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Who Were The Favorites For The Paul Gibson Award?

Sports fans and media love playing the what if game.

Growing up a die-hard baseball fan, I always wondered what if Jeffrey Maier doesn’t reach over the outfield fence and catapult the Yankees dynasty? What if Barry Bonds doesn’t feel slighted by the media coverage Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa received in 1998 and decides it’s not worth it to take steroids? And what happens if Duaner Sanchez decides not to take a cab at 2 am causing him to miss the rest of the season and the Mets make the World Series in 2006?

This year we are playing a different type of what if game

What if the season started on time and continued unimpeded through May?

Let’s start with the Paul Gibson Award, which is given to the top pitcher in Suffolk County. Last year it was won by Joe Savino of Connetquot . The year before that, it was won by Ryan Foran of Eastport-South Manor.

Here’s a breakdown of the top candidates:

The Favorite:

Aidan Crowley, Shoreham-Wading River

Aidan burst onto the scene in 2019 with 25 consecutive no-hit innings to start the season (three straight no-hitters) for SWR. He committed to Boston College this summer and we named him preseason All-Long Island. He’s built extremely well at 6’2 and has scene a spike in velocity from the mid 80s last year to the upper 80s this year. I think what would work in his favor is that he wouldn’t be facing the League I and II hitters like some of the other names on this list. With his velocity, his experience and his tenacity, he was a safe bet to dominate all season. Not many pitchers will openly admit that they take the mound trying to throw a no-hitter every time. Aidan has that type of mentality with each start. He cites Justin Verlander as his favorite pitcher in the big leagues, and it’s not hard to see why.

Other Top Candidates:

Ryan Hynes, Ward Melville

I was really only vaguely aware of Hynes until Game 1 of the Suffolk County AA Finals back in June. He took the ball against a loaded Connetquot lineup and all he did was throw a two-hit shutout to improve his record to 7-0 on the season. Ward Melville never ceases to amaze with their depth of quality arms. Hynes committed to Molloy after the ceiling – and they are getting quite a steal. He commands all quadrants of the strike zone. Really, if you just watched that outing it’s hard not to be really high on him. No moment was too big for him, I think he really bore down when he needed to. He has enough fastball to get swings & misses on it and pulls the string with a nasty change up at will.

Rate Schlesinger, Sachem East

At this point, I’ve written and covered Rafe extensively so there’s no secret here. The strides he has made since I first watched him in 2017 have been massive. While there was reason to believe I was looking at a future Division-I pitcher back then, there is reason to believe I am watching a future professional pitcher now. The clean arm action and command predict a bright future. Last year he was mainly low 80s and now he’s touching 92. His frame is pretty much ideal from a scouting perspective. He has a lights-out change up as well. The question I had this year was how frequently he would mix that change up in, considering the allure of throwing fastballs past everyone. The reality is that in League I the hitters can time the heater, especially righties on good-hitting teams. The Miami-commit has a big summer ahead of him where he will likely be invited to all sorts of workouts where he will be scrutinized, but right now there’s not much to nitpick about him.

Dylan Johnson, Newfield

Dylan entered 2019 as the number two or number three starter, behind Chandler Giovinco and with Mike Manzolillo and by the middle of the season, he was anchoring the rotation. He was voted by our audience League III MVP and shortly after, committed to St. John’s. He put on 30-35 lbs of muscle while maintaining his arm slot and actually increased his velocity by a few ticks. He’s sitting 87-89 with that deadly slider. He has a low 3/4 arm slot which is death on righties. He’s a tenacious competitor and it will be fun to watch him compete next year.

Tommy Ventimiglia, Longwood

During the high school season, ‘Venti’ started out as an unknown sophomore getting called up to varsity and wound up as one of the most effective pitchers in the Class AA playoffs. Time after time, he showed his mettle.

It started May 21 when he came on in relief at Smithtown East with the bases loaded and he recorded the strike out to end it.

Again on May 24, he faced Smithtown East but this time he got the start. He was positively dominant over six innings, striking out eight and allowing just one run.

The finale came on May 29 when he came in to preserve a 1-0 lead against the eventually AA Champion Connetquot T-Birds. He came on and struck out his future Stony Brook teammate to force a do-or-die Game 3.

All told, he compiled a record of 4-0 with a 0.28 ERA and 2 saves as a sophomore in League I.

He even continued that into the summer when we covered a game in which he struck out 13 batters. He parlayed that into committing to Stony Brook and was slated to enter the 2020 season as the ace for a talented Longwood team. What stands out about him is his fastball command and also his flair for the dramatic. Most starting pitchers do not like pitching in relief, especially on short notice. He was able to do that twice in huge moments last year. The 6’4 RHP sits primarily in the mid 80s but another off-season of strength training will likely see an uptick to 88-90 next year where he will become a name to follow for the draft.

Craig Pihlkar, Commack

Pihlkar is an imposing figure on the mound – standing about 6’6. The UCONN-commit showed his potential in the postseason last year for Commack and continued that through out the summer. Coach Bonin noted that he was likely to be their ace this season. His fastball is up to 89 MPH and can command it. What separates him is his breaking ball that will spin righties into the ground.

Brock Murtha, Sayville

A player can’t win the Yaz Award and the Paul Gibson Award, but I will include Brock on this list regardless. He is easily the best two-way player on the island right now. He has 28 career home runs, 13 shy of the New York State record established by Ross Gload in the early 90s. On the mound, he’s a work horse. He formed a formidable duo with Eric Foster in 2019 which was a huge reason that Sayville won the Suffolk Class A Title for the first time in program history, but the reason they won the Long Island Championship was clearly due to Brock elevating his game to another level on the biggest level. He went against a loaded Clarke team that had over 20 wins and a lineup led by several scholarship-type players. He not only silenced them but threw a no-hitter. Suffolk teams have not had much success against him either since he started pitching in 9th grade. He works in the upper 80s, can touch 90 but has the ability to dial down his effort in order to work deeper into games, which I think is smart. The Notre Dame-commit has an uncanny feel for the big moment – not just in baseball but also football – as he led the Golden Flashes to the LIC against Plainedge.

Bobby DiCapua, West Islip

Bobby has never really had a bad start at the varsity level so it’s impossible to leave him off any list like that. Although he has recently increased his velocity to the mid 80s, he pitched mostly in the 80-82 MPH range the past two seasons and that hasn’t impacted him at all. With his sedated heartbeat and his fastball/change up command, he has been consistently one of the best pitchers on the island and thrives in pressure situations.

Jordan Falco, Center Moriches

Jordan flew under-the-radar last season due to the sheer volume of talented players on the team. Despite this, he still went 6-0 and entered 2020 as their likely No. 1 pitcher. He’s the younger brother of David Falco, now a freshman at Maryland. He doesn’t throw 97 like his brother, but standing 6’6, he has plenty of room to develop more velocity. He has outstanding pitchability, with great command of his fastball and breaking ball. Obviously no stranger to the big moment, he definitely is someone you can lean on in a crucial game.

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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