by Mike Anderson
League V brought some of the best baseball teams in Suffolk County to light last year, as four teams won at least 11 games, and three of them won at least 15. That top-heaviness hid some of the scrappy, middle-of-the-pack teams, such as Babylon High School. Their varsity team, led by head coach Mike Birnbaum, showed that they were no pushover school in 2021 and will look to take the next step this upcoming season.
They finished the year in fifth place, finishing under .500 at 8-10. However, they had several bright spots throughout the season. They notably beat second place Shoreham-Wading River in an exciting 11-inning game, handing them one of only three losses from the regular season. They also snapped Center Moriches’ 32-game winning streak dating back to 2018, and later won the play-in game against them which clinched a postseason berth.
So why should someone be high on an 8-10, fifth-place team from a year ago? Well, let’s start with their experience. Coming into the season, Babylon had zero pitchers with varsity experience. They were very young all over, as they started six sophomores in their lineup. Only two hitters from the 2021 Babylon varsity team had varsity-level experience, and those two kids had not played a varsity game since 2019. Considering the fact that they were so inexperienced, yet were able to float near .500 in a very tough league, should spark a lot of hope coming into 2022.
“The big takeaway from the year is that we were competitive in every game… It was a tough task. Definitely our work was cut out for us. For this year, those guys getting that experience puts us in so much better of a place. Me too; last year saw my first varsity win versus my first varsity loss,” Birnbaum said. Birnbaum was originally going to make his debut as varsity head coach in 2020, but saw the year taken from him due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Birnbaum, they graduated three impact players: John Valinoti, Aidan Killeen, and Gavin Conboy. Valinoti now plays Div-III baseball at Wells College. Those three all pitched for them, headlining the group of pitchers with no varsity experience.
Cristino Tufano (Babylon 2023) first varsity HR pic.twitter.com/xwxmVO8HOe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2021
Now with some varsity experience on their side, they have a good core of players that will lead the team this year. They’ll be led by junior shortstop Cristino Tufano, a Div-I commit who is currently committed to George Washington University. Birnaum described him as a “special player with a ton of power and infinite range at shortstop.” Tufano hit four home runs last year. Andrew DiPalma is a junior outfielder who is currently nursing an injury, but Birnbaum hopes to have him back by the beginning of the season. DiPalma, also a football player, has great speed, swiping 20 bases in 21 attempts. Matty Goldstein is a utility infielder who will also pitch for Babylon this year. John King is their catcher, who will be entering his second year as a varsity starter. Rounding out this group is James Bender, a power-hitting senior who hit a couple of home runs as a junior and will be looking to break out this year.
Mattingly Goldstein (Babylon 2023) with a bases-clearing double to give Jr Ducks Elite a 6-1 lead in the second inning pic.twitter.com/TxtWyQDv0v
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 22, 2021
As for the pitching staff, they finally have some guys with varsity experience as well. Joe Connell is a guy to look out for, as he is a good strike-thrower. Daniel Madson, who is a returning junior, will look to have a bigger role in their staff after pitching as a sophomore. As mentioned earlier, Goldstein brings another arm with a year of experience to the staff. Juniors Tyler Molinaro and Joe Hanson, as well as sophomore Colin Schmidt will all be expected to eat more innings for the staff this year.
“We pride ourselves as strike throwers first,” Birnbaum said of his staff.
Birnbaum believes that the team’s defense is their strength.
“Without a doubt, it’s our defense. It kept us in a lot of games last year and I think it’s going to win us a lot of games this year,” Birnbaum said. He also added that their team stole over 100 bases last year, which will certainly help them in the win-loss category.
The lineup is not yet set in stone, as Birnbaum wants to see his players compete with one another and earn their spots.
“The job’s never solidified. You gotta keep going with it… Part of it is going out there everyday and knowing that someone can fill in; that ‘next man up’ mentality. Nothing’s really solidified, but the names listed are definitely pieces that I’m counting on,” Birnbaum said.
In order to improve upon their record from a year ago, Birnbaum wants to see them cut down on their strikeouts. He believes they struck out as frequently as they did due to a lack of experience; a problem that has definitely fixed itself.
With the group of players they have put together, Babylon will certainly be competitive again this year. Given the amount of players they have with varsity experience now, they should be able to take a step forward this year. They will continue to look to add more experience to their young roster, as well as add more wins to their total from a year ago.
Their league will consist of Shoreham-Wading River, Bayport-Blue Point, John Glenn, Southampton, Center Moriches and Mattituck.
They will get the chance to do this starting on March 28, when they play host to Elwood/John Glenn.
