RJ Going was a part of three County Championships while playing for Islip from 2007-2011 including two Long Island Championships. Now the Head Coach, he is tasked with re-building the program after some lean years while playing in the shadow of some strong Class A programs.
The future of the team appears to be in good hands, especially considering they may have six sophomores playing roles on this team which usually bodes well for the ensuing years. Beyond that, they have eight 8th graders that could wind up playing JV – another sign that there’s some significant players on the horizon.
In the interim, they will be led by three returning varsity players. Connor Ruland, a Mercy-commit, was named All-League in 2019. He is a definition of a versatile player as he can play any infield position and pitch. At Mercy, he was recruited to catch, so he is a swiss-army knife for Islip. Going stated that he will be pitching and playing all positions, mainly out of team need.
Connor Ruland (Islip 2021) with a double to left. He comes around to score on an E1. Ducks lead 3-0 in the fifth. pic.twitter.com/5XJIH2A1yZ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 18, 2020
Nick Classie is another returning player from 2019. The senior will catch and play right field. The third returning player is junior Joe Urban. Going mentioned that he will play SS and he will surprise a lot of people.
“He’s an under-the-radar kid,” said Going. “He was going to start for us last year. He’s a high-academic kid. I think he’ll play in college and make a school happy, he has a high IQ – that’s why he’ll play SS for us. He’s a kid you love to root for,” he added.
The pitching staff is a question mark at this moment, simply due to the inexperience. There is a chance that two of those spots will be occupied by sophomores.
“We have some good young arms, we’re going to be a pitch-to-contact team. With our defense, I think we’ll be better than we’ve been,” he added.
Going noted that the team played in some close games in 2019 that they lost, but when they played together this summer, they were able to reverse those fortunes and win a lot of close games.
“Our team chemistry is at an all-time high,” he said. “Everyone gets along – everyone works hard. We’re trying to change the culture here,” he added.
They will open up on May 8th at 5pm against Rocky Point at Diamond in the Pines.
