by Mike Anderson
Sophomore Sean Costello comes through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th for Seaford to beat Clarke 5-4 pic.twitter.com/hEzPO6q0nh
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2021
After falling just short in the county finals tournament, Seaford High School will look to have another good year in 2022. Last year, they put together a very strong showing, going 14-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play. They were ultimately eliminated by Island Trees, who went on to win the title. Despite a disappointing end, Seaford has a lot to look forward to in 2022.
Despite losing a pair of all-county players to graduation (pitcher Tom Hartmann and shortstop/pitcher Anthony Ippoliti), Seaford has a large core of returning players, as 15 are expected to be back in 2022. Several two-way players headline this group, such as juniors Nick Apollo and Sean Costello. Both players went All-Conference in 2021. They did just about everything for Seaford, but were particularly effective with the bat in their hands. Apollo batted .286, while Costello hit .349 in 2021.
“Nick is as good a defensive third baseman as we have had here in my 22 seasons… Sean will move around a lot for us. He is a very versatile player and high school teams need that,” said head coach Mike Milano.
Milano also mentioned senior pitcher/infielder Evan Block, who was the team’s two-hole hitter last year and batted .326. His strong play earned him All-League honors. Rounding out the list of impact hitters for Seaford is senior outfielder Brian Fader, who bounced back from a slow start to hit .360 in 2021.
Seaford’s pitching staff has lots of depth, as they have several quality arms in their arsenal this year. Headlining the group is senior Jack Kellner, a Div-III SUNY Maritime commit. Also in that group are seniors Ryan Robins, Ryan Reeves, and Joe Bello. Don’t forget the aforementioned Block, either. They have several juniors, too, such as Billy Kind, along with Costello and Apollo.
“Newcomer Billy Kind, who like Apollo last year, seems to have really grown into a nice frame for the position,” Milano said.
Costello and Apollo combined to do good work on the mound as sophomores last year. Costello was second on the team in innings pitched and posted a 2.81 ERA, while Apollo did not surrender an earned run in 7.2 innings.
Milano explained that they do not yet have definitive roles determined for the pitching staff, but all they really care about is that they get quality performances from their guys.
“We have nice depth, which should help in this 2022 A4 schedule… All season it will be 21 innings per week of baseball, at least. It really doesn’t matter to us who goes where. We just want to get quality innings day-in and day-out to keep improving throughout a tremendous schedule,” Milano said. He also mentioned that the amount of choices he and his coaching staff have is “exciting,” in regards to the pitchers.
The lineup is not definitive yet, either. The Seaford players will be competing amongst one another for spots in the lineup.
“As is the case with the pitchers, it will be some of the stiffest competition that we have had in many years,” said Milano.
According to Milano, this team’s depth is its strength. Not only do they have a lot of arms that they like, but they have several hitters with defensive versatility that can help make a difference if-need-be. For example, they have four catchers, who Milano described as “top quality.” Bello is one of those catchers, while the other three are senior Jared Brown, junior Stephen Ierides and junior Kevin Knox.
“Their competition at winter workouts has been fun to watch. I’m comfortable saying that any one of these four could start behind the plate defensively at maybe half the schools in the county. Each of these guys also play other positions and will practice at multiple spots day in and day out,” Milano said.
One thing to look out for this year is an uptick in extra-base hits for Seaford, as Milano and his coaching staff challenged his hitters to add power to their swings.
“We have not been happy with the lack of power in our lineup, so we challenged the entire high school baseball community to get stronger. From what we are seeing, many of these guys have taken that challenge seriously,” said Milano.
An experienced roster with a lot of depth is a coach’s dream. Milano will be working with quite the team here at Seaford, with plenty of options on the mound and in the lineup. In order to get better this year, Milano says his players have to be dedicated and buy in.
“Seaford High School ballplayers have to come to the ballpark everyday ready and willing to execute the plan that is in place for them that day… We think they will be ready for the challenge… A high school baseball season was such a special thing for me and can be priceless for these kids if they give it everything they have for their school,” Milano said.
Seaford will be looking to have another successful season and maybe go deeper into the playoffs this year. They will get the chance to start this campaign on March 28, when they will face off against Wantagh to open their season.
