by Vinny Messana
When the conversations turns to Nassau County baseball powerhouses, the conversation usually ends with MacArthur baseball.
Head Coach Steve Costello, now in his 23rd year at the helm, has coached the generals to 19 League Championships, three Nassau County titles, two Long Island Championships and one New York State championship in 1994 (29-0).
They are coming off another tremendous season in which they defeated Oceanside to win the county championship. They ultimately lost to Connetquot in the LIC by the score of 3-2.
“It was not an off-the-charts talented team, but they just fit together well,” said Costello.
He noted that the team had an exceptional ability to run the bases and that was evident by being successful on 90 of 97 stolen base attempt.
They will have to replace All-State shortstop Brian Perez, who went 30-for-30 in his stolen base attempts. He was also named League MVP. Perez unbelievable reached base on 56 of 107 plate appearances.
They also graduated Brandon Kustek, who is playing at Cortland.
From the pitching staff they graduated eight-game winner Jack Wall, who is pitching at Concordia. They graduated No.2 starter Nick Mannarino as well, who added four wins and is now at St. Joseph’s.
They will be counting on the next crop of upperclassmen to lead the way now.
Reigning Nassau County playoff MVP, Jared Wolfe, will lead the offensive attack. He contributed the go-ahead hits in both both wins over Oceanside. Costello noted that he is a tremendous athlete who was also the leading receiver on the county championship football team in 2015.
All-county outfielder Vin Martino will be counted on to provide some offensive punch as well.
The rotation will be led by junior Bobby Lewis. He was the winning pitcher in the county championship against Oceanside, throwing a complete game in 4-3 win. He is most likely headed to Div-I baseball, as he sits in the 88-89 MPH range.
They will count on senior Mike Sivilli as well.
“He was a revelation last season,” said Costello. “We didn’t expect much from him but he has good velocity, a very good curve and he throws strikes,” he added.
Costello stated that the team has many multi-sport athletes. He encourages his players to pursue other sports in the fall to develop their agility and work on different muscles.
Despite graduating several of their prominent players from their 20-win season, they are expected to be in the mix to compete for another county title, as they have done throughout his tenure.
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