Joyce warming up for his collegiate debut pic.twitter.com/kAgN4oPqm5
— Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 1, 2017
Two of the most successful pitchers in recent Long Island history, Jimmy Joyce (Wantagh) and Brandon O’Brien (Division), made their collegiate debuts this afternoon at Hofstra University.
Joyce started for the Pride and fired two shutout innings, needing just six pitches in the first inning and working around a walk in the second inning to complete a scoreless outing. He looked confident, worked quick and threw strikes. He fanned one batter in the second inning on a devastating curveball.
The 2016 New York Class A Player of the Year and 2017 Nassau County Diamond Award winner has a chance to be a two-way player for the Pride as a freshman–which is incredibly unusual at the Div-I level. The fact that he is even given that opportunity speaks to his athleticism and ability. His progress will be a huge story line this season as Hofstra will be counting on him.
He is the type of player that could really have an immediate impact at the college level. He will also have the luxury of playing with his former high school teammate and left-side of the infield partner in Anthony D’Onofrio in 2019.
As for O’Brien, who is now at Queens College–when you consider the entire body of work–he was arguably the most underrated pitcher over the past three seasons. He went 21-2 for Division, while consistently matching up against the opposition’s ace. Often times, he out dueled them despite weighing roughly 150 lbs and topping out in the low 80s. What separates him, however, is his command and his guile. There is no moment too big and no batter that he is afraid to challenge. With his fastball command and knuckle curve, he often leaves hitters baffled with how they cannot square him up.
I watched him fire zeros against Wantagh in 2016 (the eventual NYS Class A champs) and again this year against MacArthur, who is a perennial powerhouse.
Brandon O’Brien (Division 2017) on to pitch for Queens. He was 21-2 in his high school career pic.twitter.com/WCUnvOaqfB
— Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) October 1, 2017
Today he fired a scoreless inning, working around an infield single by inducing a 6-6-3 DP. He displayed his command and his tenacity this afternoon. He also displayed a great pickoff move, which is another facet of the game he does very well.
Both of these young players made a name for themselves over the past three seasons playing in Nassau County. Now they will begin the next phase of their careers.
