Walk-off single by Kyle Callahan and Rocky Point defeats Shoreham-Wading River, 4-3, in 10 innings ! pic.twitter.com/520eBR5wGZ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 23, 2019
Rocky Point won the first County Championship in program history in 2018, and came very close to winning another in 2019 with a new Head Coach and only 13 players on the roster. That’s a testament to the culture that former coach Andrew Aschettino instilled, but also the caliber of coach that Anthony Anzalone is.
Anzalone, who was an outstanding hitter in his own right at Rocky Point and Adelphi University, will guide a team in 2021 that has a ton of promise. While they graduated a big senior class in 2019 – headlined by League MVP Mike Gunning – they only had two seniors graduate in 2020, neither of which is playing at the collegiate level. So they feel pretty good about their roster entering this season.
“I give props to my guys,” said Anzalone who is entering third year and second season with the Eagles. “The guys kept in touch and sent their videos of getting their work in on the GroupMe chat – which wound up getting featured on NBC Sports. Most of the kids are back. They’re itching to get going. Even though there was no season last year, I think the chemistry actually go stronger through adversity,” he added.
The team has two players that we named to our Preseason All-Long Island team. SS Cody Miller was named to our first-team as a middle infielder, and for good reason. All he did was bat .389 as a freshman with a ridiculous .488 OBP and drove in 12 runs while playing sound defense. He committed to East Tennessee State University last year and Anzalone noted that he has only improved and gotten stronger since freshman year.
The other is hard-throwing RHP Sean Hamilton. The Stony Brook-commit sits in the upper 80s and can touch 90 with his heater and is expected to anchor the staff.
“They are two players that excelled on the varsity level as freshmen and they’ll be our catalysts for the young guys to keep everything cool, calm and collected for when things get tough. They bought in that they need to eat and train like D-I athletes. They are living it right now,” he added.
Anzalone noted that the pitching staff is the strength of the team.
“On paper, we feel that they are strong, very talented group,” he added. He mentioned LHP Dominick Carbone, RHP Ryan Smith, RHP AJ Walker and RHP Nic Benhart as players that he is excited about.
Uncommitted RHP Nic Benhardt (Rocky Point 2022) up to 87 pic.twitter.com/orrHeFRLX7
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 15, 2021
“They’re buying into what our pitching coach, Brian Glen, is teaching. They are young, talented arms that are starting to understand what it means to throw any pitch in any count.
Rocky Point is a smaller school, but they have consistently churned out college-ready players. Their 2019 class currently has four players (Alex Bonacci, Mike Gunning, Trey Miller and Rob Milopsky) on college rosters and there was only 13 players on that team. This group already has two Division-I commits, with more certainly on the horizon.
They will be opening up on May 8 against Islip at Diamond in the Pines at 5pm. Their league will include them, Islip., East Hampton, Miller Place, Hills West, Harborfields, Kings Park and Westhampton. With their stable of arms, don’t bet against them making another deep postseason run.
