Before the death of Newburgh Nuclears’ longtime general manager Don Becker in late 2020, Shea Ceriello made him a promise.

He would try to keep the Nuclears, an American Legion Baseball program that was founded in 1948 and sponsored by the Judson P. Galloway Post 152 in Newburgh, alive. He’s keeping that promise as the program – dormant since the 2021 season – will return with a Junior (17U team) team for the summer 2024 season.

“Reviving the program was relatively easy given the experience of the directors with the national and state guidelines,” said Ceriello, a former legion player himself and the head coach for the last 10 years.

Ceriello attempted to pull the program together last season and partnered with the Hudson Valley Select travel program but started the process too late. This year, there were tryouts and winter workouts in January and Ceriello and his staff were able to pull the team back together.

Ceriello said Legion baseball has increased its high school participation numbers, meaning the program was able to draw from Newburgh Free Academy – its base school – Middletown, Cornwall, Valley Central, John S. Burke Catholic and Goshen.

There are 19 players listed on the roster with the most – seven – coming from Newburgh Free Academy: Chase Rounds, Chris Leggett, Jadin O’Neill, Jake Cross, J.J. McCoy, Logan Voltaire, and Nick Schmidt. There also will be three players from Valley Central: Caleb Swart, Gavin Rounds and Justin Freeman.

The rest of the team is made up of players from Middletown, Burke Catholic, Cornwall, and Goshen.

Ceriello will serve as the team’s head coach. He will be assisted by Marlboro assistant coach Mark Casey and Kingston assistant coach Randy Delanoy, the director of the Hudson Valley Select. Joe Cavallo of Cornwall will coach the catchers and Mike Walraven of Pine Bush will serve as the hitting and fielding coach.

Newburgh’s Willie Fraser, a 1982 Newburgh Free Academy graduate, and former Major League baseball pitcher, will serve as the pitching coach. Jim Telgheder of Minisink will also serve as a pitching coach.

The Nuclears will also return to their longtime home, Delano-Hitch Stadium in Newburgh. All home games are scheduled for Wednesday night.

Ceriello said when the program last played there, they would have to get there early to clean the dugouts of “syringes and weed bags,” would have to remove “vagrants from the park” and at times, “clean human defecation.”

He credits Matt Nord, the city’s recreation department director for the stadium’s complete 180 in terms of order, cleanliness, and growth.

During the spring, it was once again home to the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks.

“We could not be happier to be back,” Ceriello said. “All legion teams loved the park, and I am sure they will be astonished with the improvements. It’s a ‘bring your kids to a game’ kind of place again.”

The Nuclears will only field a junior team this year and build to multiple teams in future seasons. Ceriello said the program is hoping to field three teams next year: one senior team and two junior teams.

On the field, the Nuclears look to return to the prominence of the early 2000s when they were constant district and state title contenders, and to prepare their players for the next phases of their baseball careers.

“We feel we provide the best coaching in the area, the opportunity to be seen by numerous college scouts and an environment that is very challenging,” Ceriello said. “Legion ball offers all of these.”

And this season offered him the chance to make good on the promise he made to Becker.

“What Donny gave should never be forgotten and my personal promise to him was to keep the program alive,” Ceriello said. “I think we are off to a great start.”