At the halfway point in the season, there have been a few outcomes nobody has expected. For example, after finishing with a 1-17 record just a season ago, Hicksville is now the only undefeated team remaining in Nassau County with six games remaining. There’s plenty of baseball left, but at this point we know the best teams in the county. Here are the mid season power rankings for Class AA.
Let’s just into it:
7. Syosset (5-4)
After starting the year off 5-1, Syosset hit a small bump in the road last week as they played the defending state champions. Unfortunately, they were swept as a result. They turn the page to Farmingdale this week, which will be a highly competitive series. Ace Cameron Mayer will take the hill for them in game one, he has been one of the best pitchers on the island this season.
6. Farmingdale (4-5)
With their two toughest series of the year behind them, Farmingdale stands at 4-5 on the season. From here on out, their schedule becomes a little easier. After stealing a game from Massapequa with ace Justin Rosner on the mound, they know they can beat anybody. They also hung tough with Oceanside in a few games, but ended up getting swept. If we know one thing, it’s that the regular season doesn’t mean anything once the postseason arrives. Not only do they have a strong pitching staff, but they have a sneaky offense led by Phil Krpata, Rob Manetta and Jacob Taormina that can put up runs. It’ll be interesting to see how they match up against Syosset this week.
5. Hicksville (8-0-1)
There’s always one sleeper team nobody expects to be a contender, and that award goes to Hicksville this season. As the only undefeated team remaining in Nassau County, Hicksville is playing their best baseball right now and are fired up. Through the first nine games of the series, they made quick work of Long Beach, Plainview and Baldwin. However, those are the bottom three teams in the conference. We will find out very soon if Hicksville is pretenders or contenders, as they are tasked with facing East Meadow and Port Washington over the next two weeks. Expect their strong pitching staff led by Will Stewart and Nick Pathmanathan to lead the way.
4. East Meadow (7-2)
After beginning the year 6-0, East Meadow lost two games out of three last week to Port Washington in a highly-contested series. Although they lost the series, they hung tough with them in every game. If they wish to make a deep postseason run, their offense must string together more runs. Especially when they are facing some of the best arms in the county. East Meadow plays a struggling Plainview team this week.
3. Port Washington (7-2)
In game one of the 2019 season, Port Washington suffered a tough 3-0 loss at the hands of Plainview. Ever since then, this team has been arguably the most impressive team in the county. During their seven game winning streak, we saw series wins over Plainview, East Meadow and a sweep of Long Beach. The story line for them this year is Alex Chang. The Trinity-commit is 3-0 with a 1.18 ERA and has 49 K over 23 IP. With Derek Livingston behind him in the rotation, along with other strong arms, this team can be dangerous if they play to their full potential. They face an undefeated Hicksville team this week.
2. Oceanside (8-1)
Once again, Oceanside is a top two team heading into the heart of the season. Last week, they received three forfeit wins at the hands of Hempstead. Consider this their “bye” week. With the week off, they got to rest their arms for their toughest series of the year against Massapequa. Although we’ve learned over the previous few years that this series means nothing once we reach the postseason, it’ll be interesting to see how these two rivals match up against each other. Expect to see Noah Eisel and Jake Reyer take the mound for them in games one and two.
1. Massapequa (8-1)
After demolishing Syosset in a three game sweep, Massapequa is undoubtedly the best team in Class AA at the midway point in the regular season. Now, they face Oceanside this week with a chance to defend the top spot in their conference. Other than their one loss against Farmingdale, Massapequa has embarrassed their opponents in almost every other game. Through the first nine games of the season, they have scored 127 runs offensively. That averages out to 14 runs a game. We’ll see if they can keep that pace up against Oceanside this week.
