The most vital piece in a successful season is often experience.
Returning several key players this year, the Bethpage Golden Eagles have their eyes on a shot at the conference title. For many reasons, they can be considered one of the two favorites in Conference A2.
After the “catch of the year” in their play-in game against South Side and a win against the #4 seeded Clarke to start off their postseason in 2018, Bethpage seemed ready to shock the world.
Unfortunately, they had a disappointing end to their season as they lost the next two games causing them to be eliminated. These seniors still have a bitter taste in their mouths, so expect them to come out firing and shine in big moments.
In total, the Golden Eagles return seven starters from last year’s playoff team.
In 2018, they struggled in the beginning of the season due to the core of their lineup consisting of sophomores and juniors. Now with experience under their belt, there should be little-to-no more growing pains.
At the top of rotation, Bethpage returns two players who will play baseball at the next level. Molloy-commit Richie Gennaro and SUNY Old Westbury-commit Nick Wendling. Gennaro was named All-League last season and Wendling threw a no-hitter. Expect them to lead the way for the rest of their pitching staff.
Rounding out the rotation, Bethpage contains a group of seniors and juniors who will combine for crucial innings on the mound. Seniors Sean Dalton,
Mike Mkrtichian, Tom Giacomello and Dylan Teuschler all showed flashes of talent last year, so expect them to pitch to their full potential in their final season.
Senior Brody Paola will handle the pitching staff behind the plate. After fighting through some injuries last season, Brody proved he could handle the job and is ready to make an impact.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles are led by STAC-commit Pete Schimmel, and junior Chris McGuggart, who was named All-League in 2018.
Other key players in their starting lineup include sophomore Pat Dalton and junior Matt Fantry. Last season, Dalton made an impact as the only freshman in the starting lineup. Expect him to do even more damage this year.
A huge addition to the talented Bethpage lineup is junior Brian O’Boyle, who missed most of last season with a leg injury.
“Brian came back at the end of last year and immediately showed what impact he could have with a big home run against Clarke in the playoffs,” stated Head Coach Rob Fisher.
As far as competition, the Bethpage schedule doesn’t include many opponents that match their skill level. Conference A3 consists of Hewlett, South Side, Roslyn, Glen Cove and Plainedge. If all goes as planned, it will be a fight to the finish between Plainedge and Bethpage for the conference title.
The Golden Eagles open up against Plainedge on April 8th to begin the season, which will be their most significant series of the year. Expect the senior heavy lineup to be fired up and ready to go.
