When we wrote the 2020 season preview of Valley Stream North in January 2020, the world was a very different place, but they were also one of the teams on Long Island that was entering the season with a lot of uncertainty due to their youth. From their 2019 playoff team that was in the playoffs with a 14-9 record, they graduated every starting pitcher and position player. Coach Phil Sanfilippo noted last year that his team was going to be very young and inexperienced. So in that sense, they were not impacted as much as other teams.
“Had we played last year, we would’ve been one of – if not the- youngest team in the county,” said Sanfilippo. They were expecting to have just three seniors and five juniors on the roster. They would’ve had maybe six sophomores starting.
As it stands, they are still a young team with just five seniors. “We are predominantly sophomores and juniors,” he added. One player he is extremely high on is Luke Sibblies, a shortstop/center fielder and starting pitcher.
“He is an under-the-radar kid,” he said. “He’s highly athletic, he’s a five-tool player – very fast with a good arm. He can play either center field or shortstop and he’ll pitch. He’s uncommitted – I think he was a victim of last year getting canceled. He’s grown a lot physically. Last year I think he would’ve had a great year and I still think that. He was crushing the ball in the cage. I’m expecting a very good season. I think he’ll lead the charge for us offensively. He’s a Joe Gisonda-type athlete and can run a 6.7 or 6.8 60,” he added.
Gisonda is currently at Albany, he was the Conference MVP in 2018 and was absolutely incredible for VSN during the playoff run. Overall, he batted .457 with 7 HR and scoring 35 runs. So that’s certainly high praise for Sibblies.
Jack Lang is another player with varsity experience. We was their go-to reliever two years ago. He’s grown a lot since, Sanfilippo noted he is “probably 6’3 or 6’4 now” and called him an “imposing righty.” While he was more of an off-speed pitcher two years ago, his velocity has seen an uptick and can sit in the low 80s now. When he’s not pitching, he will likely man one of the corner outfield spots.
Sanfilippo stated that “we have a group of talented juniors that I have basically seen at clinics and practices for two years, so I’m looking forward to seeing who will stand out. They are a very capable group and I can’t wait to see.”
The challenge for a team like Valley Stream North who is talented but young, is two-fold. For starters, the school did not allow any team workouts until after the February break of this year. That means coach went into the workouts not seeing some of their players since last March. Additionally, many of his top players also play football or basketball or volleyball, which means those players can’t attend any of the workouts. The second issue is that being that they’re young, usually you would count on the scrimmages to figure out a lineup. Tryouts begin on April 22 and the first league game is May 4, that is not nearly enough time.
“Usually after five scrimmages and 2 non-league games are, you know who your starters are,” he said. With that not being the case this year, everything will be condensed. He added, “hopefully we just get better each week.”
Colin McGreevy drives an RBI single up the middle to cut Valley Stream North’s deficit to one run. pic.twitter.com/xqXvTUoEIL
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 6, 2019
Their also dealing with an incredible difficult conference. They will face Wantagh, Plainedge, Bethpage, North Shore, Valley Steam South, Lynbrook, Mineola and Floral Park.
“This will probably be one of the hardest schedules we’ve ever hard – there are no weak teams,” he added. Sanfilippo began his head coaching career at VSN in 2011.
Sanfilippo spoke of the importance of his assistant coach, James Casella “who has been with me in the dugout since day one”. He added, “he offers a wealth of information. He’s a very valuable brain to have along with me in the dugout. If I ever have any indecision at all, all I gotta do is check with him and he always comes up with a really good idea of what to do,” said Sanfilippo.
They will open up the season on May 4 at North Shore.
“It’s a challenging team to open up with – we’ve played a lot of great games against them. We’ve never won one where we didn’t have to bring our ‘A’ game for 7 innings. They really challenge you completely,” he added.
