Plymouth team a band of brothers

PLYMOUTH -- You don't need to be a great athlete to find a spot on Plymouth North baseball coach Dwayne Follette's team. You could be an average hitter, an OK fielder, or a former Little League all-star. Only one thing matters:

"If they show a love of the game, they deserve a uniform," Follette said. "They don't have to be the best player."

This year that philosophy was put to the test. Sixteen juniors came back to try out for their senior year. That's rare; usually some of the players leave the team after three seasons. But this season that didn't happen, and Follette did not have the heart to cut any of them.

So he found uniforms for 25 varsity players.

There are not enough positions for all of them, but "I haven't heard one peep from one kid," Follette said. "I did worry about it at the beginning of the year, but they're such quality kids."

Still, there are challenges. Dugouts are rarely big enough for a traditional team, much less 25 high school boys.

At a recent game at Plymouth North, 10 players sat on buckets outside the dugout, while the other six sat on the bench, and that was while the Eagles were on the field.

Pregame warmups take longer because most of the positions are three players deep. When the players line up to warm up their arms, they can take up all of the space from first base to the right field fence.

The players go through it all, even though many of the seniors see very little playing time.

"You see kids who haven't gotten to bat all year, and they still give their hardest at practice," senior Craig McAlister said. "They come out every day, and they still cheer you on."

Many of the seniors have been teammates since they were playing youth baseball. Ten of the seniors played together on Plymouth's first Babe Ruth state championship team, which won back-to-back titles, as 13- and 14-year-olds.

The success continued during the high school season. Some players were on junior varsity, while others were on varsity. When tryouts came, the players were surprised by the turnout.

"Usually, kids quit when they think they're not going to play," senior Jimmy Kerrigan said. "That just wasn't the case with our senior class."

The starters find themselves rooting the most for the players who don't get in as often. Early this season, senior David Wylie, who is considered the smallest on the team, came up with a key hit off the bench.

"Everyone jumped off the bench and the buckets," senior Corey Ketterer said. "We just went crazy."

Follette managed to get all 25 players in one game this season. His biggest concern with such a large team was finding playing time for all of them.

"I feel bad because I know they want to get in," Follette said.

But the players understand, senior Eric Nicotra said. Nicotra has not played the last two seasons because of injuries, but he is with the team for the camaraderie.

"It's like talking to all of your brothers," Nicotra said. "I've known half of the kids since elementary school, and it's been like that. I've never seen anything like this in any other sport. It's just like we're playing backyard baseball."

The arrangement works because "everyone on the team has a certain role, and we wouldn't be the same without one of them," McAlister said.

The support on the field also translates off the field for players in other activities. The program's 45 players went to watch senior teammate Nick Coit perform in "Fiddler on the Roof." "He was awesome," Follette said. "He killed it out there."

The seniors this season helped the Eagles capture the Atlantic Coast League North Division title for the seventh time in 12 years. The team also qualified for the state tournament and will find out its seed Tuesday.

When the season ends, Follette is most proud that 15 of his players are going to college and another is enlisting in the Army.

They are a group so special that Follette is certain "this will never happen again."

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.