Final: Longwood 1, Connetquot 0
WP: Danny Gargano
S: Tommy VentimigliaSac fly Vicidomini in the second. Game 3 tomorrow pic.twitter.com/DZxXwSfXXv
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 29, 2019
In 2019, Longwood took Connetquot to the brink in the Suffolk Class AA semifinals. The teams traded wins in the first two games before Connetquot captured the decisive Game 3 by the score of 2-0 to move to the Finals while Longwood had their season end with a record of 18-8.
Heading into last year, they appeared to be in great shape once again. They were going to be led by a strong group of seniors which included:
Kyle Allen (New Haven), Justin Classie, Nick Classie (Ulster), Derek Hardison, Ryan Kilcarr, Brian Monahan, James Myler (Bryant), Ty Orologio (Ulster), Ryan Owens, Brayden Pollock, Dylan Toledo and Giuseppe Vicidomini.
Coach Ryan McSherry felt very good about that group but they did not get their senior season. This year’s team will open up on Friday against Brentwood at 4:30pm. They recently concluded their tryouts and McSherry noted it “was a really difficult tryout. We had a lot of genuinely good kids that made our job really tough. It was one of the more difficult years,” he said in regards to the quality of players that were at tryouts. They will enter the season with a roster of 21 that included 9 seniors.
We named Tommy Ventimiglia as the Axcess Baseball Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The Stony Brook-commit was lights-out for them in 2019 in which he went undefeated record of 4-0 with a 0.28 ERA and 2 saves. He was at his best in the biggest moments. He has a chance to get selected in the upcoming MLB Draft and has been up to 92 MPH with his heater. Simply put, when he is on the mound they have a huge advantage over their opponent. McSherry said he’s “had his fair share of interest from scouts so far.”
Joining him in the rotation is Dominican-commit Josh Dannenberg. McSherry called the RHP “a very polished arm. We like what he brings to the table.” Rounding out the rotation is Ryan McCann.
He stated that there will be a competition for the innings in the bullpen. Some of the names include Dylan Govin, John Herbst, Austin Wenz, Sean Langan, Connor Doyle and Liam Ryan.
Behind the dish is a three-way competition between Rocco Hall, Brendan Mair and Anthony Caracciolo.
Joe McDonald (Longwood 2021) pic.twitter.com/ilJxmCTNwO
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 30, 2021
Joe McDonald, who is committed to Manhattanville, is their only other player that accrued varsity time in 2019 aside from Ventimiglia. McSherry stated he has a “good bat, he runs well and is good all-around defensively”, he will play 1B and outfield.
Kyle Jones, Matt Dragotto and Justin O’Neill will compete for time in the outfield. McSherry stated that their junior class is very strong and they have SS Devin Montalvo, who “has a good approach at the plate, a very good glove, great hands and great footwork.” Classmate Preston Gerena will pitch and play the field. Mason Mehling will play outfield and contribute all around the diamond. Lastly, junior Jake Hall is another potential impact player, McSherry said he will pitch and “he plays very aggressively, he comes to play.”
Their only sophomore that was called up is second baseman Louis Kaleb who “is a very good athlete, he’s multi-dimensional and is probably the next starting QB on varsity.”
McSherry said the strength of the team is in their versatility. They have plenty of players that will be contributing all around the diamond. He said “we have very good depth and we have a lot of multi-dimensional guys.”
Speaking about the season in general, he said “we are happy to be back, we feel good about the team. They’re very coachable, it should be a very fun season – just being around everyone. They have good attitudes.”
