by Vinny Messana
Following a terrific playoff run that included knocking off Glenn–a team that previously had swept them in the regular season–the Shoreham-Wading River squad is hungry to emerge from the pack as the class of Class A Suffolk County.
They lost a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to P.J. Weeks and the Bayport-Blue Point team that has run Class A for much of the past three year.
“It was a rough game to lose,” said the audibly disappointed third-year Head Coach Kevin Willi.
“We had a leadoff double. The next guy guy got a hit but the run didn’t score–he got a poor read on the hit. We had bases loaded and 0 out with guys up that we had confidence in,” said Willi. It was a battle of the wits between the coaches, knowing that both of our teams were infamous for squeeze plays. Weeks got out unscathed and they scored in the bottom of the eighth to win it,” he added.
Weeks, an All-State pitcher, was a thorn in the side for Shoreham-Wading River over the years and Willi laughed and acknowledged team is thrilled that he graduated.
His team is primed for a strong season–led by a big class of eight returning seniors. The most prominent of that group is junior Brian Morrell, who is headed to the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2017.
The big righty armed with a low 90s fastball will be anchoring the rotation. He made a name for himself as a freshman when he threw consecutive no-hitters and has been dominant ever since. He is also a tremendous hitter that batted over .400 last year.
Essentially, he is the type of player that could be the third player in program history to win the Carl Yastrzemski Award (first was Keith Osik in 1987) since Mike O’Reilly in 2012.
The rotation will be rounded out by converted closer Zack White, who is headed to NYIT in the fall.
“He’s a big kid, 6’3″, who was basically our closer last year,” said Willi. He saved two games and won one game out of the bullpen.
Third-year varsity player Brandon Bottari will be the No. 3 pitcher.
“He’s got a really good slider and good two-seamer from his 3/4 arm delivery,” he said.
Willi admitted that the source of the offense is a bit of an unknown at this point, but his JV team went undefeated last year with an absurd .425 team average, which certainly bodes will for future success–beginning as early as this season.
They will open up against rival Bayport-Blue Point, looking to spoil their epic home win streak. It stands at 43-games at the moment and they would certainly revel in the ability to say they put an end to the streak.
They will also play Mt. Sinai right after–a playoff team from last year.
“A lot of our season will be determined right away,” he said.
