2016 Year in Review

It was a very enjoyable year covering the Long Island baseball scene.

We began the year with 1,400 twitter followers and are now at 3,220 which means many of you missed out on some of the top stories from this year. In this post, I will take you through the highlights of the year:

January: 

-Mike Scioscia and Dr. Luga Podesta host “Injuries in Baseball” Symposium at Ward Melville HS.

February:

-BOTI travels with Hofstra to cover their season-opening at No. 4 ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

April: 

-First episode of BOTI Weekly airs. We ultimately had 7 episodes in 2016. You can watch them all here.

May:

-We completed the Top 10 Long Island prospect series with a feature story on Matt Hogan of Hills East. You can see the entire list here.

-Game-ending throw by Jimmy Mattera sends West Islip to Suffolk championship and goes viral.

Jimmy Mattera guns down Wes Marshall at the plate to send West Islip into the Suffolk County Class AA Final pic.twitter.com/XfinoiLVvL

— Axcess Baseball (@BaseballLI) May 25, 2016

June:

-We hosted the first college All-Star game between the best of Nassau vs. Suffolk. Several high-end Div-I players participated and Jonathon Mulford of Adelphi University was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the MLB Draft later that week.

-BOTI attends the All-County dinner at Villa Lombardi’s–reporting that Brian Morrell wins Carl Yastrzemski Award.

July:

-BOTI covers the New York Baseball Academy summer camp at Hofstra University.

August:

-BOTI breaks the news of Matt Overton committing to Molloy

September:

-BOTI breaks the news of Jake Guercio committing to Fordham University.

-Come to terms on a year-long deal with St. Charles sports medicine.

-Come to terms on a year-long deal with Pro X Formula

October:

-BOTI breaks the news of Anthony Kay having Tommy John surgery on October 4.

Mets first round pick Anthony Kay (Ward Melville ’13) had Tommy John Surgery today to repair a torn UCL

— Axcess Baseball (@BaseballLI) October 4, 2016

-BOTI breaks the news of Jason Diaz committing to the University of Miami on October 13.

BREAKING: Jason Diaz, Kellenberg ’19, has just committed to the University of Miami pic.twitter.com/DjVZ71OhT8

— Axcess Baseball (@BaseballLI) October 13, 2016

-BOTI breaks the news of Logan O’Hoppe committing to East Carolina University in emotional video that goes viral.

Logan O’Hoppe making the proudest phone call of his life pic.twitter.com/tqllhGWCWA

— Axcess Baseball (@BaseballLI) October 20, 2016

November:

Travis Honeyman, Massapequa ’20, won the Power Showcase over returning champion Blaze Jordan at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX.

A photo posted by Axcess Baseball (@axcess_baseball) on Nov 13, 2016 at 2:57pm PST

-BOTI breaks news that Travis Honeyman wins the Power Showcase at Globe Life Park.

-Come to terms on a year-long deal with Infiniti Sports Performance.

December:

-BOTI breaks the news that Tim McHugh commits to TCU–becoming first Long Islander to ever commit there.

BREAKING: Tim McHugh, Commack ’19, has committed to TCU. He becomes the first Long Islander to commit to the school. He is the third class of ’19 grad to give his verbal commitment.

A photo posted by Axcess Baseball (@axcess_baseball) on Dec 2, 2016 at 7:22pm PST

-Second annual Awards Banquet is a success with 135 guests and 12 current or former professional ballplayers–including 14-year veteran and Long Island native Frank Catalanotto.

-Launch of aXcess baseball. 100 players sign up in the first 24 hours.