Nassau County Class AA Preview

With the newly developed conferences this year, there will be two conferences containing 7 teams each, and the top 6 in each conference will make the playoffs. The top 2 teams in each conference will receive a first round bye. The newly developed conferences will change how these teams approach the season as they all have a chance at a playoff run. Here’s a look at what to expect for Class AA in 2017.

Conference AA1:

Conference Champs – Massapequa (16-2)
2nd Place – Oceanside (13-5)
3rd Place – Freeport (10-8)
4th Place – Hicksville (9-9)
5th Place – Port Washington (8-10)
6th Place – Farmingdale (7-11)

Although Conference AA1 lost a ton of talent with huge names such as Kyle Martin, Chris Keenan and Pat Clyne graduating, there’s still a good amount of talent in the upcoming season. Similar to how the 2016 regular season ended, it seems as if Massapequa and Oceanside are the only two teams that have a real shot at a conference title. Massapequa however, seems to have an edge over Oceanside for many reasons.

Massapequa and Oceanside may have lost their aces last year, but both teams will enter the new season with plenty of experience under their belt from making deep postseason runs in May. Massapequa will look to lean on dominant RHP’s Dom Kriegle and TJ Lainiotis, who are both seniors. The Chiefs also bring a significant amount of power to the lineup, including first basemen Luke O’Mahoney and outfielder Matt Pinto.

Compared to the Chiefs, the Sailors don’t seem to have nearly as much offense. Entering the season losing half of their starting lineup, the Sailors will look to lean on young talent rather than seniors this year. Their rotation includes juniors Matt Carey and Brendan McFall, who both can touch the upper 80s and were on varsity as sophomores. At the plate and behind the dish, Dylan Judd enters the season as the favorite to be the best catcher in the county.

Matt Carey (Oceanside ’18) showing an 88 MPH fastball pic.twitter.com/cGoqqjccMB

— aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) February 27, 2017

Another outstanding catcher in Conference AA1 is Anthony Lamar of Freeport. Without a doubt, Lamar will be the face of this Freeport team as he looks to lead his lineup to a potential deep playoff run. Although it’s a long season, as of right now it seems as if the Chiefs have the upper hand over everyone else in the conference.

Conference AA2:
Conference Champs – East Meadow (14-4)
2nd Place – Plainview JFK (13-5)
3rd Place – Baldwin (11-7)
4th Place – Calhoun (10-8)
5th Place – Herricks (8-10)
6th Place – Long Beach (7-11)

Conference AA2 features a ton of talent this year, in which there will be at least four teams competing for a conference title. These teams include East Meadow, Plainview JFK, Baldwin and Calhoun. Reigning champion East Meadow Jets will look to ride experience deep into the playoffs. However, they only bring back two starters from last year’s championship team. These two returning starters are infielders Justin Reyes and Sal D’Onofrio, who both started virtually every game last year for the Jets and look to carry them again this year.

Behind the Jets in the projected standings for 2017 are three teams who are believed to contenders for a conference title. Plainview JFK is a team not to take lightly at all, due to the amount of talent that they have. The Hawks will return all of the starters in their rotation, and they will be led by senior Mark Faello, who made a statement in 2016. On the mound, Faello (Hofstra-commit) sits mid 80’s and can play anywhere in the field. He will be joined by Tyler Marinacchio, one of the underrated players on the island.

The Bruins of Baldwin are an extremely talented team as well. They enter the season with a ton of experience under their belt, as they return a bunch of starters. They will be led by All-County infielder Fred Lucas, All-Conference DH Stephen Strategakos and All-League first baseman Allan Drew.

If they wish to compete for a conference title, Calhoun knows they must rely heavily on their arms. Lucky for them, they have a deep pitching staff and a versatile offense. Starting shortstop and starting pitcher Jack Pugliano, will be an impact player. Matt Pelcher, named to our Pre-Season Top 30 will be a difference maker behind the dish. Joining Pugliano in the rotation will be Michael Losak and Michael Porcelli, who will both be names to watch for this year.

Being the competitive conference that it always is, Conference AA2 will be interesting to watch all season, as it has several teams that will look to compete for a conference and county championship.