Eastport-South Manor 5, Westhampton Beach 0
WP: Jake Deslauriers (6.1 IP, 8 Ks)Tristan Gatchalian: 3-for-4, RBI
Deslauriers: 1-for-3, 2 RBI pic.twitter.com/V4R7KN67jZ— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2022
It’s fair to say that Eastport-South Manor flew under the radar last season as they finished the regular season with a record of 14-4 and even won two of three from league champ and eventual County Champs, Rocky Point.
In the postseason, ESM lost their first game to East Islip before beating West Babylon to advance to face East Islip, but they had their season cut short by them.
Head Coach Jim McGowan said, “It was an emotional ending. We had 11 seniors. Seven of them I had since 8u on the Sharks. It was a special group; the way they carried themselves and practiced. They knew the expectations and the work ethic and the commitment that it took. I couldn’t have asked for a better time,” he added.
In addition to their group of seniors, Anthony Sanguedolce opted to leave the school and transfer to P27 Academy in South Carolina. He recently announced his commitment to attend Charleston Southern.
From their 2022 class, they graduated All-County RHP/SS Jake Deslauriers (Hofstra), All-League OF Derek Masino (St. Joseph’s-LI), Gold Glove and All-League OF Rich Stanya (football at Western Connecticut) and Danny Tiedemann.
The first three players in that group were four-year varsity players that played key roles on the playoff teams the past two seasons.
Despite the large graduating class, it’s not all gloom-and-doom for the Sharks. They return a handful of talented players with some college commits.
Tristan Gatchalian is a two-time All-League recipient, he batted .316 with a home run, 13 RBIs and a healthy .475 OBP. He is committed to Marywood University.
Catcher Drew McGowan (Marist-commit) is coming off a tremendous sophomore season in which he batted .310, with 1 HR, 6 doubles, 23 walks and a program-record .555 OBP. He is lauded for his defensive prowess behind the dish.
Drew McGowan (ESM 2024) with an impressive showing. Was named All-County this season. pic.twitter.com/T67ANArPuY
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 22, 2022
The SS will be coach’s younger son, Brady McGowan, who is a sophomore. He was up on varsity as an eighth grader. He is an incredible athlete who led all of Suffolk County varsity basketball players in 3-pointers made (68).
The rotation is a bit of question mark at the moment which is a product of having two lockdown senior starters last season. Jake Deslauriers and Danny Tiedemann each won 4 games with sub 2.00 ERAs.
“We basically lost the rotation from the past two years,” said Coach. They do have Jake’s younger brother, Ayden, who was 2-1 with a .179 opponent AVG last season and he started one of the playoff games. He will likely be the ace of the team.
They also return their star reliever from the past two seasons, Luca Occhiogrosso. Coach said “he’s been unbelievable out of the ‘pen for us the last two years.” He had a team-high 11 appearances and opponents hit just .148 against him.
Luca Occhiogrosso (ESM 2024) pounding the zone, 79-80 FB, 72-73 SL pic.twitter.com/861U0EJHr0
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 7, 2021
McGowan has done a remarkable job of preparing his players for the college ballgame as they currently have 13 graduates playing in college dating back to 2018 which featured Paul Gibson Award winner, Ryan Foran. McGowan has been at the helm since 2015.
They will open up against Miller Place. Their league consists of Comsewogue, Rocky Point, Westhampton and East Hampton.
