by Mike Anderson
Playing in League I of Section XI is always a tall task, and the 2021 season saw no exception to that. Five teams won at least 12 games last season from League I, which held back some younger teams, such as William Floyd High School. Floyd’s varsity baseball team had an up and down year, finishing below .500, yet still being able to show their competitiveness by winning seven games in a very competitive league. Head coach Keith Kobasiuk, now entering his fifth year as varsity head coach for William Floyd, gave an honest assessment of his team’s performance last year, citing a lack of experience as the main reason for their losing season.
“We graduated two seniors who were on the field playing full-time. Everyone else was a junior or sophomore. And with the Covid season, some of those kids didn’t play their 10th grade or ninth grade seasons,” said Kobasiuk. He also spoke about the difficulty the team had of having to deal with the unusual schedules for last season. “Last year’s schedule was a challenge, just how it was condensed… It was the grind of a schedule and a little bit of inexperience that hurt us.”
Having said all of that, Kobasiuk was still encouraged that his team was able to win seven games and finish the season strong while competing in the strongest league in Suffolk County. “Looking at how we won those games, and we won three of our last four games, I think it was something where we had to learn how to compete… And there is something to be said for learning how to win. We played closer games towards the end of the year; we were more competitive. I think for a young group, it’s a maturing process,” said Kobasiuk. The strong end-of-season play from William Floyd certainly gives them hope and raises the expectations for this upcoming season.
Most of that group that finished the season strong will be returning this year to build on that finish, as Kobasiuk mentioned that they only lost two full-time starters to graduation. Those everyday regulars were lefty-swinging outfielder Kyle Dobrie, who is now playing at Div-III New England College, and righty-pitcher Austin Tracy.
Video cuts off right after contact, but here is a home run by OF Colin Ross (William Floyd 2022) one of the top uncommitted bats on Long Island pic.twitter.com/vWDGOCt6z4
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 11, 2021
Some of those core players for William Floyd to keep an eye out for are seniors Colin Ross, Will Winter, Kevin Ohlsen, Justin Backhaus, Jason King, Riley Lake, as well as junior Joe LoMonaco. Ross is a lefty-hitting outfielder who is committed to Div-II St. Thomas Aquinas College, while Winter is a right-handed bat who committed to Div-III Cazenovia College last fall. Ohlsen is their catcher as well as their only other college commit, as he will be playing Div-III baseball at Norwich University next year. LoMonaco is another left-handed bat, and he will likely be taking up a starting spot in the outfield as well.
Kobasiuk also added that he believes his pitching staff is deeper this year, which will help the team win more games. “We didn’t have a deep pitching staff last year. This year, we have some juniors coming in who performed well at the JV level,” said Kobasiuk.
Considering the fact that Floyd now boasts a more experienced roster, and has more arms to eat up innings, they have a great chance to improve this season. But in order to do that, Kobasiuk says that the team has to stay consistent.
“We have to get constant production out of the guys who are supposed to produce. We lost a lot of close games last year, and I think if we’re more consistent, we’ll turn some of those losses into wins,” said Kobasiuk.
Carrying some positive momentum into this year with a more experienced and deep roster sets them up for a more successful 2022 campaign. They will get their chance to start their hopeful bounce back season on March 28th, where they will take on Riverhead on the road.
