With opening day less than a month a month away, baseball fans and players alike are beginning to get excited about the start of the season. With tons of talent across the board in 2017, it should be an extremely exciting season to watch. With that being said, here’s a preview of what to expect in the upcoming season.
Conference A1
Conference Champs – Garden City (10-5)
2nd Place – MacArthur (10-5)
3rd Place – Mepham (9-5)
Conference MVP – Jason Coules (Bellmore JFK)
Cy Young – Bobby Lewis (MacArthur)
Coming off of a stellar postseason run in which they knocked off the defending county champion Division Blue Dragons, the Trojans enter the 2017 season with plenty of experience under their belt and a real shot at a county championship. The Garden City roster has 8 returning starters including seniors Rich Marooney, TJ McEvoy, Andrew Nagal and Erik Wortmann who were all everyday starters in the 2016 season. Although Conference A1 is one of the best conferences in the county this year with big names such as Jason Coules and Bobby Lewis, the Trojans enter the season as the favorites to win the conference. Expect other teams in the conference such as MacArthur, Mepham and Bellmore JFK to compete as well.
Conference A2
Conference Champs – Carey (12-3)
2nd Place – Jericho (10-5)
3rd Place – Hewlett (8-7)
Conference MVP – Shane Pinto (Carey)
Conference Cy Young – J.J. Antigua (Hewlett)
Although the majority of Carey’s lineup consisted mostly of seniors in 2016, they are still the favorite to win their conference in the upcoming season due to the poor competition in the newly developed conference. Coming into the season, Conference A2 is predicted to be the worst conference in Nassau County. However, there is still a good amount of young talent in this conference. One player in particular, Carey junior Shane Pinto, played a significant role for the Seahawks in 2016 and is expected to have a breakout season in 2017. 6’2” lefty J.J. Antigua of Hewlett is also expected to be an impact player this season. The senior sits in the mid 80’s and has Div-I talent. Expect him to come away with at least 5 wins in 2017.
Conference A3
Conference Champs – Wantagh (13-2)
2nd Place – Division (11-4)
3rd Place – Bethpage (7-8)
MVP: Anthony D’Onofrio (Wantagh)
Cy Young: Jimmy Joyce (Wantagh)
Who else but the Wantagh Warriors? The defending state champs are entering the season looking to dominate the island once again. The scary part about this team is that there’s not one dark spot in their entire lineup. Their rotation is stacked 1-3 with the face of Nassau Baseball Jimmy Joyce (as voted by Twitter poll), tall lefty Brendan Haas and hard throwing junior Anthony D’Onofrio. Losing only two key players in Will O’Brien and John Fitzgerald, it’s easy to say that the Warriors are favorites to win it all once again.
Conference A4:
Conference Champs – North Shore (11-4)
2nd Place – Lynbrook (10-5)
3rd Place – Valley Stream South (8-7)
MVP – Nick Tuzzio (Lynbrook)
Cy Young – Chris Stefl (Floral Park)
Perhaps the most interesting conference in Nassau County, there is no clear favorite to walk away with the title this year. The Vikings of North Shore enter the season losing 13 seniors and a boat load of talent. They will look to lean on Utility player Anthony Carleo, who started on varsity as a sophmore last year, and Ace Kenny Balanger.
Lynbrook enters the season losing their ace, but they do have some talent coming back, including the lefty slugger Nick Tuzzio, who was a middle of the lineup threat in 2016. Both Valley Stream teams have their fair share of talent as well, including Louis Dono (VSS) and Jon Calouri (VSN).
Don’t sleep on Floral Park either. Although they had a brutal 2016 season in which they finished at the bottom of their conference, they have the best pitcher in the conference in Chris Stefl, and an exceptional group of young talent. It’s safe to say that Conference IV has 5 teams that can all be legitimate competitors for a playoff spot come May.
Conference A5:
Conference Champs – Clarke (12-3)
2nd Place – Seaford (11-4)
3rd Place – Island Trees (8-7)
MVP: AJ Cain (Seaford)
Cy Young: Harrison Cohen (Cold Spring Harbor)
Conference A4 has been dominated the past 3-4 years by Clarke, Seaford and Island Trees and it looks to stay that way in the newly developed Conference A5 this year. The fight for a conference title looks to be a fight to the finish between the Clarke Rams and the Seaford Vikings. Clarke enters the season as the early favorites to win the conference for several reasons. One reason being that they have a ton of experience under their belt, in which they didn’t lose many seniors. They also have a talented rotation, along with an extremely deep lineup. Some of their big names in 2017 include Ace Matt Boyko, and lead off hitter EJ Cumbo.
Although the Rams are favorite to win the conference title, the Vikings are right below them. They too, bring back a ton of returning players this season and have the capability of making a deep playoff run. Conference A4 MVP in 2016 AJ Cain, will be the leader on this experienced Seaford team. The two horse race between Clarke and Seaford should be an interesting one to watch.
