by Vinny Messana
Some teams go decades between winning county championships. Some have never won at all. For West Islip, it’s been just two years. Still, they were fueled by the fire of losing in the first round of the playoffs last season and it propelled them to winning it all again.
With the New York State Class AA tournament just three days away, they are in position to go where no baseball team in program history has gone before–winning the NYS title.
They’ll be adding one next to this
“I think we all knew going in that this is the potential that we had,” said catcher Nick Valenti–who is hitting a cool .546 with 38 RBI this season. “I don’t think we’re going to waste our opportunity going up there. No matter what happens, it’s still a successful season but we’re not going up there just to go up there,” he added.
Ace Ray Weber, who will enter the weekend with a Long Island leading 10 wins, took it a step further.
“Like Coach Rush said–this is a business trip. We’re not going up for fun, we’re going up to get stuff done. Totally plan on going up and winning,” he added.
Their Legacy
Being a part of two Long Island championships in three seasons is already rarified air. Co-ace, James Kory, is 21-3 in his career (most wins in program history) and is the only pitcher in Long Island history to record two wins in county championship finals.
Weber and Valenti noted that they vaguely remembered watching Nick Tropeano, currently with the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim, pitching the Lions to the Long Island Championship in 2008. They were only 10-years-old.
“Hearing the name Pat Cantwell–you hear stories you can’t even believe…he’s like a myth around here,” said Valenti.
Well, this group is soon to become a myth. For the younger crop of athletes coming up through the system, names like Ray Weber, Nick Valenti, James Kory and Lou Antos will be spoken of only in high regard.
“It’s humbling, really,” said Weber. “We always wanted to be in the shoes we’re in now, finally fulfilling these dreams…it’s crazy to think about. Got one last ride with these guys–just trying to enjoy it.”
Nick Valenti (left), Ray Weber (middle), Lou Antos (right)
The X-Factor
Lou is probably one of the most underrated players out there,” said Rush. “He has 100 career hits on the nose, he’s a three-year starter and has won two Long Island Championships and made the final out in the Suffolk County championship as a sophomore–turning a huge double play.”
The issue was that Antos suffered a labrum injury last year that resulted in losing him as a pitcher and sapping most of his arm strength in the field.
“We were really trying to baby that arm…but from day one he was screaming at me ‘I’M PLAYING THIRD BASE’ and I wanted him to play second base just until the weather warms up. But from day one he was fine throwing the baseball, he’s just a hard-nosed, old-school kid–he’s a gym rat. He worked out and made sure he stabilized all the muscles. He followed his PT to a science,” he added.
“We threw every day,” said Weber. “We would go to the gym and seeing him not being able to bench press the bar and now he’s throwing up 250 like it’s nothing!”
The Ace
“It’s too easy now,” said Valenti, who has spent the past 10 years catching for Ray Weber. “I feel like we’re always on the same page. He’s just the easiest kid to catch.”
“People will say ‘he throws so hard, how do you do it?’ But I’d rather catch him than some of the other guys on the team..because you just don’t know. With Ray, I trust everything. When I call a pitch, I know he’s going to be anywhere near that spot.”
“I love it,” said Antos in regards to playing the field behind Weber. “I know every time he goes on the mound he’s going to give a great performance. I pretty much never get the ball because he throws so hard. Kids don’t really pull it–but when they do I try my best to make the plays. I’m beyond confident in him that when he goes out he’s going to do what he’s supposed to.”
Their Competitive Nature
It might be one thing to play with each other, but what about against each other?
“That’s their favorite thing to do–they always want to hop into an intrasquad,” said Rush. “They’re such a competitive group, I think that’s what makes them as successful as they are. Lou has been trying to rehab and throw off a mound and the first time he did it I asked who are the two guys you want to face and he picked Ray and Kory.”
Nick Valenti
On a team with stars up-and-down the lineup, it’s Nick Valenti that might’ve had the biggest impact on the season.
In addition to hitting .546 and driving in 38 runs, he has thrown out five runners in the postseason alone–and smacked two HRs.
His omission from the All-County team is nothing short of shocking. Regardless, the Lions have been thrilled with the impact he has had on this season–both at the plate and behind it.
“Nick calls a flawless game,” Rush said in regards to his catcher. “From that 11-inning game to the end of the Long Island Championship, I might’ve called 12 pitches because he was just THAT locked in with the pitching staff–the way he walks them through games and at bats. He’s just got a great baseball IQ. He’s going to be a great coach someday. He’s not going to be able to leave baseball forever,” he added.
On The Playoff Battles
“It got us battle-ready,” said Valenti. “First game against Hauppauge was the craziest game. The game meant more than just a playoff game–it was like a competition. Those are the kids I played with forever. When they pushed us to 11 innings it was crazy–every inning was stress-after-stress-after-stress.”
With three straight walk-off wins, they chewed down whatever was left of their nails.
“We are the cardiac kids,” said Weber, who was on the mound when Jimmy Mattera made the flawless throw to the plate to end the Smithtown East series, and also was at the plate in the first game of the series when they walked off on an error by the third baseman.
On The Sacrifice It Took
“If you saw what they looked like four years ago–it’s a TOTAL transformation,” said Rush.
“Nick was a chubby kid whose dad owned an Italian restaurant, these two guys (Weber and Antos) were rail thin and James was a chubby kid…to their credit they used their talent. Plenty of guys are talented, but not everyone works as hard as they do to get the most out of it. That’s why they are where they are. That’s why WE are where we are,” he added.
“This offseason, the entire team took real pride in being in great shape,” said Weber. ”
Working out twice a day–me and Lou used to go 5 a.m. in the morning, lift then, and lift after school. We all felt like we had something to prove this year. This year we knew we had an opportunity and knew we didn’t want to miss out. Collectively, we took it more serious. From a first-round-and-out team to Long Island Champions…and hopefully state champions.”
