MORRISONVILLE _ Clinton County Mariners head coach Gary Duquette heads into the 2023 season with some key returners and a bunch of newcomers as the program chases the New York State American Legion title which has played keepaway from Clinton County since 1969.

The Mariners begin the season this with the Malone Border Hounds (formerly North Country Nationals), Adirondack Lightning, Montreal Titans and Montreal Baseball Academy taking part in the Alex Turner Memorial Tournament sponsored by Casella which starts Friday night at Veterans Park at Post 1619.

“I am very excited about the group of players we have to represent Clinton County this season,” Mariners head coach Gary Duquette said. “The roster is a good mixture of new players and returning players, as well as a number of players with college experience.

The Mariners finished 25-8 last season, captured tournament titles at Oneonta, Binghamton and Alex Turner tournament titles last summer, before claiming the District IV title and advancing to the New York State Championship.

The Mariners will be keyed by program veterans Brady Doorey, Bostyn Duquette, Zach O’Connell and Brayden Trombley.  Doorey, who just completed his freshman season at Florida Southern College, batted .319 with 31 runs scored and 11 stolen bases last season.  Duquette, who plans to play at Plattsburgh State this upcoming year, pitched to a 3-1 record with a 3.69 earned run average and had 34 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings pitched.  Duquette also batted .286 with 14 runs batted in last season.  O’Connell, who plans to play at Brockport State next fall, batted .242 with 20 runs scored and 13 RBI, and had a 1-0 record with one save.  Trombley, who competed at Plattsburgh State this spring, hit .319 with a pair of homers and 18 RBI last summer.

“We are really going to lean on Brady, Bostyn, Zach and Brayden to keep our offense moving this summer,” Duquette said.  “The four of them have played a lot of games in Mariners jerseys and I expect them to be the leaders of the team, on and off the field.”

The only other returning players with Senior Mariners experience are Andrew Van Natten, Chase Clukey and Parker Broughton.  Van Natten, who batted .224 last season, is the lone regular returning in the outfield.  Broughton played two games with the Senior Mariners last season and batted .429 with 22 stolen bases for the Junior Mariners.  The Mariners will rely on Clukey to pitch similar to last season when he went 3-1 with a 3.82 earned run average.

Newcomers to the Mariners this season include pitchers Korbin Cranford and Brady Roberts (who will attend Wells College in the fall), as well as a pair of hurlers that recently finished the first season of college play in Evan Mobley from Florida Southern College and Will Baumann from Plattsburgh State.

“Chase and Bostyn pitched very well for us last season, but we lost a lot of quality innings off of the pitching staff,” Duquette said.  “Mobley and Baumann will be counted on to compete on a high level once we get into the tournament heavy portion of the schedule, while Brady and Korbin both had good high school seasons this year.”

Donnie Mitchell, Austin Lambert and Andruw Curry round out the Mariners roster.  Mitchell had a very successful season at Peru this spring, while Lambert batted .305 with 14 RBI and pitched 40 innings last season for the Junior Mariners.  Curry batted .327 last year for the Juniors.

“For us to have a successful season we need Donnie, Austin and Andruw to play well when they are asked,” Duquette said.  “Donnie has the ability to be a key performer, while Austin and Andruw were two of our top players on last years Juniors that reached the New York State tournament.”

Duquette will be assisted by Billy Hunt, Pete Williams, Stephen Peryea Jr. and Hector Duquette.

2023 Clinton County Mariners - 19u Roster

(as of June 1, 2023)

Head Coach: Gary Duquette, 8th season

Associate Head Coach: Billy Hunt

Assistant Coaches: Stephen Peryea Jr., Peter Williams, Hector Duquette

2023 Clinton County Mariners - 19u Schedule

(as of June 1, 2023)