It’s been five years since I really started following high school baseball here on Long Island. Back during the 2016, I tried to really immerse myself in the game and I was covering games 5 days per week – while bartending at Lombardi’s on the Bay on the weekend – so I did miss out on some action at times. But through conversations with high school and travel ball coaches, I attempted to compile a list of the Top 10 prospects on Long Island. This was not meant to be a prediction of who would have the longest and most successful career, but in that snapshot in time I wanted to gage who had the highest ceiling as a prospect. Like anything else in media, it got some attention from people that enjoyed it while others scoffed at it. I can laugh now, because I really had no business compiling a list like that during my first year of analyzing the product. I feel much more comfortable now that I have a point of reference and I have seen all the seniors play for a few years now.
Anyway, here’s what the list was back in 2016 – which has been taken off the internet since we switched from Baseball on the Island to Axcess Baseball.
10. Jason Diaz, Kellenberg
9. Kyle Martin, Oceanside
8. James Cardinale, Commack
7.Sam Kessler, Mount Sinai
6.Nick Grande, Smithtown West
5. Mike Palazzolo, Hills East
4.Straton Podaras, Chaminade
3. Brian Morrell, Shoreham-Wading River
2. Kyle Young, St. Dominic
- Matt Hogan, Hills East
Of that group, Kyle Martin and Sam Kessler are active professional players so they were probably too low on the list. Nick Grande and Kyle Martin both retired from professional baseball – and Grande probably should’ve been higher on the list since he was an All-American at Stony Brook and won our Axcess Most Valuable Player Award in 2018. Brian Morrell was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, so he had the makings of a pro player but chose to attend college and is currently at St. John’s. Podaras is a fifth year senior at Radford and certainly can be a pro player just off his defensive abilities behind the plate. Hogan is currently a junior at Vanderbilt – and just the fact that he’s still on the roster is impressive considering they are among the most successful college baseball programs in the country and he committed as a freshman. Diaz transferred from Miami to Hillsborough CC to Monroe and is ready to finally begin his collegiate career. Cardinale is at Hofstra – he was thought to be a two-way player but is just a pitcher now. Palazzolo went to Stony Brook, but a neck injury cut his playing career short. He really had a chance to have the type of collegiate career that Grande had, so it’s a shame that was taken away from him.
With hindsight being 20/20, I would make a revised list – but this one will include all high school players during 2016 and not just the ones on this list. So 2020 graduates are not eligible.
Honorable Mentions: Mark Faello, Logan Koester, Straton Podaras, Anthony Fontana, Anthony D’Onofrio.
10. Tim McHugh, Commack 2019
9. Matt Hogan, Hills East 2018
8. Brian Morrell, Shoreham-Wading River 2017
7.Nick Grande, Smithtown West 2016
6. Joe Savino, Connetquot 2019
5. Sam Kessler. Mount Sinai 2016
4. Kyle Young, St. Dominic 2016
3.Kyle Martin, Oceanside 2016
2. Ben Brown, Ward Melville 2017
- Logan O’Hoppe, St. John the Baptist 2018
