With our fourth nor’easter this month upon us, who knows when opening day may be. As soon as the fields are clear, however, the high school baseball season will finally get underway.
Although Class AA may be overlooked because there’s 14 teams compared to 28 teams in Class A, there’s still a significant amount of competition. Last year was about as exciting as it gets in Class AA, with Massapequa taking home the title and the Long Island Championship, so don’t expect this year to be any different.
With many of the top teams returning their best players, let’s take a look at this year’s preseason top five teams.
5. Farmingdale
A team that took the county by storm in 2017 is back and expected to make a deep run this season. Luckily for the Dalers, their two most talented players are only sophomores, therefore the future is looking bright. Catcher Robbie Manetta highlights this Farmingdale lineup, in which he batted .410 as a freshman. Molloy-commit Robert Keane will also be a significant part of this Daler offense, as he seeks to bring some experience to the table. On the mound, ace Justin Rosner is also looking to follow his astonishing 2017 season. As a freshman, he shutout the Long Island champion Massapequa Chiefs in the postseason to keep his team alive. This team will be on the radar for the next few years, but there’s plenty of potential for this squad to compete for a conference championship this season.
4. Calhoun
Perhaps the most underrated team in all of Class AA, the Calhoun Colts, have an extremely strong core full of seniors that believe they have the talent to win a county championship. From top to bottom, this team has a ton of depth. The number one element this team brings to the table is experience. Calhoun enters the new year returning most of their starters from last season, in which they fell short of the county championship in the semifinals. Some familiar faces that look to make an impact this season are All-League pitcher Mike Porcelli, All-County pitcher Anthony D’Andrea, All-State outfielder Jake Edwards, Hofstra-commit Matt Pelcher the versatile Jack Pugliano, Nick Vicino and Fordham-commit Ben Kovel. This team plays with a ton of passion on the field and in the dugout, making it a nightmare for any pitcher that has to face them. A county championship appearance could be in the near future as soon as this season.
3. Massapequa
Repeating as county champions is never easy, especially when you lose a number of your impact players but they are also dealing with some crucial injuries. As usual, Massapequa enters the year as one of the top dogs in Conference AA1, but they have some key spots to fill. Chris Wasson and Luke O’Mahoney were two of many seniors that the Chiefs lost. Both of them played critical roles for the past couple seasons and Wasson’s walk-off hit in the semifinals was one of the highlights of the entire baseball season. Luckily for them, they have plenty of studs in their lineup that have adopted the new leadership roles. Catcher and LIU Post-commit Andrew Primm is the heart-and-soul of the team. He is one of the best defensive catchers on the island and has a dangerous stick as well. The biggest names are North Carolina-commit Johnny Castagnozzi and Boston College-commit Travis Honeyman , but they will also be counting on outfielder Chris DeSousa to do damage. A strength the Chiefs had in their Long Island championship run in 2017 was their dominant pitching. They graduated their two top pitchers in their rotation, Dan Gdanski and Dom Kriegel, and incumbent ace Nick Collins is dealing with an injury that they are hoping won’t sideline him. When healthy, Collins is one of the best pitchers in the county and he was lights-out for them all season. They were expecting DeSousa to jump into the rotation, but he suffered an elbow injury that might require Tommy John. Christian Denave could get the opening day start for the Chiefs, and they will be counting on RHP Dylan DeGiovanni as well. They will certainly have some questions, but the Chiefs have proven over the years to be able to find the right mix of players that can step up and lead the way.
2. Plainview
The Hawks enter this season with a chip on their shoulder, losing in Game 3 of the County Championship last year. If there’s one team to be scared to play in Class AA, it’s this team. Not only will they enter the season looking for revenge, but they have one of the most talented teams in Nassau County. Reigning Diamond Award winner Mark Faello is back and looking to repeat this year as not only the best pitcher in the county, but also as the best shortstop in the county. The Hofstra-commit posted a sparkling 7-0 record with a 1.26 ERA and 74 strikeouts as a junior. There’s no reason to think he won’t match or exceed those numbers. Faello will be supported by Maine-commit Tyler Marinaccio behind him in the rotation, senior Michael Cole behind the plate and Ryan Saltzman offensively. Head coach John Givargidze has built this young core from the bottom up, and this year is the chance for redemption.
1. Oceanside
A disappointing semi-finals loss for the Sailors in 2017 should not undermine the successful season they had. They also return the core of their lineup, and the core of their pitching. Losing only three seniors from last year, it’s easy to see why Oceanside is the favorite team heading into this season. The depth this Sailors team has is remarkable, in which they had four sophomores that started last season, all batting over .300. These now-juniors are Chris Siklas, Leo Alvarez, Austin Vlahakis and St.John’s-commit Jake Lazzaro. Not only do they have a strong core of juniors, but they have three top-notch seniors that’ll all play at the college level. Four-year varsity player and UMass-Amherst commit Dylan Judd is among the best catchers in Nassau County, providing talent offensively and defensively. He will have the privilege of catching Tufts-commit and Axcess Baseball conference MVP Brendan McFall (7-1, 0.93 ERA) ,and NYIT-commit Matt Carey (4-1, 1.30 ERA), both who can be an ace on many teams in the county. Rounding out the rotation is T.J. Thorne (5-1, 0.87 ERA)and they have reliable closer Ryan Powers in the pen. This Oceanside team is deep, and this should be the year they finally capture their long awaited county championship.
