Not many things can prevent Bayport-Blue Point from making deep postseason runs anymore.
Case in point, in 2017 they entered the season with only one player (Jake Liberatore) that had logged any significant time at the varsity level. That didn’t prevent them from beginning the year 8-2 and making it to the Class A county finals against Shoreham-Wading River before they ran into Brian Morrell, who fired a two-hitter and hit a grand slam in the clinching game.
Being that they were able to weather the inexperience of last year, they will now enjoy the benefits of returning the bulk of their starting lineup and pitching rotation. The only exception being Liberatore, who is currently at Stetson University. He batted .333 last season and was the starting SS and a big-game pitcher.
Moccio noted that it also marked the last season he will have a Liberatore on his team as his three older brothers all played at BBP, which dated back the past 13 years.
As far as the 2018 team is concerned, they will be counting on ace Josh Monturo to anchor the rotation. He compiled a record of 4-3 with a 1.70 ERA last year and was named All-League. His only poor outing came against Shoreham-Wading River, and without that outing his ERA would’ve been below 1.00. He also threw a no-hitter against John Glenn on May 10 and shutout Rocky Point in the playoffs one week later. The senior RHP will be headed to Messiah College in the fall.
“He’s going to be one of the better guys in the league,” said Moccio. He added that the rest of the rotation is undecided in terms of the order. Robert Ray will also jump into the rotation after primarily pitching out of the bullpen last season. The hard-throwing LHP who touched 87 MPH at Prep Baseball Report‘s LI Showcase last month. He will also be their starting center fielder. He batted No. 2 last season in the order and Moccio noted after getting off to a slow start, he was on fire in the second half of the season which allowed them to “do some things offensively we weren’t able to do earlier in the season.” He scored 20 runs and recorded an OBP north of .500.
“We think he will have a big impact,” said Moccio.
There will be a competition between senior Liam Dougherty and juniors Tyler Soloman and Kevin Hahn. Moccio stated that Soloman is also a catcher that “throws missiles to second base”.
The lineup should be very productive. In addition to Rob Ray, they will be counting on senior 3B Mike Taylor who was named All-League last season. He batted .325, led the team in doubles and also smacked two walk-off hits. “He’s really solid defensively, he plays smart and he’s a quiet leader,” he added.
Another impact player is sophomore Francesco Geraci, younger brother of LIU Post infielder Sal, who had a terrific season as a freshman. He batted No. 3 in the order and recorded 15 RBI while drawing 24 walks at the plate. He had a huge clutch HR in the postseason while the Phantoms trailed 4-0 in a game that they ultimately came back to win.
While Moccio is excited for his season, he acknowledged that the Class A postseason bracket was made much more competitive with the additions of Kings Park, Hauppauge and East Islip–all teams coming from Class AA with strong track records of success.
They will open up the season on Friday, March 23 against Sayville in what could match up Notre Dame-commit Brock Murtha and Josh Monturo.
