Paul Parsolano was named head coach of St. Anthony’s high school in December 2018, which meant there would be a short window of time to familiarize himself with an entire group of players, new surroundings and a new league.
He found a way to get the Friars into the CHSAA Finals against Chaminade, where they were tied 1-1 heading into the eighth inning while facing MLB Draft pick Logan Koester. An unearned run on a bunt wound up resulting in the go-ahead runs to score and they were defeated, 3-1. Despite the loss, the feeling was that the Friars had exceed expectations in the first year of a new regime.
“From the beginning, we spoke about ‘changing the culture’ of the baseball team,” said Parsolano. “We wanted to make them relevant again – when you think about the powerhouses in the Catholic League; Chaminade, Baptist, Kellenberg, Dom’s, Trinity – St. Anthony’s was never attached to the upper-tier baseball teams. By the end of the year, they pulled it off. In my opinion, this is the best league on the island and we are now in the conversation.”
They were able to pull off some impressive postseason victories while facing elimination . The Friars defeated St. Dominic, Holy Trinity, Kellenberg and St. John the Baptist in succession to advance to the Finals at Hofstra University.
That group had five All-League players; Cameron Leary, Steven Rizzo, Jake Barrett, Cameron Dunn, and Joseph Okypych. Of that group, only Okpych returns. Leary, a Boston College-commit known for his sweet-swing transferred to P27 Academy, Dunn transferred to Avon Old Farms, Rizzo is at Franklin & Marshall and Barrett is at SUNY Oneonta.
Jake Barrett’s seventh inning grand slam to propel St. Anthony’s to the dramatic 6-5 victory pic.twitter.com/i0YeWMHms6
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019
Barrett was among the most underrated players in the conference. At various points in the past two seasons he put the team on his back at the plate and on the mound. Never was that more clear than in their playoff victory against Kellenberg, where he went six innings, allowing two ER while also knocking four hits at the plate. Parsolano noted that he always respected Jake the way he handled his business and led by example.
“I was very happy with the seniors last year,” said Parsolano. “I didn’t know any of them when I got there. They didn’t tune me out – they listened and they worked. It took a few months but they turned a corner,” he said.
As for 2020, he is very excited about the pitching, specifically the senior pitchers. He noted that the “baton has been passed and it’s their turn.”
There are six senior pitchers and three of those are expected to form the rotation (Liam Adipietro, Louis Stallone and Joseph Okypych). The other three are expected to be high-end relievers. The pitching staff, in general, is expected to be the strength of the team.
“We are about eight to ten deep. It is absolutely our strength,” said Parsolano.
Adipietro was the winning pitcher in the playoff victory over Holy Trinity and is expected to announce his college decision in the next couple weeks. Okypych, committed to Bowdoin, and throws 86-88 MPH that induces plenty of strikeouts. Stallone, Arkansas-commit, has really impressed Parsolano with his athleticism and strength that he has shown during the basketball season in which he has led St. Anthony’s to being the No. 3 ranked team in the state. He’s listed at 6’9 225 lbs and Perfect Game has his velocity up to 87 MPH. He won one of the crucial elimination games (against SJB) last season as well.
The luxury of the team is that with 10 capable arms, the fate of the team will likely not rest on the success of one pitcher.
Behind the dish, the likely starter is Anthony Capogna, who was called up to varsity as a sophomore but did not see much time. Parsolano noted that both he and Ed Lippert will provide stability at the catching position.
As for the rest of the position players, the offense will be counting on Marist-commit Marco Ali to do some damage at the plate and play steady defense on the left side of the infield. Sophomore Jack Vallario, who took over a starting job as a freshman as the team’s trajectory went upward, will start alongside Ali on the left side. Senior Guy Calla will man first base.
The outfield is expected to consist of captain Gregory Randall, T.J Mulroy and Peter Welling.
One advantage that the Friars have over just about every high school on Long Island is their state-of-the-art student center which is multi-level, 145,000 square feet, 320 feet long, 220 feet wide with 30 foot high ceiling with an olympic track, mounds and turf.
Parsolano said it’s something that most high schools simply don’t have access to. And beginning next year, they will have a fully turfed field as part of the Richard Reichart Complex, which will be attached to the student center – so getting students to enroll in the school is never an issue.
“That’s why this has been my dream job – to have all of this,” said Parsolano. “We will be able to reload every year as opposed to rebuild.”
He also mentioned that the job of his assistant coaches Greg Naccari and Frank Trimarco has been excellent in terms of the logistics of coaching a team, right down to his attention to detail setting up batting practice groups and putting information into spreadsheets. Their new hitting coach, St. Joseph’s grad Paul Britt, has hit the ground running with the bats on the team and Parsolano said he “came in and immediately put together an 8-week hitting program” that has yielded results for the hitters already.
They will open their season on March 31 with a rematch of the Finals against Chaminade. Mark your calendars for that one.
