It was a banner year for Newfield in 2018. After a long playoff drought of 13 years, the Wolverines were able to overcome the negativity of their near-misses and put it together for a 15-win season.
That pitching staff was among the most impressive units assembled on Long Island. With three Division-I pitchers (Kyle Johnson, Bobby Vath, Ryan Wappaus), they were able to trot out a quality arm in every game of a series. In addition to that, the staff was deemed even more impressive with the commitment of Chandler Giovinco to Hofstra and the flurry of interest that Dylan Johnson has generated among high-end schools. When it’s all said and done, we will look back at a 2018 Newfield team that boasted five Division-I arms on one staff.
Despite that, it was a quick postseason exit due to a cruel twist of fate.
They were able to secure home-field in their first-round playoff game but ran into arguably the best 2019 pitching prospect in our region in Joe Savino. The big RHP was outstanding, he twirled a two-hit gem needing just 73 pitches. Vath settled down after allowing an RBI double in the first inning and that was basically all Savino needed as he sliced through their lineup with surgical precision.
With the upset of No. 17 Bay Shore over No. 1 Smithtown East, that meant that Wolverines needed to go on the road against the top-seed, who were hellbent on continuing their season. The Wolverines lost 5-1, which ended their playoff run prematurely.
Despite the exit, Head Coach Eric Joyner was undeterred.
“We played pretty well in the playoffs,” said Joyner, who is entering his fourth year at the helm. “We did what we had to do. We ran into two very good teams. Connetquot with Savino and then Smithtown East being the No. 1 seed,” he added.
The obvious challenge this season is replacing their leader, Kyle Johnson, who is now a freshman at Stony Brook. Lauded for his leadership qualities, calm demeanor and abilities in all aspects of the game, he was a part of their turnaround from also-rans to a 15-win team.
“We lost a leader,” said Joyner. “He was with us for three years on varsity, he hit, pitched and played defense. It’s tough to lose. We lost a lost of seniors. Those kids really stepped up,” he added.
Losing Bobby Vath is a big loss as well considering the impact he had on the pitching staff. Like Johnson, he was a three-year starter and solidified the rotation. He is currently a freshman at the University of Rhode Island.
The good news is that the team returns experience thanks to Giovinco, who we named to the Preseason All-Long Island team and Kyle’s younger brother, Dylan, who is certainly on the path to become a Division-I player.
“We have a chance to be as good as we’ve ever been. Giovinco has seen a lot of time. This summer he was up to 89 MPH. He pitched as well as anyone,” he said. Unbelievably, in two of his losses, he combined to allow a total of THREE hits. He lost a two-hitter to West Islip and a one-hitter to North Babylon.
Dylan Johnson (Newfield 2021) gets the start for Body Armor pic.twitter.com/jWjpjGRvde
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 24, 2018
Dylan was up to 87 MPH, he is a member of the vaunted 2021 BODYARMOR team with players like Sean Lane, Luke Orbon, Patrick Jarvis, Mike Freda and Coltrane Calloway. He was trusted with starting in the Metro Classic at St. John’s University this summer, which means even on a team of studs, he is at the top of the rotation. They will be counting on him to be a critical piece to the team, even though he’s a sophomore. He certainly is talented enough with enough experience against high-level competition that it is reasonable to expect that.
Rounding out the rotation will likely be St. Joseph’s-commit Michael Manzolillo, who is a capable right-handed starting pitcher in his own right.
Offensively, they will be only tasked with scoring a few runs per game with their pitching staff likely throwing up zeros every game.
“I think we have the potential to be better than we’ve been offensively,” he said.
Junior catcher Mike Prisco is healthy for the first time in his career. He’s a left-handed hitting catcher that is built well at 6’1 205 lbs. He has had a cruel knack of getting hit with pitches that have caused some minor injuries. Even with the missed time, he hit over.400 last season and has garnered interest from some Division-I teams like Stony Brook.
Joining him is senior Anthony Hernandez. Joyner said he’s “looking for him to help us out.” With the amount of seniors last year, he was relegated to coming off the bench, but they are confident that he will step up this season and hit in the middle of the order.
Additionally, Joyner is high on senior Rudy Cannavale. He noted his power potential and good work ethic as reasons for optimism. “He had some productive at bats for us last year–we like this kid,” he added.
By moving up to League III, they will not have too compete with West Islip, but they will have to compete with Smithtown East, who I believe is just as dangerous this season.
They will open up against Copiague for the third straight season. Look for Newfield to make another postseason appearance thanks to the presence of their dominant rotation.
