Another year, another opening week in the books. A chilly week of baseball included surprising results in Class A, such as Bellmore JFK defeating the back-to-back county champions on opening day and Hewlett coming out of the series with a tie against Plainedge. The winter weather didn’t effect baseball last week, so let’s hope the same happens this week, although there’s another winter storm on the way. Entering the month of April, here are the new top five teams in Class A.
5. Plainedge (2-0-1) (Last week: #4)
Although Plainedge didn’t come out of the series with a clean sweep, there was a ton of promise that came along with the first series of the year. After tying Hewlett 5-5 in game two of the series, the Red Devils bounced back in a big way in game 3 of the series. Starting pitcher Nick Incalcaterra threw a complete game one-hitter in his first career varsity start. If he can provide the same results throughout the course of the season, this Plainedge rotation can be lethal. Stud shortstop Jason Bottari led the team in hitting this week going 6-for-10 at the plate, along with Anthony Puidokas who went 5-for-10 with 3 RBI. Plainedge hopes to win back to back series to open up the year, as they take on Bellmore JFK this week.
4. Garden City (2-1) (Last week: #3)
The Trojans of Garden City opened up their 2018 campaign against their bitter rivals Manhasset. Although they didn’t get the clean sweep they might’ve wanted, they still came out of the week with two victories, earning them a spot in the top five for the second consecutive week. Junior Mike Rasquin opened some eyes this week, going 5-for-7 at the plate. Mike Handal and Andrew Zupicich also chimed in, combining for two homeruns and four RBI. Garden City will face MacArthur this week in what should be their toughest series of the year.
3. MacArthur (3-0) (Last week: Unranked)
A team that went virtually under the radar this preseason opened some eyes this week with an extremely impressive sweep over South Side, earning them the number three spot in this week’s power rankings. The reason this sweep was so impressive was because of the dominant performance they displayed at the plate and on the hill. The MacArthur pitching staff opened up 2018 with back-to-back one hit shutouts. Impressive? I think so. Aside from the ridiculous pitching stats they posted this week, they also combined for 24 runs in three games. Joe Keller was the shining star of the Generals this week, going 4-for-11 with 3 RBI at the plate and threw a one-hit shutout while striking out 15. MacArthur will face the dangerous Garden City Trojans this upcoming week. Going forward, this will definitely be a team to watch for.
2. Wantagh (2-1) (Last week: #1)
All good teams will lose a few games in the regular season, but all great teams find a way to overcome those losses come the playoffs. That’s exactly what Wantagh did last year, and don’t be surprised if they do the same again this year. Wantagh finished the week beating the Bellmore JFK Cougars two out of three games. Their one loss came as a surprise to many, but there’s no reason to panic, because Head Coach Keith Sachs certainly isn’t. Expect Wantagh to bounce back this week against Jericho.
1. North Shore (3-0) (Last week: #2)
A dominant sweep over Floral Park this week earns North Shore the number one spot in this week’s power rankings. Not only did North Shore prove how much talent they have this week, but they showed how deep they are at almost every position. The Vikings outscored their opponents 33-2 last week, so one can only imagine what kind of offensive stats they posted. Dan Livoti and Lackawanna-commit Anthony Carleo led the way at the plate, combining for eight hits and eight RBI’s. With all of the momentum on their side, let’s see if they can keep it up next week against the always dangerous Division Blue Dragons.
