John Downing fires a complete game and Chaminade captures the first ever CHSAA NYS Championship pic.twitter.com/0zCtFUooL1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2022
2022 was a dream season for the Chaminade Flyers and they are set to be rewarded for it.
The Flyers compiled a record of 25-2 – and captured the first ever New York State CHSAA Championship with two hard fought victories in the tournament. Additionally, both of their losses on the season were by one-run.
It was perhaps the greatest group of talent a Long Island team has put together this century. They had double-digit Division-I commits on the roster (that number will continue to climb as more of the underclassmen commit), and their entire 2022 class of 15 are all now on college rosters.
The stats are remarkable. The Flyers had 13 shutouts and a team ERA of 0.74. They were led by the trio of JJ Gatti, John Downing and Andrew Heiderstadt on the bump, but any reliever they brought in would’ve been a starter on most other teams.
Offensively, they had the CHSAA Player of the Year in OF Nick Ungania – who is now at SUNY Binghamton. The speedy outfielder batted .418 with 30 runs scored, 32 stolen bases and 27 RBIs. They also had SS Nolan Nawrocki drive in the winning run in each of the NYS tournament games.
With the announcement this week of 3B Mikey Cervoni committing to Stony Brook, that makes the entire infield Division-I players. They had Matt Dieguez (Fordham) at first base, Brady Steinert (Marist) at second, Nolan Nawrocki (Clemson) at shortstop and Cervoni at third with Brian Heckelman (Towson) behind the dish.
In the outfield, Ungania covered CF, with Evan Baschnagel (Maine) and Aidan Katzman (Manhattan) in the corners.
It was just a remarkable season for the three-time defending champs. Head Coach Mike Pienkos will also be named HS Coach of the Year as well for the job he did.
The 2022 Axcess Awards Banquet will be on Saturday, November 5 at the Hilton Long Island. Purchase tickets by clicking here.
