The Delbarton Green Wave baseball team is gearing up for its 2025 season. Last year, the Green Wave posted an impressive 30-3 record, highlighted by an 18-game winning streak. After defeating Bergen County powerhouses Bergen Catholic and Don Bosco, Delbarton fell short against St. Augustine in the State Championship. Despite the loss, Delbarton baseball has cemented itself as a perennial powerhouse over the last three seasons, boasting a combined record of 74-15 (an 83% winning percentage).
This year’s roster is loaded with talent, led by Captain Ryan Holman, a four-year varsity player and Lehigh College commit. Strengthening the rotation behind him are Duke University commit AJ Saccento, senior Miles Handy, nationally touted sophomore Finnian O’Laughlin, and strong talent competing to bolster the staff.
Offensively, Delbarton’s lineup features Duke University commit Sal Garcia, the ever-athletic Matthew Tafuri, and Lafayette College commit MJ Wright, along with several two-way players who add depth to the lineup.
I caught up with Captain Ryan Holman, a middle-infielder and pitcher, as he prepares for his senior season. I asked him what his personal goals for the team are and what he is looking forward to most. Holman replied, “I’m looking forward to having a dynamic and diversified team of upperclassmen and underclassmen all aiming to become the most dominant baseball team in the region.” His goals for the team are to win a state championship along with “making sure that all things that come before the state championship, winning the conference, and winning counties, remain of utmost importance.”
I then inquired about the team’s camaraderie and brotherhood, asking what it has meant to the team’s success in the past and how Holman would use his leadership platform to try and continue that this season. Holman highlighted the team’s brotherhood, sharing that “the team brotherhood and quality of togetherness is what has made [us] so good. We look to have a unified team of guys who love to compete with one another and focus on the importance of the ‘team first’ mentality. Holman ensured to tell me that he looks “to use [his] position on the team to emphasize the [importance] of a tightly knit group of guys who love to win, but more importantly, who love to win with each other.”
As Holman and the other seniors prepare for their final season as a part of the Green Wave, the Delbarton Baseball team seems confident in their group. Despite their loss in the State Championship last season, the return of the Green Wave aligns perfectly with their motto, and within a few months, the NJSIAA trophy could return to Morristown.
