by Brian Honka
Bellmore JFK will look to improve on last season in which they went 9-8-1 in conference play which was good enough to give them a playoff spot for the second year in a row. They were eliminated in the playoffs by Clarke.
The team will look to fill the gap left by Zach Ganca (FDU-Florham) an All-County OF. Another player that the team will be looking for production to replace is Matt Cohen, an All-Conference player.
This year’s team will be relying on plenty of returning players that had key contributions last season – many of which are seniors.
Alex Goldstein won 3 games on the mound, struck out 28 batters and compiled a .385 OBP at the plate. Anthony Firriolo batted .372 with 17 hits on the season. Nick Pizzirusso batted .287 with 9 RBIs and 14 hits. Grayson Goodstein batted .405 with a homer and 10 RBIs. Nick Rinaldi won a game on the mound, saved another, compiled a 3.25 ERA and went 7-for-17 at the plate. Cory Falk played in 10 games and compiled an other-worldly .714 OBP.
Junior Jack Finkelstein is entering his third-year on varsity, he won game, struck out 25 batters over 19 innings.
The team will also be looking for continued production on the mound from Ethan Saperman and Josh Blum.
Sophomore Eli Lowenstein is “coming off a great and I am looking for him to compete for a role on varsity this year,” said Gattus.
The up-and-coming players from the JV level will be something to watch as coach Gattus mentioned juniors Lucas Linn, Ethan Grossman, and Josh Polinsky as players the team will be looking for as players competing for time.
Coach Gattus said that the team has a great work ethic and that they have built a nice off-season program that will help improve the team. One thing that the team has that they will need to use this year is the athleticism of all players on the team.
They have won 25 games over the past 3 seasons and are looking to maintain their level of playoff-caliber play.
They will open up against Garden City this season.
