Spring has sprung which means the varsity baseball season is officially underway. After Wantagh won their third consecutive County Championship in 2018, things are expected to be a little different in Class A this season. While there will be new teams emerging as contenders, there’s also going to be plenty of teams that come into the season with a chip on their shoulder, ready to prove they are worthy of winning. With that being said, here are the preseason power rankings for Class A.
10. Valley Stream North
Competing in an extremely tough conference, Valley Stream North enters the season as “sleepers” in Conference A4. With a lineup consisting of Albany-commit Joe Gisonda and James Saracino, they can give opposing teams nightmares. They also return Chrs Manzi and Colin McGreevy on the mound, both who had under a 2.00 ERA last season. This year, their conference consists of Wantagh, North Shore and Division. While it may be a difficult task to make the playoffs considering their competition, Valley Stream North is ready for any challenge.
9. Mepham
After suffering two tough postseason defeats a year ago, Mepham returns their same core. Not only do they match up well against their conference opponents, but they already have a taste of what Class A competition feels like. 2018 All-County recipient Gianni Macchio will lead the charge offensively, along with Matt Hegig. Marco Baez and Sean White will be at the top of their experienced rotation. Expect St. Anthony’s transfer Christian Rose to make an impact on the mound as well. Mepham enters the season as one of the contenders in Conference A1.
8. Plainedge
One of the two powerhouses in Conference A3, Plainedge enters the season as a top 10 team once again. Although they lost a number of significant bats such as Jason Bottari (Albany), Nick DeMicco (Molloy) and Joe Cottone (King), expect them to have a next man up mentality. Offensively, North-Greenville commit Zach Zarra and Mercer Community College-commit DJ Kregloh will lead the charge. On the mound, they return Nick Incalcaterra, who had a stellar 2018 and will be an early Diamond Award candidate. Behind him in the rotation will be Frank Whitenack and Dom Tuozzo. In a conference where they can easily run the table, expect their most important matchup of the season to be week one against Bethpage.
7. Bethpage
After an early exit from the postseason in 2018, Bethpage is set to do plenty of damage this year. Not only do they return the core of their lineup offensively and on the mound, but they will seek to take advantage of the weak competition in their conference. It’s set to be a two team race for first place between them and Plainedge, who they play the first series of the season. STAC-commit Peter Schimmel and Chris McGuggart return to their loaded lineup, along with Brian O’Boyle and Brody Paola. The top of their rotation features two college baseball commits, Richie Gennaro (Molloy) and Nick Wendling (Old Westbury). If this team plays to their full potential, they can make a deep postseason run and win their conference.
6. Garden City
Coming off back-to-back seasons where they were among the final four teams remaining in class A, Garden City is expected to return with the same kind of magic. Although they lost significant impact players, they still return a solid core. Offensively, this core consists of Binghamton-commit Tommy Reifler, Mike Rasquin, Jake Fraher and Andrew Zupichich, all who started for the Trojans a year ago. Stonehill-commit Billy Duff is expected to lead the pitching staff. Garden City will be tasked with tough competition this season, but there’s no reason as to why they can’t win another conference title. Expect them to be contenders in conference A2.
5. Calhoun
Their first season competing in Class A is expected to be a good one for several reasons. Not able to get the job done as far as winning a county championship in Class AA, Calhoun enters the year as favorites in the newly aligned conference A1. On the mound, they will be led by Fordham-commit Ben Kovel, along with Anthony D’Andrea and Central Connecticut State-commit Matt Monahan. Offensively, they also feature some fire power as they return three-year starter Jake Edwards to their lineup, along with Brandon Borrelli and Jake Marine. The sky is the limit for this Calhoun team.
4. Wantagh
The three-time defending county champions will have a change of scenery this year. Returning only one starter in their lineup, Wantagh will be leaning on new faces who will have to play extremely tough competition. However, never count the Wantagh Warriors out. Coach Keith Sachs has his team in contention for a County Championship no matter what their roster looks like, hence their 25 consecutive postseason appearances. This type of experience is something you can’t teach just anybody. 2018 All-Conference recipient Mason McLane will lead their offense and be in their rotation. Ethan Herman and Matt Saborio are both expected to make a significant impact on the mound. Although there are a lot of shoes to fill, these Wantagh players have been apart of three county championships one way or another, and have learned how to win through past championship teams.
3. Division
As they are every year, Division will be among the top contenders in the county. Their resume speaks of four county championships in 11 years speaks for themselves. The most difficult task they will face is playing in the highly competitive conference A4, which is the most competitive conference in Nassau County. Although their schedule is tough, they have plenty of pieces to dominate their competition. Ace Robert Bradley will lead the way for them on the mound, who was named All-County a season ago. Queens-commit Colin Diez will contribute both at the top of the lineup and on the mound. Offensively, three-year starter Hunter Traenkle and Matt Cavanagh return to the lineup expecting to produce once again. For obvious reasons, this Division team expects to go deep into May. They hope to bring a County Championship back to Levittown in 2019.
2. Clarke
After a disappointing end to their season a year ago, Clarke enters 2019 with a chip on their shoulder. Returning virtually the same exact core, they expect May to turn out significantly different this season. On the mound, Dominican-commit Brendan Turton will be an early Diamond Award candidate. He will be accompanied by fellow Dominican-commit Chris Lydon in the rotation. Captain Chris Giardino will handle this pitching staff behind the plate, and will be a force offensively. Tyler Cox and Chris Cumbo make up one of the best middle infields in Nassau County. After their postseason appearance as a #4 seed in 2018 and getting eliminated early, these seniors will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening again. Expect Clarke team to go deep into May.
1. North Shore
To nobody’s surprise, North Shore enters the season as the team to beat in Class A. The reason why? Their roster is loaded. Last season, North Shore lost two out of three to Division in the regular season and dropped both postseason games to Wantagh. This season, both of these teams are in their conference. Returning almost everybody on their roster with the exception of Anthony Carleo, the Vikings have something to prove against both of these rivals. Offensively, they return Bard-commit Matt Lewin, Michael Tedesco and Will Scarola, all were key pieces in their lineup a year ago. On the mound, they return all three starters. Their elite rotation consists of Sacred Heart-commit and 2018 Diamond Award nominee David Aufiero, Rob Clarke and Dan Livoti. North Shore expects to do big things this season. North Shore seeks revenge early against Wantagh, as they play them to open up the season.
