Here’s the final out of the game for Island Trees – a strikeout by Vinny Giambona – to send them into the Long Island Championship pic.twitter.com/tlcB1bPIsj
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 18, 2021
Joe D’Auria knew from the time they were in 5th grade that they would be a special group.
“I said this is the group I want to go out with,” said D’Auria, who guided Island Trees to the Nassau County Conference 5 Title in 2021 and will be retiring after this season.
It was an outstanding season, and for those inside the building – it was not the least bit surprising.
“I told you last year, these guys are real baseball players. They dedicate themselves – they play extensive travel ball. I thought this would be the year they’d win – so they were a year ahead of schedule. Once we beat Clarke, 3-1, you just knew last year was different,” he added.
The core of Island Trees’ 2021 team was comprised of juniors – Vinny Giambona, Connor Waiting, Antonio Ducatelli, Justin Mott and Jonathan Uzzo. D’Auria noted that they would’ve been promoted to varsity had there been a season in 2020. Despite losing out on that experience, they hit the ground running last year – rattling off 9 straight wins to start the season and going 14-2 in the regular season. Giambona was undefeated during the regular season and was a virtual lock for a CG with 10 strikeouts every outing.
The playoffs was a bit of a unique format. Conference 5 split into two and Island Trees would play Seaford and Clarke in their own playoff. After getting blown out 17-0 at Clarke to begin the playoff, their backs were firmly against the wall. Additionally, Giambona suffered his first defeat and now they would need to bounce back with their next best pitcher.
Rather than caving, they put together their best work.
First up, they defeated Seaford, 4-1, with Connor Waiting smacking the go-ahead HR in the 7th inning. Robby Stephens earned the win after he had missed most of the season to that point.
Island Trees 4, Seaford 1
WP: Robby StephensConnor Waiting hit go-ahead 2-R HR in the 7th
Island Trees advances to face Clarke for Conference Championship on Thursday pic.twitter.com/R70px0uVzC
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 15, 2021
Next up, they had to face off with Clarke once again. This time, they were equal to the task. They won 8-3 on the road with Robby Stephens ripping the backbreaking 2-run HR to force a winner-take-all. Vinny Giambona earned the save and even escaped a tough 2nd & 3rd jam against the middle of the order.
In that winner-take-all game, Giambona took the ball once again. This time, he went the distance and struck out the final batter to send his team into the LIC against Mount Sinai.
In the LIC, Mount Sinai won a wild game, 8-6, to claim the Conference V Long Island Championship.
Despite the loss, Island Trees had a ton to be proud of and they received the postseason accoladed to prove it.
Giambona was named All-County, 2nd team All-Long Island and was named Conference 5 Pitcher of the Year. He went 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 2 saves. He pitched 46 innings and struck out 70 batters. He is committed to Queens College and will be back this season to anchor the staff. D’Auria described him as “incredible”.
Ducatelli was named All-County, and D’Auria said “he’s the type of player to compete for the Diamond Award.” He batted .370 with .443 OBP, .642 SLG, 1.085 OPS, crushed 4 HRs, drove in 20 runs, scored 21 runs and stole 11 bases. Additionally, D’Auria stated that all his HRs were big. He also started and grinded out the playoff win at Clarke.
Connor Waiting was All-County. He was also named the Playoff MVP of the conference. He batted .396 with 3 HR, 19 RBI, scored 15 runs, compiled a .426 OBP, .642 SLG and 1.068 OPS.
D’Auria stated that Waiting and Ducatelli were critical also because they could be relied on to hit the top pitchers in the conference.
He named two other players as well that are back that didn’t receive enough attention. First is catcher Justin Mott.
“We could not have won without him,” said D’Auria. He handled the pitching staff extremely well, he got on base at a .395 clip and led the team in steals with 16. Another player is Jonathan Uzzo, who is a left-handed pitcher and will likely have a spot in the rotation. He pitched 20 innings, struck out 21 and compiled a 2.85 ERA. He also started in the outfield and batted .292, with a .397 OBP, drove in 12 runs, scored 10 runs and stole 10 bases. He is committed to SUNY Purchase.
They also received contributions from Robby Stephens, who is at D’Youville, Joe Difino, who is now at St. Joseph’s-LI and Nick Drew.
There are a few players that were on JV last year that will be asked to fill roles. Pitcher Joe Meyer was the ace of the JV team and he will compete for a rotation spot. He also scored the game-winning run against Clarke in the playoffs. Joe Moen and James Karras will likely fill spots in the outfield.
They will open up their title defense and D’Auria’s farewell tour against Clarke. He stated that the conference is going to be very tough.
