After four days of wall-to-wall baseball at Moriches Sports Complex, we were able to crown championships at the 14, 15, 16 and 17/18 age group.
The winners were:
14U- KA Elite Junior Ducks
15U- Diamond Spikes
16U- Black Diamonds
17/18U- Junior Ducks
It took several months of planning, but it was almost all derailed by the pandemic that delayed the start of the 2020 season until July 6. It was almost derailed again with a huge storm that swept through Long Island on Wednesday night and parts of Friday morning. For those that have followed Axcess Baseball for a few years, you know how a dark cloud hangs over at out events. It started in 2016 with Dowling College closing the day before the Battle of the Border. Later that year, had to cancel a Home Run Derby. Once again, the first Awards Banquet was threatened with a deluge in December 2016. It goes on and on, and we even had a tornado nearly prevent the Ducks Stadium Showcase last August! Regardless, it went down and I’m thrilled. Here are some observations of my takeaways.
The Champs
Each team took a different path to the finals. The KA Elite Junior Ducks and Junior Ducks-Caputo both went undefeated. Caputo’s team was so dominant, they won the finals over Dodgers Nation in a run-rule victory. They were simply dynamic and I was very impressed with their arms. I’ll get into that more in a bit. As for the 15U championships, the Diamond Spikes defeated LI Elite, who entered with a record of 2-0. The final score, 7-1, was not indicative of the type of game it was. It was a 2-1 game until the fourth, the game was slow paced as the heat forced the pitchers to work deliberately. Glen Saenz was the star for the Diamond Spikes – he wound up going the distance, showing plenty of flare on the mound and also recording two hits and three RBI at the dish. At the 16U level, the Black Diamonds overcame a lose yesterday and qualified for the playoffs due to their runs allowed. They defeated the ESM Sharks in the late innings, winning 5-4 with Patrick DiCapua recording the go-ahead RBI. In the championship game, Alex Czarnomski threw a complete game over B1000 Seminoles – who beat Pat-Med 6-5 on a walk-off error in the bottom of the seventh. He was in control for the entire game, striking out the last batter to seal the deal. The Black Diamonds, which is mostly consisted of the West Islip varsity team, plays good defense and pitches well – as you would imagine. They won 3-1, in a game they held the lead from the jump. The Junior Ducks were outstanding in all four games, allowing just two runs total on Saturday before beating Oil City Bandits 7-4 in the semifinals and 11-1 in the finals.
Standout Performers
-Pat Dalton (Bethpage 2021) showed a lot in his gutsy complete game victory over SSK Strong. That team can swing the bat. He had a shutout through six innings until he hit a wall and walked in a run but he was untouchable for most of the game. Sat in the low 80s, hit 85 at least once that I saw. Pitches with confidence, showed a lot of grittiness in big moments. He committed to Cortland last week. As everyone know, they are a DIII powerhouse that relies on high-end players with Division-I or II ability to stay local.
-Phil D’Aguanno (Bethpage 2021) is an uncommitted pitcher that should help a lot of team. He topped 83, but in my estimated, he doesn’t need velocity to succeed. He has great command to all quadrants of the strike zone and generates plenty of swings and misses. I think he can be a Division-II starter.
-Billy Kender (Mepham 2021) hit an opposite field HR in the semifinals on an 85 MPH fastball. It was an impressive piece of hitting to go the other way with authority.
-Brendan Williams (West Hempstead 2021) recorded the win in the semifinals. He’s a 6’5 LHP that was sitting 85 MPH and topped at 87. He’s uncommitted and would be a steal for any program. Division I upside.
-John Rizzo (East Islip 2021) is a polished RHP that recorded the win in the finals. He is a big reason that the Redmen will be one of the favorites to win their league next year. He is the prototypical Division-II starting pitcher.
-Tyler O’Neill (Mepham 2021) is a hard-throwing RHP that can also catch. He was sitting 85, touched 86 with a sharp breaking ball at 70 MPH. I could see him being a closer at the Division-II level.
-Hayden Leiderman (Roslyn 2021) turned some heads when he was sitting 87 on Saturday. Great arm, and he also had an RBI hit on Sunday on a breaking ball that he stayed back on.
-Ryan Brewer (Bay Shore 2020) is headed to Johns Hopkins in the fall. He hit two home runs on Saturday. He has power to all fields, the HR I saw was to right center. Batted over .400 for Bay Shore as a junior. Very high-end student that will be successful.
-Andrew Smith (Southampton 2020) is going to be an impact bat at Queens. He gets two hits every time I see him. He can hit velocity or breaking balls. He may also see some time on the mound but I think he’s good enough to make a difference next year in the ECC.
-Alex Czarnomski (West Islip 2022) and Matt Gordon (West Islip 2021) both pitched very well during their outings and I think they will be impact pitchers for the Lions next season. Not overwhelming velocities, but threw strikes and had no nerves out there.
-Dante Morabito (Pat-Med 2021) threw 6.1 IP in his victory on Saturday. Threw strikes, works quick, mixes it up. Fastball in the low 80s. Typical Pat-Med pitcher that is unflappable in big moments.
-Josh Knoth (Pat-Med 2023) is only entering his sophomore year in high school but you can see his upside is high. I actually first saw him two years ago during a TOB league game where he struck out 12 in a complete game. The ball explodes out of his hand. I think he just needs to control his emotions better on the mound and mix in breaking balls as I saw three straight hits on first pitch fastballs. But again, 80-82 MPH is not usually what you see from freshmen.
