by Chris Sacchi
Like so many teams across the country, Frank Tassielli and his Farmingdale squad are tasked with building chemistry in a short amount of time.
With less varsity experience than usual, overlap between multiple school sports in the preseason, and only eight to ten days to officially practice before game one, coach has a lot on his plate. Yet, one goal remains at the focus.
“It might be a little frantic, 10 days or so before a game, you got to go through the whole process of setting up your defense. We’re going to do a lot of inner squad games,” coach Tassielli said. But listen, the bottom line is we’re going to have some fun.”
“We have to get out there, have some fun with these guys, get used to each other, and become a team instead of just a group of guys throwing a ball around,” coach continued. “And we always seem to have fun. We have some pretty loose practices, but yet, trying to get the work done.”
As for the experience factor, a theme in a lot of these season previews is coaches leaning on the handful of players that have played varsity.
“We’ve got good leadership again, because we have six guys coming back that played a before,” Tassielli said. “We have a good core of seniors, some which have some varsity experience, which is always a plus.”
It’s hard to begin listing players without mentioning Matt DiSanti, committed to Montreat College, who was All-Conference selection as a sophomore.
“He hurt his knee in football,” coach said. “So we’re not going to have him for the season. He was going to be our end-all, be-all. Centerfielder, senior captain, right in the heart of our order.”
“When you talk about a leader, this kid is special. No one’s going to out-work this kid. Unfortunately we’ll be without his services. It’s going to be a big void to fill.”
Despite not benefitting from his on-field production, Tassielli believes that having Disanti in the dugout is still a huge plus.
“He already said, ‘coach, I’m your assistant coach, I’m your volunteer student assistant,” Tassielli said.
“That’s the kind of kid he is. He’s going to come in and he’s going to be the biggest cheerleader, and without even him playing, he’ll get on guys, and make everyone better. Even as a sophomore, he was just that kind of vocal leader that everybody needs.”
“He will certainly be missed in the regards of his playing prowess, but he’ll certainly be leading from the dugout. That shows a lot of character.”
Alongside Disanti is another senior leader with experience in Anthony Quatromani, committed to St. Joseph’s-Patchogue, who coach will rely on as an arm and a big bat at a key position.
“He’ll man the hot corner, and he’s going to pitch one of the days of the week.”
Another former sophomore on varsity, a player coach says has “grown tremendously in all facets of his game” is senior and St. Thomas Aquinas-commit Drew Alameda. Just like Quatromani, Alameda will be tasked with playing a key role (first base) while also helping lead the charge on the mound.
Senior infielder Michael Gardner, who is committed to St. Joe’s-Brooklyn, earned some at-bats as a sophomore, and coach says his hitting ability is too talented to leave out of the lineup.
Matt Hynes is a southpaw committed to Becker College who came up during the playoff run in 2019, and will be vital as coach looks to focus on pitching.
Great hook from Matt Hynes (Farmingdale 2021) to end a 1-2-3 first inning pic.twitter.com/prShSaK1dz
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 11, 2019
“Without the arms. Where are we going? No one’s going anywhere without the arms. So he’s the guy that we’re going to kind of lean on.”
Matt Disanti’s younger brother, Nick, also earned varsity playing time as a freshman at shortstop, while Steve Licata, who can catch, pitch, and play the outfield, did the same.
“The two of them got some playing time against Oceanside in a playoff series. So those guys will be juniors with some varsity experience, which is pretty neat facet.”
As for all returning varsity players, “it’s a tremendous asset,” coach said. “it’s just a matter of, ‘hey, I did this, I know I can do it. I know what’s expected.’ So at least they’re somewhat ahead of the curve; in their preparation, in their mindset, and how they have to adjust. Those are the types of kids that have come back and be able to enhance what we have.”
Another key senior for Tassielli will be Pat Quinn, who is currently the school’s varsity quarterback, and will be part of an experienced infield at second base. Included in that bunch is senior catcher Justin Molina.
As said earlier, coach is looking to have fun and build chemistry with these guys in the limited window before the season; yet, nothing can really gear them up until game one itself.
“There’s nothing like game speed,” Tassielli said.
“We love playing our intersquad games and we set up, we try to have fun. We try to put them in high pressure situations, but it’s still not game speed.”
“We gotta make sure they’re ready. Whether it’s 10 days or 20 days or one scrimmage or eight scrimmages, we gotta figure out how we’re going to pull the right strings, and make sure these guys are coming in all-set on game one.”
They were fortunate to have ace Justin Rosner for the past four years, now they will need to replace him and will need to do it quick with the season rapidly approaching. They will open up on May 7 against Hicksville.
