It was less than three years ago that East Meadow rode the right arm of Joe Minucci and the power bat of Zach Fritz to the Nassau County Class AA title.
Now entering 2019, fifth year Head Coach John Marciante is excited about their chances to compete for another title. Last year, they were defeated by Massapequa in the quarterfinals with a starting lineup that was composed of two sophomores, five juniors and two seniors.
“We were young last year,” said Head Coach Marciante. “We are hoping the experience they gained helps them this year.” He went on to add that they will miss the presence of Patrick Hoffman, an All-County LHP/1B who is now at Molloy, as well as Billy McQuillan, who went 16-5 during his three-year career and is now at NYIT.
The roster this year will likely consist of nine seniors, which bodes very well for their chances.
Leading the charge is Molloy-commit Charlie Cucchiara. The RHP was a Diamond Award Finalist last season. Marciante spoke extremely highly of his ace.
“On the mound he’s just so steady,” he said. “He was 5-0 as a sophomore on varsity, a Diamond Award Finalist last year. He’s a guy you just stick out there on Monday and he keeps you in the game. He saves the bullpen for the rest of the week. At the plate, you plug him in and he gets on base and drives in runs. He’s a smart player. Last year we played him at first, second, third and even SS.”
Despite the high praise, Cucchiara is far from the only contributor this season.
Junior CF Sean Kennedy batted .362 as a sophomore and also compiled a 1.86 ERA with 15 strikeouts over 15 innings as the top relief pitcher. He will bat leadoff, play CF and slide into the rotation.
Dominican College-commit Tyler Patterson is another critical piece to the team. He is an outfielder by nature but filled in at catcher last year due to positional-need. He batted .318 and drove in 19 runs. He has started since he was a sophomore and is an All-League player.
Danny Molina started as a sophomore and batted .397 last season. Marciante noted that he was hitting in the mid .500s for much of the season before he slowed down towards the end of the season. He added that the junior is a great on-base guy.
Last but not least, he mentioned Sean Brody. He “has grown physically over the past year and is 6’1 or 6’2 now. He throws pretty hard and has good command. He will contribute on the mound,” he said.
Keep in mind that the volume of Nassau AA schools has significantly diminished over the years. For reference, when East Meadow won the Counties in 2016, there was 18 AA schools in Nassau. In just three years, that number shrunk to 12. This means there’s simply less competition, especially schools like Calhoun that would’ve been in their league.
They will open up their 2019 season against Long Beach, as they look to regain their magic of 2016.
