by Daniel Lopes
After a 6-10 season that landed Bellmore JFK a playoff spot, head coach Mike Gattus is excited to see what the added year of experience will bring to his team. Last year, the team was made up of mostly underclassmen who were able to get plenty of at-bats and innings at the varsity level.
“We had three sophomores consistently in the starting lineup. One of our better pitchers who started every week for us was a freshman last year, and the lineup was mostly composed of underclassmen,” Gattus said. “I was pleased with the work that my guys put in, and I really look forward to this upcoming season.”
While the team did receive plenty of contributions from underclassmen, they did lose multiple seniors from last years’ team, with outfielder Jake Sherman, pitcher Sam Ostroff, catcher Jon O’Malley, infielder Chris Goeller and Justin Rosenfeld graduating.
The new class of seniors include outfielder and FDU-Florham commit Zach Ganca, who is coming off an impressive junior year. While his skills on the diamond are much appreciated, Gattus is also impressed by the kind of player Ganca is off of the field.
Zach Ganca (Bellmore JFK 2022) pic.twitter.com/4WntZ146m5
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 25, 2020
“My favorite thing about Zach is how hard he plays the game and the example he sets on the field for our entire team. Zach’s always the first one to sprint out of the dugout after an inning is over, he’s always the first one to talk about situations in the field. When I speak, he listens, and he practices hard,” said Gattus. “He’s a coaches dream to have on the team, and I really look forward to seeing what he’ll do for us his senior year.”
Joining Ganca as incoming seniors include Matthew Cohen, Gianni Pace, Blake Peyser, Jake Tolipano, Jack Vesely, and Brad Rowe.
The season will be a special one for Rowe in particular, who will be making his debut on the varsity team. Despite being a member of the varsity team since his sophomore year, the loss of the 2020 season due to COVID, as well as injuries have moved back his debut to this season.
Bellmore JFK’s junior class is filled with contributors from last year, including Chris Field, pitcher Alex Goldstein, Grayson Goodstein, and Ben Mehani. On the mound, Bellmore JFK will also see the return of sophomore Jack Finkelstein, who started their playoff game against Manhasset as a freshman, allowing three runs in four innings of work.
While this team may have remained the same from last year in many ways, there have been some changed in the coaching staff. Namely, they brought on Zach Goldstein to become the junior varsity head coach and Joe Roche to be the varsity assistant coach. Both boast impressive resumé’s as players, including college experience and multiple county championships on Long Island across Class A and Class AA.
“I’m really excited about the staff that we put together for this upcoming season,” said Gattus. “[Roche] is a former catcher, which I think will definitely help our infield, our pitching staff, and of course, help our catchers in both the varsity and the JV programs.”
“Having [Goldstein] in our JV program to help us with player development, I know that, in a year or two from now, we’ll feel the impact and we’ll have varsity-ready guys after their JV experience with Coach Goldstein.” said Gattus.
Bellmore JFK have also made use of their ability to gather in the offseason, holding winter strength and conditioning programs to help build strength and camaraderie within the team.
“One of my favorite things about this group is their willingness to put in the time in the offseason,” said Gattus. “They show up to workouts, they show up with great energy. I’m really hoping that it pays dividends come time for the season to start.”
An absolute moon shoot for Fordham RF Jason Coules (Bellmore JFK 2018) pic.twitter.com/osTiCbJlra
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 16, 2020
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Gattus expects for his squad to continue playing hard and improving on and off the field, regardless of the results on the scoreboard.
Their season will begin on March 28th against Carey High School.
Mike Gattus
Well done, best of luck!!!