Islip fielded a very young team in 2021 – they graduated three impact players – Connor Ruland (Mercy College), Matt Flood (Farmingdale State) and Nick Classie.
The benefit of that is that their younger players took their growing pains and that typically bodes well for the future. Head Coach RJ Going is optimistic about their program considering their talented young players that earned valuable experience last year – specifically the 2023 class.
RHP/OF Dylan McKenna was named All-League last season after batting .380, but he is also a talented pitcher and he should be an impact player for them. OF Ethan Ferrera was up on varsity last year as well and he batted .300 during his time.
Today we will have coverage of Harborfields @ Islip
Here’s sophomore George Trimigliozzi warming up. He struck out 16 in his first varsity start last week pic.twitter.com/Ue6itGAvxt
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 22, 2021
One player I’m looking forward to watching is RHP George Trimigliozzi. He is a bulldog on the mound and he struck out 16 batters in his first varsity start last year. With his velocity sitting in the mid 80s, he is a tough customer out there. When he’s not pitching, he plays various positions and will help with his bat as well.
Junior Shawn Ryan sits in the low 80s as well and commands his change up. He should provide some rotation stability as well.
Nice change up from Shawn Ryan (Islip 2023) at 73 MPH. Fastball 80-82 pic.twitter.com/X4LXVPG9PN
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 7, 2021
They do have a senior that they will be counting on and that’s shortstop Joe Urban – he is a three-year varsity player and is a top-of-the-order type of hitter.
The Bucs compete in a difficult League 6 which features Sayville, Mount Sinai, Miller Place, East Hampton, Harborfields and Amityville. Mount Sinai is the reigning Long Island Champs.
Going stated that the team has been doing their winter workouts – which is normal for this time of year for them. He stated that they will be leaning on their talented core of juniors this season and that they are “looking to flip the narrative and be much more competitive than in year’s past.”
He stated that while it was challenging to play an 18 game season in just over a month last year with inexperienced varsity players, they all gained valuable experience from it.
They open up with a non-league game against Mattituck and their first league game will be on March 29 against Miller Place.
