Without a doubt, the most thrilling part of my job is watching the exciting moments in championship games.
This list will rank those moments by the gravity of their significance. This honestly was the best year since I’ve been doing this when you consider the national impact of some of the stories.
Admittedly, this is a subjective list that can go in any direction but here it goes:
5) Stony Brook Pulls Off Comeback to Capture America East
Under Head Coach Matt Senk, Stony Brook went from anonymity to the national spotlight. While they didn’t make it to Omaha this season, they had another memorable season. They captured their fourth America East Championship of the decade (2010, 2012, 2015, 2019) with a thrilling comeback against Binghamton. They trailed 5-2 in the fourth inning and came back to win, 7-5, with Brandon Bonanno recording the win (3.2 shutout innings). Some notable statistics about the Seawolves this decade as noted by Adam Rubin.
-They recorded wins against every Power 5 conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-12).
-Six players (William Carmona, Travis Jankowski, Kevin Krause, Jack Parenty, Toby Handley, Nick Grande) were named America East Player of the Year.
-They had 20 players drafted; including one first-round pick in 2012 (Travis Jankowski)
-They had 45 All-Conference first-team selections and 31 All-Conference second-team selections. Also 21 All-Rookie team selections.
-.673 winning percentage in conference play.
They had their season cut short in the NCAA Regional when they got a tough draw with LSU and Arizona State in their bracket.
4) Back-to-Back-to-Back for Massapequa
What Massapequa has done over Tom Sheedy‘s tenure is nothing short of spectacular but they have done some of their best work in the past three seasons; capturing back-to-back-to-back Class AA Long Island Championships and a NYS Championship in 2017. This year was especially exciting as they defeated Connetquot, 7-6, in a thrilling game at St. Joseph’s College. In the bottom of the sixth, Nick Schwartz broke a tie with a go-ahead home run to left-center field. In the seventh inning, Connetquot put together a rally and even loaded the bases with two outs and the count went to 3-0. Looking like a tie was imminent, Kenny Galvin was able to bear down, throw two strikes and then coax a game-ending fly ball to right field to end it.
3) Center Moriches Goes Undefeated
What made this such a remarkable story is that they had already won the Class B New York State Championship in 2018 in comeback fashion which was a big story in itself. With the target on their back and the expectation of States-or-bust, they were able to go on a tour de force and bludgeon their competition every step of the way. They played very few games that could even be considered competitive right through the State Finals, with an 11-1 victory, and finished with a record of 26-0. They were deep up-and-down the roster and had the perfect makeup to handle the lofty expectations in stride.
It’s amazing that a team can keep their foot on the gas pedal from day 1 in March through the middle of June, but that’s a testament to their upperclassmen and the coaching of Dennis Donovan. They were the first LI team to complete a season undefeated since Bayport-Blue Point in 2013.
Entering 2020, they have a new Head Coach Paul Gibson III. He has been an assistant the past two seasons so he is familiar with every player on the roster. The challenge will be replacing players like Andrew Auffant, Matt Alifano, David Falco, Alec Maag and Brad Sakellarides. They will be leaning on Rob Copozzi, Jordan Falco and Leyton Pulsipher to anchor the team.
2) Brock Murtha Throws No-Hitter in Long Island Championship
Brock Murtha’s no-hitter sends Sayville to the N.Y. state championship for the first time in program history! pic.twitter.com/HOYA7iindr
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2019
On May 21, Hauppauge defeated Sayville, 4-2, in a first round playoff match up.
From that point on, they flipped a switch and rattled off seven consecutive wins (all in elimination games) to capture their first Suffolk Class A Long Island Championship in program history. While that is enough reason for excitement, it was the final game that really became a story. Notre Dame-commit Brock Murtha, who has taken on almost a mythical feel at this point, fired a no-hitter against Clarke in a 1-0 game. The ensuing celebration was captured by our photographer, Christine Heeren, and has been viewed on various social media platforms MILLIONS of times thanks to Barstool Sports.
1) NY Tech Reaches the Division-II College World Series
There are really two layers to this story–the first is that a Long Island team reached the College World Series. That alone is significant considering it is very rare. Typically the Division-II powerhouses are located in other geographical regions of the country such as Florida, California and South Carolina. Adding to the obstacle is the presence of schools like Southern New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce and St. Thomas Aquinas that have dominated the northeast for this decade.
Enter Frank Catalanotto. That’s the second layer to this story. The 14-year Major League veteran stepped into a situation in which the Bears were coming off a 13-win season after dropping down from Division-I to Division-II. Immediately, he changed the culture–bringing in a staff of former pro players to accompany him. If the hiring wasn’t enough of a head-turner, their no-hitter against Franklin Pierce on February 23 did that.
They continued to prove their legitimacy through out the season and even hosted the ECC Tournament. With the wind at their backs, it appeared they would have a chance to capture the tournament. That did not happen, though, as they lost to Bridgeport twice and it appeared their season would come to a premature end.
As fate would have it, the NCAA selection committee granted them a spot in the NCAA East Regional. It was there that they turned on the jets, sprinting to Adelphi University and pulling off upsets against heavily-favored Franklin Pierce and Wilmington twice thanks to incredible performances by the Axcess Player of the Year, E.J. Cumbo, and their ace D.J. Masuck, who channeled his inner Madison Bumgarner.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, they headed north to face another powerhouse in Southern New Hampshire, a team steeped in tradition. They rode the momentum bus to a 9-8 and 6-3 victory to capture the East Region Championship and head to Carey, NC for the World Series.
Their Cinderella story would ultimately come to an end with losses to Colorado Mesa and Ashland, but the feel-good story continued to make the media rounds for the ensuing weeks as every major publication ran stories on their historic rise to prominence.
They will now enter 2020 with the target on their backs, but having spent time around Coach Catalanotto and Coach Goelz and seeing how good their roster is, this team will not be doomed by complacency.
