I went out there and had more fun, because I went up knowing I’d hit the ball because I was on a hot streak.”
Nick views himself as a leader and that’s one of the reasons why shortstop has always been a nice fit for him on the field. With Nick likely switching to second base moving forward, he says that he’ll miss playing shortstop, but feels that the new spot will suit him just fine.
“I really liked it because I liked being the leader of the infield. I would like to play shortstop, but I have a feeling I’m going to switch to second base, which will fit me very well. For me, they are both middle infield, so they’re very similar positions,” Nick says. “Shortstop has a lot more weight on its shoulders than second base does because second base doesn’t have that leadership quality everyone thinks that shortstop should have.”
No matter what spot he plays on the middle infield, Nick feels confident that he can become a mainstay in the Indians’ lineup if he continues to swing a red hot bat like he did for the Legion team this summer.
“It made me feel like I was improving this whole season and getting better at what I do. It boosted my confidence a lot because it gives me that confidence boost to have a very good season,” says Nick. “It gives me that extra confidence to go out there, make, and start for that team because I was hitting the ball well. It makes me know I can make it.”