Most teams would be thrilled with winning 15 games and making it to the quarterfinals of the postseason.
Then again, most teams haven’t won 16 conference titles in 18 years.
Throughout the tenure of Head Coach Tom Abruscato, Clarke baseball has been a powerhouse in Nassau County Class A. They have won three Long Island Championships and two NYS crowns.
It’s been an incredible run of success, but with that comes high expectations every year. You can hear it in his voice, he speaks not in measured tones but absolute terms.
“It was the worst year for us,” Abruscato said.
They suffered three injuries to key players (both catchers and starting SS) in the beginning of the season which posed a significant challenge for them to overcome. They still found their rhythm, won nine of 10 games, and were right in the mix for the Nassau Class A title again. They had five All-Conference players, with four of those returning.
Much of that success was due to the terrific pitching of LHP Matt Boyko and CF E.J. Cumbo. Both were named to our Pre-Season Top 30 and both are committed to NYIT and will be among the best players in Nassau County. Cumbo was a finalist for the Diamond Award and Abruscato described him as “Dustin Pedroia in center field.”
“He’s five-foot-five but he plays like he’s six-foot-three,” he said. “He’s a legit Div-I player, but he was always overlooked for his size. He flies and he’s got legit power. He’ll be back in the mix for the Diamond Award,” he added.
Boyko has a chance to go undefeated. He’s always had the clean mechanics and the great breaking ball, but now he’s added the velocity, according to Abruscato. That jump from 82-83 MPH to 85-86 MPH is usually when a good pitcher becomes untouchable in high school. Working with Neal Heaton has not hurt him, either.
The skipper stated that he has 12 pitchers on the team–six lefties and six righties. That is an extremely unusual occurrence considering only 10 percent of the population is left-handed. That gives them a distinct advantage when it gets to the late innings.
There is a chance all three starting pitchers could be lefty.
Joining Boyko will be Vinny Trovato–who fired a complete game shutout in the postseason against Locust Valley. “He throws everything for strikes,” said Abruscato.
The third southpaw in the rotation could be Ryan Ciardullo, who left a positive impression on the coach last season. Another candidate for the rotation is RHP Corey Rosenbloom. The RHP led Clarke to the postseason in football as the QB this season.
They will be counting on a few other notable players. Catcher Chris Giardino hit .340 as an eighth grader on varsity last year, and has a chance to be a special player. Additionally, Abruscato is high on shortstop Kemel Deljanin, who was one of the injured players last year but still came back and was All-Conference.
He noted that junior Mike Rodriguez has a chance to have a real impact as a corner infielder. When Boyko is pitching, he will play third base and move over to third when Boyko is at first.
“We have a lot of speed and good pop, we’ll be right back there this year,” said the Head Coach.
