by Chris Sacchi
Casey McKay’s St. John the Baptist baseball team has been a consistent contender for the CHSAA title since he took over in 2016.
With one title, another title appearance, and most recently a semi-finals loss to St. Anthony’s in 2019, McKay has coached a lot of great players. So how does he feel about this year’s squad, ahead of a unique 2021 season?
“This is probably the most talented team we’ve had,” McKay said. “I would almost say since the team’s been nationally ranked in the early 2000’s. It’s more talented than the team we had when we won in 2018.”
“They’re ready to play, they’re hungry to play. We have a lot of college baseball players on this team that are really, really excited for this year to see what they’re able to do and put it together.”
Junior Kyle Chase is a St. John’s-commit who is set to be the team’s ace, and coach has high praise.
“One of the best pitchers in the Northeast,” McKay said. “He’s our horse. I think everybody knows that.” Chase throws “a heavy fastball” and a “legit breaking ball.” Along with his talent, coach is excited about his abilities to lead the team as an upperclassman.
Kyle Chase (St. John the Baptist 2022) up to 90 pic.twitter.com/WDCmelMBy0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 14, 2020
“What I’ve been really impressed with is his maturity, and he has stepped up to be a leader. He’s a captain this year, so I’m looking for a huge year out of him. And I’ve been really impressed with his leadership skills in the off season.”
While Chase is set to be a workhorse, this 2021 season is set to be different for pitchers, considering last year’s high school season was canceled.
“We’ll kind of keep the pitch count down around a certain amount and just make sure we’re not doing anything early and get these guys hurt, especially some of these guys that have a lot of talent…in order to be where we need to be at the end of the season.”
Not only does coach McKay want his guys to be healthy for the stretch run of this season, but he says, for the rest of their careers.
“Keep these guys healthy, not only our season for their future too, as well. So that’s something that we’re going to have to manage this year too, with a condensed schedule, but this is a year that we actually have the ability to do that. So the first time that we’ve had, you know, I can really kind of go seven or eight guys deep with arms.”
Starting shortstop Aedan Ford “is going to throw a lot of innings for us.” Ford made the varsity team as a freshman, alongside Chase, and is another player coach will look for to lead the team.
“We’re looking for him to step into a leadership role and kind of commanding the field this year as well at shortstop and on the mound.”
Also looking to throw big innings this year is junior Justin Arciniegas. Coach describes him as “real talented” with a “wipeout slider,” and the southpaw adds a dynamic nature to the rotation.
2022 Justin Arciniegas coming out of the gate throwing some gas pic.twitter.com/Mirj2zF9eR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 22, 2019
Brentwood transfer Randy Ramnarace, a junior, “has a chance to be one of the better kids in the area. He has a lot of untapped potential,” coach says. ”I’m really excited to see what his ceiling can be.”
A group of college committed seniors brings experience and will be valuable on the mound in this unusual season.
Tom Wilkie, committed to Drew University, Tom Digirolomo, committed to Brockport, and Matt Argentino, who’s committed to Mount Saint Vincent.
According to McKay, with all of this talent, some players will have to make sacrifices.
“It’s a really good problem to have, and I’m not complaining about it, but it’s a situation where it’s a lot of these kids, if it were a different year, they’d be a starting pitcher,” McKay said. “This year, they may have to come out of the bullpen just because of the situation we have and the talent level that we have.”
On the offensive side, Stony Brook commit junior Jason Campo looks to be a presence in the lineup.
“He is a super athletic, big, strong first baseman,” McKay said. “Does a really good job at the plate, handles the bat really well. He’s got legit power.”
Although Campo’s bat will be an impact, coach McKay is also excited about a different part of his game that might sometimes get overlooked.
“One thing I’m super impressed with him is defensively and how he handles first base. He’s very athletic at first base. I think that’s one of the positions and especially high school that is very overlooked, at first base,” coach said.
“Especially in what that league is pitching and defense, I think is super important, especially having an athletic first base in a wood bat league, to get you some outs and steal some outs is something that’s really important.”
Fellow junior Jayden Asencio, who recently committed to Merrimack University, looks to hold the starting position behind the plate for St. John the Baptist. Coach is impressed with his abilities on both sides.
“He’s got excellent plate discipline as a hitter. I think he’s going to plug right into the top of our lineup,” coach says. “He’s incredibly smart. He’s improved tremendously with his athleticism and behind the plate and he’s got pretty good hands and he’s a real good catch and throw guy.”
As a left-hand hitter, McKay says that can be valuable to have in the two spot, not only for versatility, but to give runners a slight edge in stealing bases.
Coach McKay will also be looking at a number of different players to give him quality at-bats up and down the lineup. Seniors who can make an impact include Anthony Gelabert, Marywood commit, Frankie Colletta, committed to Sage University, and Nick Zariello, who is committed to SUNY Plattsburgh.
As you might be able to tell, this team is loaded with gifted players, many of whom are either committed to playing in college, or will do so soon enough. However, McKays says the key for his most talented team in years is everybody sticking together.
“The two things we asked them to do, we ask them to compete and stay together as a team and be a great teammate. That’s the only two things we’ll ever ask of them… and to their credit, they’ve all done that thus far in their careers”
McKay also says being able to do some practice work in the fall allowed everyone to get reacquainted and more prepared for this important season.
However, McKay also says that the summer ball season is beneficial for his players to learn from different baseball minds.
“I don’t want to be the kind of coach that just sits here and says like, ‘Hey, you know, you got to listen to us,’” McKay said. “Guys learn better from different people. The more good baseball minds you could have working with them, I think that’s really important.”
Mckay, who himself coaches with the Long Island Titans during summer ball, mentions some coaches who made a great impact on his high school players: Paul Parsolano, head coach of St. Anthony’s, as well as Jim Clark and Tom Downey with the Titans.
As the late-April start date looms closer for Casey McKay and his team, look for St. John the Baptist to once-again be a contender for a title.
