Although the weather may not reflect the fact that high school baseball is right around the corner, believe it or not it’s here. The major storyline is the two-time reigning Long Island Champion Wantagh Warriors looking to protect their throne while everyone is coming for them.
Class A has an incredible amount of parity, as there are double the amount of programs as Class AA. It should make for some high drama once again this season.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the preseason top five teams for Class A.
5. Clarke
With the realignment of the new conferences in Class A, Conference A4 sticks out as the conference with the least amount of experience regarding deep playoff runs. A team that’s had a history of winning conference and county championships led by head coach Tom Abruscato, the Clarke Rams have the talent to make a deep playoff run once again this year. In 2017, Clarke had the talent, but fell short. This year, this lineup has the potential to do a lot of damage from top to bottom in the order led by the NYIT-commit Mike Rodriguez. Heading into the season, this is the team to watch for in Conference A4.
4. Plainedge
Plainedge enters the 2018 season with a bitter taste in their mouths after falling short last season on what seemed to be a magical run. Plainedge closed the regular season out by winning twelve consecutive games along with their first two playoff games, but suffered back-to-back losses to the Division Blue Dragons. Lucky for them, they enter the 2018 season returning plenty of familiar faces. Albany-commit Jason Bottari, will lead this balanced Plainedge lineup, along with Molloy-commit Nick DeMicco, Joe Cottone and Brian Bornkamp. On the mound, the Red Devils have the talent to go a long way, as they will be led by tall lefty Sean Mendyk, and the reliable T.J. Noonan.
3. Garden City
Coming in second place is often an empty feeling; especially in the County Championship. The newly-aligned Conference A1 may be the toughest conference in Nassau County, but the Trojans know what it takes to capture a conference championship. In his first year of coaching, Dave Izzo led his team to a conference title and a county championship appearance. This year, Izzo will return two of the best players in the county, Mike Handal and Kevin McNiff among many other players such as Tommy Reifler who know what it takes to win. By playing tough competition all year combined with playoff experience, it’s easy to see why the Trojans success in 2017 may translate into this season. As long as their pitching can stay in tact, the sky is the limit for this talented Garden City team.
2. North Shore
Playing an entire season with virtually all underclassmen in your starting lineup can never be an easy thing to do. Making the playoffs with a team full of almost all underclassmen is extremely impressive, something North Shore accomplished last season. Head coach Scott Lineman knows what it takes to take his team deep into the playoffs, proven by his county championship appearance in 2015 and semifinals appearance in 2016. With the experience and talent of this year’s team, there’s no reason why he can’t do it again this year. One of the top hitters in the county, Lackawanna-commit Anthony Carleo will lead this talented young lineup. On the mound is where the Vikings really show their strength. With plenty of young talent such as Dan Livioti and Sean Hehn, North Shore is the favorite to run the show in Conference A2 heading into the 2018 campaign.
1. Wantagh
Surprise? No, not really. A three-peat is in mind for the experienced leaders of the two-time Long Island Champions. Led by Anthony Fontana, Anthony D’Onofrio and southpaw Pat Willix, this team is ready to roll. However, this time the scene will be a little different. Losing a lot of seniors is something never easy for a team to overcome, but if there’s one team that can bring in new talent and still win, it’s the Wantagh Warriors. There’s no question Wantagh has one of the most talented teams in the county this year, even with losing talent such as Brendan Haas, John Conroy and Diamond Award winner Jimmy Joyce. They must lean heavily on their experienced players if they wish to complete something only very few teams have ever done in Long Island history, a three-peat. Don’t expect Wantagh to stop winning anytime soon.
