By Michael Malaszczyk
The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and varsity baseball is getting closer.
Coach Phil Sanfilippo of Valley Stream North had a lot to say about the upcoming baseball season in an interview with Axcess Baseball. By his own words, Coach Sanfilippo and his assistant, James Casella, are looking forward to a season less-stunted by the coronavirus pandemic than the 2021 season.
“The last year was very much impacted by COVID,” said Sanfilippo. “This year, we’re starting very late, but not necessarily due to COVID.”
Coach Sanfilippo had plenty of thoughts about his team’s 2021 season, which was very successful considering the circumstances.
“After a slow start, we won 3 of our final 4 games, including an important win over Plainedge to qualify for the playoffs,” said Sanfilippo. “We lost at North Shore in round 1 of the playoffs. We were happy to get better as the season progressed, but once you qualify for the postseason you always want to go on a run.”
Coach Sanfilippo felt that the team’s slow start was partially due to player Michael Capolino (‘22) being out of the early games.
“We were without Michael Capolino, a key arm and bat, for multiple league games early on, and his return helped us turn the year around,” said Sanfilippo.
While Capolino will make a full return in 2022, Valley Stream North did see a couple of players graduate in 2021. These players include Jack Lang (now playing at Keene State) as well as Luke Sibblies and Ryan Restivo, whom Coach Sanfilippo described as “two excellent athletes in the infield, who were both very dependable defensively”.
Sibblies’ graduation will be particularly felt at the position of shortstop. “We have some good athletes there now,” said Sanfilippo. “The question will be, who will be able to consistently make routine plays look routine.”
Nevertheless, despite the loss of these players, Valley Stream North will see a number of strong players return in 2022. These players are the aforementioned pitcher Michael Capolino (‘22), left fielder Andrew Lusterino (‘22), pitcher/infielder Jimmy Strohlein (‘24), Ethan Ramnarain (‘22), and Eric Castrogiovanni (‘22).
Of those players, there are no college commitments at the moment.
Coach Sanfilippo was happy to share personal thoughts as well as the stats of his key players.
“Andrew Lusterino is a returning All-Conference player for us. So he was a left fielder for us. He basically led the team in all offensive categories last year. And he really set the tone for us all season, and I would expect him to do the same. He’s a top of the lineup type of hitter, a very good athlete who can try to actually walk on next year as a D1 college football player. He was kind of like our heartbeat, offensively all season last year,” said Sanfilippo. “Michael Capolino – he missed a bunch of league games early on in the season. But when he came back, he got into a groove. He was a really impactful player, missed games, then started slowly, then ended the season playing very good baseball. We beat Plainedge, who was at the top of the conference at the time, basically a must-win for us to get into the playoffs.”
It sounds like in terms of offense, Valley Stream North will be in a great position with Andrew Lusterino and Michael Capolino. There is a big up-and-comer on Valley Stream North’s pitching staff; Jimmy Strohlein.
“He’s a guy who I really expect to take the next step, especially on the mound,” said Sanfilippo. “He pitched as a reliever last year. He wasn’t a starting pitcher, but he was only a freshman and he’s shown a lot of improvements so far this year. I do think he’s going to be a very good pitcher for us for the next three seasons, beginning this year in the rotation.”
Players Ramnarian and Castrogiovanni are also looking strong; Ramnarian’s stats include a .377 OBP, and Sanfilippo described him as a “strong defender in centerfield”. Castrogiovanni’s stats include a .356 OBP, and Sanfilippo described him as having “strong receiving skills behind the plate”.
Given that Valley Stream North has a strong defense, Coach Sanfilippo feels defense will be their biggest strength in 2022.
Coach Sanfilippo himself brings a strong baseball pedigree to Valley Stream North’s 2022 season; this will be his 17th year involved in the baseball program and his 12th year as lead varsity coach.
He feels that his team will really have to hit the ground running on opening day. “We open the season with six consecutive league games vs teams that won championships last year; Bethpage and South Side,” said Sanfilippo. “After that stretch, there is zero let up, as we play Division and Manhasset, two top notch playoff teams from last season. Finally, we end with 6 games vs Lynbrook and Floral Park, two teams we played very close baseball games with last season. We go against 6 strong programs with excellent coaching staffs and very good players on every team. There will be no easy games at any point this year, so if you are an average baseball team in this league, it will be a long year.”
Given Valley Stream North’s late season success in 2021 and its returning players who experienced it, they will be a strong team in a hopefully-COVID-free year. Look out for them to make it into the playoffs yet again, and potentially go even further.
Valley Stream North’s opening day is set for March 25th. They will be playing against Valley Stream Central.
