Matt Holzer may be the new Schreiber High School varsity baseball coach, but his face is far from unfamiliar. Holzer grew up in Port Washington, where he was a pitcher and first baseman on the 1996 varsity team that won the conference. Holzer has also served as the JV baseball coach for the past three seasons.

"As a former Vikings baseball player, I take great pride in having this opportunity and I think I am even more motivated to see both our players and team succeed," Holzer said. "I have been both a player and a coach on Port baseball teams that have made the playoffs, so I feel like I know what it takes to have a successful baseball team in Port Washington."

Holzer was promoted to head coach this year after Rich Greeney stepped down from the position following last season's playoff loss to No. 1 seeded MacArthur in a close series. The team made the playoffs the past two seasons under Greeney, finishing 16-2 a season ago. They defeated Oceanside in the first round before falling to MacArthur.

"My goal is to keep the winning momentum going," Holzer said. "I think we have a very strong group of players, and with hard work and sacrifice, we can not only have a winning season, but also continue to build a successful baseball program at Schreiber."

Holzer started his coaching career working with the Port Washington PAL summer travel team from 2002-04. His first high school job was in spring of 2004, when he was hired as the varsity baseball assistant at East Rockaway High School. The very next year, Holzer was back in Port Washington, teaching and coaching baseball at Weber Middle School, where he eventually landed the JV coaching job in 2007. He has been the basketball JV II coach for the past five years and also coaches the eighth-grade football team at Weber.

Aside from stressing the fundamentals of the game, Holzer said his focus will be to try and get his players to communicate better and work with each other both on and off the field. One way he will try to gain team chemistry is by having bagel and pizza lunches together, before or after practices.

"As a coach I want my players to be team players, work hard, and play the game the right way," Holzer said. "Having good team chemistry is also very important to me because if the players get along they will have fun coming to practice everyday and will work even harder."

Most of the boys on the team know exactly what to expect from their new coach, since many have already played for him in the past. Senior Dave Podlofsky played for Holzer as a freshman on JV and said that there wouldn't be anything to worry about with him in charge. 

"I think Coach Holzer will create a smooth transition for our program amid the coaching change," Podlofsky said. "I don't think there will be a feeling out period with an unfamiliar roster, since Coach Holzer has already coached almost all of us."

With tough teams such as Plainview-JFK, Farmingdale, and Syosset on the schedule for 2010, Podlofsky said he has the utmost confidence is his team and his new coach.

"Having a team with strong coaching, playoff experience, solid pitching, and talent at every position, I see no reason why we should not compete for the conference championship," Podlofsky said.

Senior Harrison Remler played under Holzer for three years: in seventh grade at Weber, and as a freshman and sophomore on JV.

"He has goals for this year, but has a plan for entire program," Remler said. "On the field, he stresses defense and developing the pitchers from their first years at Schreiber. Most importantly, Holzer is someone who is respected on and off the field as a coach, teacher and mentor."