by Mike Anderson
Several coaches labeled Manhasset as the high school with the best varsity baseball pitching staff in Nassau County last year. That staff led the team to a 16-5 record, and spearheaded their 13-game winning streak going into the county finals. They even won game one, before South Side was able to take games two and three to advance to the LIC. Head Coach Mark Giardino credits not only their pitching staff, but also their team chemistry for their success.
“The kids bought into each other. It really didn’t matter who was in the lineup on any given day. Everybody pulled for each other. It’s cliche to say that ‘You’re only as good or successful as the last guy on your bench,’ but that was the truth with us… Everybody knew their role, accepted their role, and excelled in their role,” Giardino said.
They lost a couple of guys to graduation, most notably pitchers from their dominant staff. Patrick Jarvis is now pitching at the Div-I level for Princeton, while Andrew Moy and Andrew Flood are pitching at the Div-III level. Moy now attends Swarthmore College, while Flood is at Washington and Lee University. Teddy Mouhlas was a starting outfielder for them as well, and they will look to replace his bat from the middle of the order.
Luckily for them, they do return a lot of players for this year. Senior catcher Mikey Brunetti is going into his fourth year as a starter, compiled an absurd .506 on base percentage last year. He hit five home runs last year along with 23 RBIs and 20 runs scored, and was named unanimous All-County. He will be going to IMG next year, and will be one of the early names to watch for the Diamond Award.
“We’re going to go as far as he takes us,” Giardino said.
Not over yet – Manhasset has rallied back here in the sixth inning to make it 6-5. A wild pitch and a 2-R single by Mikey Brunetti cuts it to a one-run game pic.twitter.com/QJmoa9xSxC
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2021
Jake Moss is a senior who is committed to play Div-I ball at the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton. Last year, he battled Covid-19 and a finger injury, yet was still able to amass 54 strikeouts in just 25 innings pitched. He will be their ace heading into this year, and has been lighting up the radar gun this offseason. They also have Christian Antonopoulos, a senior who is committed to pitch at the Div-III level for Salve Regina. Brendan Trotta is another senior who is committed to Gettysburg to pitch at the Div-III level. Theo Zacharia is a left-handed junior pitcher who is slated to get more innings this year as well, as he enters his second year of varsity baseball. They have another senior pitcher named Mikey Waltos, who Giardino described as a “very good pitcher.”
UPENN-commit Jake Moss sitting 90-91 MPH pic.twitter.com/CwctHVvWGa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 1, 2022
“It’s hard to say who’s going to start,” Giardino said of his pitching staff.
These guys also play the field, as Antonopoulos has been their center fielder for the last two seasons and batted in the middle of the order for them. He hit .426 last year with 15 RBIs. He has been working out at shortstop this winter for Manhasset. Moss and Trotta also play the corner infield. Waltos is their regular shortstop, as well. Giardino mentioned that it might be difficult to get Waltos innings on the mound because there are very few guys who can fill his position at shortstop. Zacharia is also a very disciplined hitter, and plays a good outfield for Manhasset.
One guy to keep your eyes on this year is outfielder/middle infielder Trey Zaffiro, the younger brother of two college baseball players who played at Manhasset before him. Zaffiro got valuable playing time as a freshman, and is now going into his sophomore year. Zaffiro is also playing for Manhasset’s LI Champion basketball team, as they captured the Class A championship on March 12.
“Excellent hitter, excellent fielder. Good pitcher. He’s a ballplayer,” Giardino said.
Giardino says the strength of this year’s team will also be their collective attitude and their depth, as it was last year.
“We often use the phrase ‘Fail Early, Fail Often, Fail Forward.’ We got better as a result of our losses, while some other teams may have crippled… We have strength in numbers. We’re never going to rely on one guy,” Giardino said.
In order to get better, Giardino says they have to defend better.
“Defense came back to haunt us in the end,” Giardino said.
This pitching staff may even be better than last year’s, as some of those arms that they boast currently were overshadowed by an overcrowded pitching staff. Now that they have less arms (yet still a bunch), those other pitchers will get their chance to shine, and may even do a better job than the jobs done before them. Mix that with an elite catcher, and productive hitters, and you have yourselves a title contender. They were on the doorstep a year ago, and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t be in a similar position this year.
Their quest for a title will begin in two weeks from now on March 28.
