By Michael Malaszczyk
Coach Joe Fusco of St. Dominics High School is ready to take the team to new heights this year.
St. Dominics bounced back in 2021, the first season since baseball was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, to have a strong season in the highly competitive Catholic League. St. Dominics finished fourth overall in the league, losing to Kellenberg in the semifinals.
While this is Coach Fuscos first year with St. Dominics, Fusco is no stranger to baseball and brings a ton of experience; Fusco previously worked as an assistant coach at Clarke High School under the tutelage of Tom Abruscato.
We made 2 county championship appearances and won a county championship, Fusco said of his time at Clarke. Fusco also works as a coach for Team Francisco Hitting Academy. We are ranked 37th in the country and number 1 in New York State. Our record in 2 years is 89-25.
St. Dominics saw two players graduate last year: Sean Lane (now playing for University of Maryland) and Dom Camera (now playing for George Washington University). Both are Division-I players.
Maryland freshman Sean Lane (St. Dominic 2021) with a grand slam against Navy pic.twitter.com/RRLUi8z59X
Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 30, 2021
The Bayhawks are going to be senior-laden according to Fusco, although Fusco did state that we will also have some underclassmen contribute as well.
When asked for specific players to look out for, Fusco was quick to name catcher Chris Sais (22), Luca Lopetrone, Luca Goldflam (22), Enzo Carpentiere (22), Derek Torres (22), and shortstop Albert Ramos (22).
On the mound in particular, be sure to look out for KJ Dow (22) and Victor Frederick (24), added Coach Fusco.
Fusco took special note of player Matt Cruz (24). I expect Cruz to be a major contributor, said Fusco. Cruz has already generated a high level of interest from Division-I schools, including Power 5 schools.
St. Dominics has a number of players committed to college on its team: Christopher Sais is committed to SUNY New Paltz, Derek Torres is committed to St. Thomas Aquinas, Albert Ramos is committed to Adelphi, and Enzo Carpentiere is committed to Wesleyan University.
When asked what he feels his teams strengths are, Fusco feels that their offense is key.
Our offense is our biggest strength, said Fusco. We can really swing the bat. We have a lot of team speed and we will feed off of that as a motor to get us going. Our offense is something we work very hard on. Our coaching staffs style is all about putting a ton of pressure on the defense. I think the fact that we are somewhat of an older team will help make the transition quicker to that style than if we were young and inexperienced at the varsity level.
Look out for St. Dominics at bat; Coach Fusco and his staff seem to be of the philosophy that the best defense is a good offense. If St. Dominics can rack up the runs as they plan to, their defense simply needs to play competently enough to get by in order to get them the win.
St. Dominics bench of experienced players will certainly help them engage in this heavy-offense style.
Fusco is not overlooking any opponents; when asked if there are any particular opponents he anticipates facing, Fusco replied The Catholic League is filled with good teams. Were looking forward to being successful in a very talented league.
It will be interesting to see how St. Dominics offense-equals-defense philosophy will play out on the field. But with an experienced team who performed well in 2021 and a coach with a record as stellar as Fuscos, its hard to see any scenario other than success. St. Dominics will make a strong play for the Catholic League Championship in 2022.
St. Dominics opens on March 26th. They will be playing against Syosset in a non-league game.