When Long Island baseball fans refer to the “glory days” of the NSCHSAA, they are most likely referring to the 2009-2012 period in which it seemed like every team had 5-7 Division-I players.
During that time, Holy Trinity won two of those years – led by southpaw workhorse Alex Robinson. The big lefty with the high leg kick and overpowering fastball was named the New York Gatorade Player of the Year, posting some gaudy numbers on the bump. He went 7-0 with a 0.41 ERA with 109 strikeouts over 51 innings. He allowed just 14 hits and walked 22 batters. He also fired a couple no-hitters and won Game 1 of the Championship series against St. Anthony’s.
When I asked how anyone ever got a hit off him with a low-to-mid 90s fastball in a wood bat league he chuckled and said, “they usually didn’t.”
One former opposing player, Kevin Hutzel, who was the catcher at St. Anthony’s and played collegiately for Rhode Island and Adelphi had the following to say:
“As a senior I recall facing Alex Robinson in the second round of the Catholic High School League playoffs. It was an elimination game at Farmingdale State College and he relentlessly pounded the zone. He showed great poise and exuded confidence – which was impressive, but even more so that he was a freshman. His 2-seamer had great life making it extremely difficult to barrel up. Later in life, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear he went on to play ball at the professional level,” he added.
Robinson played his collegiate ball at Maryland where he helped lead them to two appearances in the Super Regionals during his three-year tenure before he selected in the fifth round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Now 28-years-old, Robinson peaked back the curtain on his career that ended earlier than he would’ve liked and discussed how it led him to the next phase of his life.
The Early Days
Robinson grew up in Hewlett in a family that was passionate about baseball. He stated that his grandfather is Panamanian, so naturally he grew up a fan of Mariano Rivera.
He said that he was really only focused on playing baseball and that’s what his parents spent money on. He grew up a fan of both hometown superstars – David Wright and Derek Jeter, but the player that had the biggest impact on his career was Dontrelle Willis – who was notable for his high leg-kick which Robinson adopted for himself.
During his younger days, Alex played in the Valley Stream Little League but made the switch to the South Shore Baseball Academy. He took private pitching lessons with Steve DiMarco every Friday night.
Holy Trinity
Playing for legendary head coach Robert “Hondo” Malandro, Robinson knew they had a talented team. In fact, Robinson remembered that confidence came from Malandro who called four of the team’s top sophomores into his office and told them they were likely to win the league championship in both 2010 and 2012.
Those players were Jack Parenty, Patrick Madigan, Joey Devito and him. They all wound up playing Division-I baseball, as did their backup catcher, Chris Hardardt, who played at Hofstra. The starting catcher that season was Javier Rodriguez, who went to Albany.
Their team was loaded and they defeated St. John the Baptist in the finals in a two-game sweep. Robinson pitched 6 innings in the clinching game with 10 strikeouts and Ricky Van Allen closed it out. Holy Trinity finished with a record of 20-6. They also had the Player of the Year (Anthony Brunetti). It was their first title in seven years.
That was an important moment for Robinson because he noted that Hofstra’s head coach was at the game and wounded up offering him a scholarship. He stated that he also got offers from Virginia, Duke, St. John’s and while he was thankful, he was interested in “playing down south like most kids despite not really knowing what that entailed.”
After the season, Robinson played travel ball for the Taconic Rangers – one of the premier programs in the northeast. He pitched in two tournaments including one at the University of Maryland.
While pitching at Maryland, he pitched three innings and was told by Bob Fletcher (head coach of the Rangers) to “pack up your stuff, coach wants to see you.”
Coach was Erik Bakich, who met with Alex and offered him a 75% athletic scholarship – which is the highest that Division-I schools offer. Robinson was thrilled and accepted the offer.
During the 2011 season, Holy Trinity was not able to repeat as champs with a younger team. Chaminade, led by a powerhouse pitching rotation and SS Thomas Roulis, defeated St. Dominic, in the finals (hosted by Holy Trinity).
The next year, however, they came out with a vengeance and Robinson was right at the center of it all.
As mentioned in the intro, Robinson was not only the best player in the league but the best in the state. He was lights-out from wire-to-wire and he recollects one game in which he struck out 19 against St. Mary’s in a no-hitter and Maryland head coach was there, along with some pro scouts.
“He didn’t even let me take off my cleats after the game and we went to the pizzeria down the road from Trinity. He told me he was upping the scholarship offer to 100%. My dad was jumping up-and-down.”
The Titans took home the championship in a thrilling three-game series against St. Anthony’s at St. John the Baptist.
Holy Trinity had five Division-I players and championship series MVP was Tyler Kapela who wound up winning a Skyline Conference title with SUNY Old Westbury in 2015.
The 2012 Championship remains the most recent one for Holy Trinity.
As for Robinson, surprisingly his 92-93 MPH fastball did not result in him getting drafted. He noted that there was two reasons for this. First, it was the first year of the slotted money in the MLB Draft, and he was not interested in signing for less than slot. He remembered that the New York Mets had reached out and stated they would like to take him in the supplemental round for under draft slot, but that he told them it was “first round or nothing”. But he also stated that he was “a thrower and not a pitcher” and he really just threw every pitch hard – whether it was a fastball or a slider.
Following the season, Robinson recalled that the head coach of Maryland that recruited him, had left the school to head to Michigan. Bakich told him he wanted him to come with him, and Robinson was interested but “I told him I wanted to go south not north.”
In order to stay sharp for college, Robinson pitched on a national team called the Midland Redskins. He recalls that the “team we had was ridiculous.” They had Andrew Benintendi, Ryan Burr and Max Schrock who all ended up getting big league time – and obviously Benintendi has seven years of big league experience including a World Series championship, Gold Glove and All-Star appearance.
Robinson looked back on that with fond memories, noting that they won the Connie Mack World Series, and he estimates they rattled off over 40 wins in a row at one point in the season.
Maryland
Prior to college beginning, Robinson stated that he left off with the Maryland coaching staff that they planned for him to be the Sunday starter, and he had the inside track to being in the rotation.
He noted that during the summer, he suffered two sprained ankles playing basketball and he was unprepared for college and the coaching staff was not happy. During that time, he was long-tossing from his knees to build back his arm strength and it worked – as he was able to regain that fastball into the low 90s.
He wound up having a really great fall and earning that spot in the rotation. He made his collegiate debut at Alex Box Stadium against an LSU team that was led by Alex Bregman. Robinson said it was really great to be able to pitch with his dad in the stadium. He went 3.1 innings with 6 strikeouts and 6 walks. The 2013 was nothing to scoff at for the freshman southpaw who pitched 57 innings to a 4.89 ERA in the ACC.
Robinson transitioned to the bullpen during his sophomore season and he responded with a 2.87 ERA and held opposing batters to a .232 AVG. That Maryland team was loaded, they went 40-23 and rattled off 11 wins in a row before losing to UNC and Georgia Tech in the ACC Conference Championship.
They qualified for the NCAA Regional where they promptly won all three games against Old Dominion and South Carolina (who had been 28-0 when hosting postseason games). The following weekend in the Super Regional, they had their season end in three games against a talented Virginia team that featured three first round picks. It was the most wins in a single-season for Maryland.
Following the season, he was placed in the NECBL where he asked if he could start. He started four games and finished with a 3.38 ERA.
All Maryland did the next year was have an even better season – finishing with a record of 42-24. They lost in the Big Ten Championship to Michigan (and former head coach), but they did receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Regional. They responded to being the No.3 seed (Robison noted they felt disrespected by that) and beat Ole Miss before knocking off the No. 1 team in the country, UCLA, two out of three games who featured first round pick James Kaprelian.
The following week, however, they lost the Super Regionals in two games to Virginia for a second straight season.
Maryland had eight players from Robinson’s recruiting class drafted including his roommate and future big leaguer, LaMonte Wade Jr. Robinson had a lights-out season – compiling a 1.63 ERA out of the pen over 27.2 innings.
Robinson received a called from the Baltimore Orioles saying they would like him to pitch at a workout at Camden Yards the next day at noon in front of the entire front office. He noted that it was a bit of a surprise and the team had been out celebrating the end of their season.
Despite the short notice and perhaps dehydration, he was able to sit 94-96 MPH in front of all their decision makers. He recalls that he was told that they were eyeing him with their second round pick. He told his family and close friends to be on the lookout.
The second round came and went. He was selected in the fifth round by the Minnesota Twins (the second of his Maryland teammates). Robinson stated he wasn’t even watching because he was playing Call of Duty and his phone was on the charger, but he heard his dad screaming and yelling in the other room once he was selected.
Pro Ball
Robinson noted that he reported to “E-Town, TN” which is Elizabethton and they play in the Appalachian League. He pitched 12 innings with 16 strikeouts but unfortunately the command was erratic as he walked 16 batters and allowed 12 runs.
One of his fond memories was playing alongside big leaguer Miguel Sano during his rehab stint.
“He hit some baseballs where I would watch and my mouth would just open.”
Despite the numbers not being where he would’ve liked them to be, Robinson was left-handed pitcher that was touching 99 MPH with his heater and he was young. He was able to get his ERA down in 2016 and 2017 – and he was also promoted to High-A ball for the Fort Myers Miracle.
During this time, he stated this was the most fun he’s had. The Minnesota minor league system was loaded with future big leaguers that wound up contributing to their powerhouse 2019 team that won 101 games and became the first team in MLB history to surpass 300 home runs in a season.
Some of his teammates in 2018 included Byron Buxton, Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, Jorge Polanco, Travis Blankenhorn, along with several big league pitchers that made rehab assignments like Phil Hughes, Michael Pineda and Trevor May.
On the downside, Robinson began experiencing some shoulder pain in 2018 and had surgery to repair torn labrum and rotator cuff.
He stated that the last pitch he threw professionally was to future big leaguer Dylan Carlson and it was an 80 MPH fastball down the middle that Carlson hit 405 feet for a home run. Robinson jokingly said he was shocked it only went that far.
In 2019, he attempted to make his return to pro ball and he was back up to 95 MPH just 11 months later. He felt like he was back on track and he even revamped his arm action to be shorter a la Joe Kelly and Lucas Giolito. He felt this would help with his command entering 2020.
During a spring training game, he pitched 1 inning, he threw 12 pitches and struck out the side.
The next day everyone was sent home due to COVID.
Robinson was living in Maryland and had nothing to do – like the rest of the world. He was told to keep throwing, and he did so by hanging a tarp over a tree branch in his backyard to simulate a long toss. He did the best he could, but there was no minor league season in 2020.
In 2021 when Spring Training resumed, he stated that he just couldn’t find his command.
“They told me I could stay in High-A, but I saw the writing on the wall. I was 26-years-old, I didn’t have the best track record. It was what it was. I decided to retire at the end of spring training.”
Robinson said he took 2 weeks off to clear his head and took a remote sales job.
“I hated it and I quit after 2 weeks.”
Current Day
Looking for the next chapter of his life, Robinson contacted some people that he used to give lessons to. He would go to their house to train and give pitching lessons. He said, “I was basically a traveling baseball coach.”
But once it got colder and the days got shorter, he said people were asking him where they could train and he didn’t know. So he started to ask around for space at indoor facilities but the prices to rent were outrageous and he said, “They wanted $100 for one hour, and I’m not asking my guys for $300/lesson.”
So after consideration he reached out to his mom, dad and brother and they decided to open up their own indoor training facility on December 1, 2021 called The Yard Baseball Academy.
They started with just training but then added a college team called The Yard Wolfpack. He noted that four of his 2023 graduates are committed to colleges.
“We run a pretty tight ship. I learned a lot from the culture at the University of Maryland and Holy Trinity,” he added.
All of their coaches played Division-I baseball. In fact, his brother just graduated from Maryland last year and was the starting pitcher in an 11-inning victory in the NCAA Regional against UCONN.
He is currently an assistant coach at Maryland.
They have recently added 2024 and 2026 graduate teams. They also have a coach that played at Towson University. Robinson noted he is the oldest of the organization’s coaches, which is a plus as they can help with the college recruiting process being so closely removed from the game.
He added that they have a physical therapist and nutritionist to assist the players to ensure they have all their bases covered.
“I used to have to Gold’s Gym and workout, do physical therapy on my own, I had poor eating habits. It was a pain in the butt. We’ve had some real success. We are starting to pick up some traction and branch out across Maryland. We have a lot of Div-II and III connections. It’s not just about picking a school but the right school. It’s been super rewarding and a lot of fun. We want to prepare them not just for baseball but for life.”
