When they started out 9-0, it appeared Island Trees was destined for a deep postseason run.
Once the second half of the season began, unfortunately, things took a nosedive as they lost their first round playoff game to South Side by the score of 4-2. They finished with an overall record of 12-8 on the season. Head Coach Joseph D’Auria, now in his 16th season as head coach after seven seasons as assistant, noted that they began to struggle once their competition got stiffer from teams like Clarke, the eventual Class A Champion. Facing off against Clarke is nothing new for them, as they have had some classic showdowns over the past 15 years.
Coach D’Auria noted that they defeated them in the County Finals in 2007, but were on the opposite end of it in 2009. They also made the finals in 2011 and 2012, but lost to Division and Plainedge, respectively.
“Last year pitching was our strength, as it will likely be this year,” said D’Auria. “We also had four seniors up the middle – which is very important in baseball – that did a great job for us,” he said. Catcher Charlie Eisele is now playing at SUNY Old Westbury, George Grammar played SS, captain Ryan Costanza played second and they had an All-County CF in Richie Imbro.
While all of those players are graduating, they will be counting on outfielder John Cappa to lead their offense. He was certainly their most productive hitter last year. He batted .368, with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 16 RBI, .939 OPS and played a good outfield.
They will rely on their pitching staff to keep their offense in games.
Senior Andrew Ulrich was All-Conference last season after compiling a record of 5-2, with a 1.28 ERA over 44 innings. He allowed just 40 hits, 10 walks and struck out 46. Another key piece of their team was Greg Carita, who is a senior that was All-League last year. He compiled a record of 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA over 31 IP. He allowed just 23 hits and struck out 43.
D’Auria noted that one of the pleasant surprises of the team was the job of sophomore Robby Stephens, now a junior. He notched 33 innings on the mound, allowed just 26 hits and compiled an ERA of 1.73. Although not a strikeout pitcher, D’Auria stated that he is successful at inducing ground balls.
A possible X-Factor for the team is the presence of RHP James Ecock. He missed last season but is a hard-throwing senior that has been on varsity since ninth grade. D’Auria said they are “expecting big things from him.”
They will head to Cocoa Beach, FL on the 18th to play under the sun in some great weather and get some intersquads in.
He also said that he “is very excited about the group of sophomores” on the team. They have potentially five players that could see time at the varsity level.
Their schedule is difficult to open up the season as they have to face Division, Clarke and Plainedge in three of the first four games.
