Our @DigmiNation Player of the Game is 8th grader Kyle Salvati who recorded the save in Mount Sinai’s 9-4 victory over Shoreham-Wading River pic.twitter.com/090WdVUNMO
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2018
Mount Sinai is coming off a 12-win season in which they ran into a buzzsaw in Southampton‘s ace, Jem Sisco. The junior fired a one-hit shutout with 11 Ks against a very talented Mustangs lineup that featured four seniors that went on to play at college.
Those players are Ryan Picarello (Adelphi), Jared Donnelly (NJIT), Ethan Angress (CCNY) and George Rainer (RPI).
“We had a really good group of kids,” said Head Coach Eric Reichenbach, who just finished his 14th season. “We were hamstrung a little with our No. 1 pitcher going down and missing the whole year,” he said in regards to Kieran Orlando.
The southpaw is back healthy and they are optimistic about their chances this season, despite the departure of the four impact seniors.
“I fully expect him to be back where he was–he was our ace as a sophomore. Being off all last year, he’s got some work to do, but I believe he will,” he added.
They will field an extremely young team and–aside from their four senior pitchers–they could field an infield with five freshmen, including Kyle Salvati, who recorded a save against Shoreham-Wading River last season on the road as an eighth grader. No need to explain how intimidating that setting can be for any pitcher–nonetheless a middle schooler.
He also spoke highly of infielder Will Rogers, who is coming back from a terrible injury last season when he was hit in the face with a pitch that broke his orbital bone. In his absence, Tristan Werner emerged and put himself on the map. Standing only 5’4, he may be one of the shortest varsity players on Long Island, but his play makes it impossible to ignore. He committed to Radford University following his sophomore season.
“You look at him and you say ‘there’s no way he’s a baseball player,’ but then you watch him play. He’s ranked as the No. 1 second basemen in his class by PBR and he’s every bit of that. He has outstanding hand and foot speed. He’s in the gym seven days a week, he’s the first one in and last one to leave practice. He’s going to have a monster year,” said Reichenbach.
The competition in League 7 is as strong as ever with Shoreham-Wading River, Bayport-Blue Point, Miller Place and John Glenn always contenders.
“We are very young, we are very talented, it’s going to be interesting,” said Reichenbach.
They will open up their season against Bayport-Blue Point.
“They are always a tough series.”
