Former Tiger Named Top Collegiate Rookie

Northport High School alum Brian Herrmann, right, now a pitcher for Stony Brook University, was named the 2017 All-Long Island Rookie of the Year at Saturday’s Collegiate All-Long Island Awards Banquet. Photo/Northport-East Northport School District

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Northport High School alum Brian Herrmann was stunned Saturday when he heard his name announced at the Collegiate All-Long Island Awards Banquet.

Herrmann, 19, of Eatons Neck, was named the 2017 All-Long Island Rookie of the Year for his strong pitching performance, including 58 strikeouts across 80.2 innings, last year as a member of the Stony Brook University baseball team.

Although the award came to him as a surprise, Herrmann said his hard work paid off.

“It shows that I’m doing the right thing to better myself and have a future with baseball,” Herrmann said. “I’m very excited to see what I can do in the future and hopefully maintain the reputation I have.”

A 2016 Northport grad, Herrmann earned All-League and All-County honors as a senior Tiger.

Herrmann said he learned a lot during his Northport career.

“The best thing to have on the team is not necessarily great talent, but good chemistry among all the players,” he said. “I think talent alone can get you only so far. Working hard, pushing guys on your team to work hard and having fun with the game you love is what I learned while playing Northport baseball.”

He also attributes his growth as an athlete to great coaching, through which he’s learned what pitches to throw, when to throw them and when to back off.

With his semi-scholarship to Stony Brook to play baseball, Herrmann has also increased his daily athletic routine. He’s gone from training two hours every other day in high school to now four hours each day at Stony Brook. Now a sophomore, he studies environmental science.

Last season, Herrmann led the Seawolves in innings pitched, appearing in 15 games — 14 of which he started. Herrmann managed a 4-3 record on the mound with 3.46 earned run average, best among the Seawolves starters.

Herrmann was also named a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.

The pitcher has aspirations of the big leagues, but in order to get there he said there’s some work to do.

“A lot of it is taking care of my body,” he said. “I’ve had some injuries in the past that required me to take time off instead of working harder.”

He said eating right and staying focused are also important, adding that “everything you do has to have a purpose if you want to get to the next level and have it be your livelihood.”