Over the course of his tenure, Shawn Rush has established West Islip as the model of consistency in terms of Suffolk County baseball programs. Since 2008, they have captured four Suffolk County Championships and two Long Island Championships.
Last season, they once again captured their league title and made a deep postseason run but ran into a terrific Ward Melville team led by the Carl Yastrzemski Award winner, Max Nielsen.
“I’m pretty proud of the group – the seniors did a nice job,” said Rush. “The ultimate goal is to win a county championship every year but that’s not always attainable. We reached the semifinals, it was a disappointing ending but we just got beat. We faced the Yastrzemski Award winner and he showed why,” he said, referencing the 18 strikeout masterpiece by Nielsen.
Despite the season-ending loss, there is always reason for optimism in West Islip, a team that has made a habit of taking home county championships – especially in even years. They won in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
So why should they be confident heading into 2020?
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings)
WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R)Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019
It starts with the pitching staff, led by senior Bobby DiCapua, entering his third year as a varsity starter. He was named All-League as a sophomore and All-County as a junior. Brad Battaglini, a senior headed to SUNY Cortland in the fall, was dynamic as a reliever last year but will transition to the rotation.
“Those are two arms that we feel confident in keeping us in every ballgame,” said Rush. “Not many teams have a 1-2 punch like that. Bobby has established himself at this point and Brad logged massive innings in relief for us. He likes the pressure – he pitched in the 13 inning game against North Babylon and he pitched the last six innings and got the win. He also pitched in the elimination game against Ward Melville in Game 2 and got the win,” he said.
Beyond them, Rush noted that “we are really deep on the mound”, including left-handed pitcher Brian Lundie, a senior who “has come a long way.”
Behind the dish, they have All-League catcher Kyle Haff who is a competitive force of nature. He is a three-sport starts (football, wrestling) and was named the top linebacker in Suffolk County. While he will be the starter, they have four players capable of catching so they will have to contribute at other positions. Two of those players are Nick Sandoval and Mike McElwee.
The outfield should be a strength of the team as well. Rush called Joe Saccente “excellent” and is committed to Cazenovia. Kevin Palm is coming back and “has a quick bat”. Left fielder Timmy Weber – younger brother of Ray Weber, who helped lead the Lions to the NYS Semifinals in 2016 – should make an impact. Rush noted that he missed out on his 9th and 10th grade seasons due to a broken leg but bounced back in a big way in 2019 and helped them win some games.
Infielder Joe Donarumia saw time at 2nd and 3rd base last year and will be a contributor.
One aspect that I discussed with Rush is how many former players he has currently playing in college. In fact, next Saturday will be a big match up between Pace and Queens which will feature his former SS Greg Tsouprakos (Pace) and former third baseman Lou Antos (Queens), but they are just two of the many you will find on active college rosters. So I asked him why players are ready to play at the college level once they graduate West Islip. They range from Division-I (Ray Weber, Jake Guercio) to high-end Division-III (Joe Valentino). They also have one major leaguer (Nick Tropeano), a Triple-A catcher (Patrick Cantwell) and A-ball pitcher (Frank Valentino).
“Success in our program has been going on throughout the years – even before I got here,” he said. “There is a culture of being competitive and waiting to contribute and play. This is my 11th year, kids see the writing on the walls – the better kids that we’ve had become college players. They know they can’t rest on their accomplishments from previous years. And you look at cases where kids didn’t play much in their junior year and they dominate their senior year like a Nick Arnold who barely got an inning as a junior and was lights-out as a senior. Tsoup, [Nick] Valenti, Antos…kids that say ‘here’s my shot, if they miss me over the summer, they’ll take notice next year’. It’s just a culture. I’m just lucky to have kids that are motivated and do way more than I even expect of them. It’s not just good enough to be good – want to be next-level players. I tell people all the time – I’m not re-inventing the wheel, kids are accountable for one another,” he concluded with.
They open up league play against Bellport but have scrimmages against Bay Shore and Sayville.
