The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted high school sports this year, and the Boston Latin School Baseball team was no exception. Last season, Brian Mylett was supposed to begin his first season as head coach for the team. Instead, he found himself waiting another year until he would make his debut.

He finally made his first appearance on the BLS baseball diamond earlier this spring, which came with lots of excitement. This, however, was far from Mylett’s first experience with the BLS Baseball team.

Mylett is a graduate of BLS himself, and played for the baseball team under Coach Rene Gauthier. Mylett recalls, “Coach G has always been a mentor to me.” After graduating in 2011, Mylett committed to Wheaton College, where he continued his baseball career.

Immediately after college, Mylett knew he wanted to come back and coach at BLS. He explains, “Ever since I was a student, I’ve had mentors and guys I’ve looked up to such as Coach G. Since that young age I knew I wanted to be a teacher and do the same for others.”

Returning to BLS in 2016 as the assistant varsity baseball coach, he learned many things from Coach Gauthier. “As head coach, you can feel like it’s all your decision making, but Coach Gauthier taught me the importance of trusting your players and coaches,” Mylett says. He explains that he has carried this lesson into his own coaching this season.

Mylett already had many responsibilities when he was the assistant coach, which he explains is part of the reason for his smooth transition to head varsity coach this past year. He adds, “Coach Gauthier always wanted to prepare me and was looking out for other people.” 

Despite this seamless transition, Mylett acknowledges the difficulties of having the entirety of last season being cancelled because of the pandemic. “There were definitely nerves during our game versus Bedford,” Mylett says, but the season has come with even more excitement.

Similar to all BLS sports, there are still protocols, such as wearing a mask, that are enforced throughout practices and games. The team, nevertheless, has been optimistic about the season. Mylett expresses the sheer dedication of his players, and remarks, “We talked as a group, and decided that we would all do whatever it takes to mean we have a season.” 

Mylet continues to reflect, and says, “Funny, there are guys on the team whose faces I’ve never seen [because of masks] — that was something that was a little different and I had to adjust to.” Regardless, Mylett and his team are incredibly thankful for the season they have this year.

Mylett picked up his first official win as head coach against Bedford High School on May 10, and has continued on with many other wins since. He explains that a majority of the team’s wins this season were comebacks. Mylett also emphasizes the importance of team losses. For example, regarding a recent game against Boston College High School, Mylett comments, “Even though we lost, we had a great game, and I felt like it was a turning point in our season. The guys had lots of confidence.”

With three games left in the regular season, Mylett is excited to see how the team develops. He hopes to go as far into the playoffs as possible and sees lots of hope for the future of BLS Baseball.