Calhoun captures the 2022 Class A Long Island Championship! pic.twitter.com/kjYnciemui
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2022
Entering the 2022 season, Calhoun’s HC Art Canestro knew he had a good team. The reality was, though, that they had just graduated Patrick Sanchez, who had one of the most prolific offensive seasons in Nassau County history and was off to the College of Charleston. That 2021 team averaged 7.5 runs per game and made it to the Conference Finals before losing to Garden City on a walk-off.
“I thought we would be pretty good,” said Canestro. “We were in a conference that some would say wasn’t the strongest. The knock on us was that we aren’t in the powerhouse A-4 conference where they beat each other up and it helps them get ready for playoffs. But we did a nice job of dominating the league. About halfway through I said to coach DeMarco, yeah I think we’re pretty good,” he said.
That turned out to be quite an understatement as Calhoun was not only dominating their conference, but they couldn’t be contained by anyone. They averaged 9 runs per game for the entire season and that included 29 games.
What sparked the improvement?
“We hit 1 through 9 in the lineup. That differentiated us from previous years. We were lucky with that. If the middle of the order didn’t hit, our bottom guys piked each other up,” he added. “We had one game we scored 15 runs in the first inning
Postgame interview with Matt Kalfas of Calhoun. He had 2 doubles, and infield single to keep a 2 out rally going in the second inning, sparking a huge 2 out rally that was the difference maker in this one. pic.twitter.com/Q8ADbuG2uk
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2022
They wound up defeating Clarke in a tightly-contested 3-game County Championship at Farmingdale State College. Matt Kalfas stole the show and he was named MVP of the series. Coach Canestro said “he was on fire.” They advanced them to the Long Island Championship against a powerhouse Rocky Point team.They defeated them as well, much to the surprise of some considering the 5 Division-I players on the roster.
Coach Canestro said they entered that game with the same game plan as they always do.
“We prepared for them the way we would prepare for any team – stay consistent in our approach, take a lot of reps, put the ball in play and avoid strikeouts.” They also put the ball over the fence, as Brooks Montalbano did in the video below.
Brooks Montalbano went 2-for-3 with a 2-R HR, 2-R single and walk for Calhoun in the LIC pic.twitter.com/hlqrJWDHY2
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2022
They wound up having their season end in the NYS Semifinals against Hamburg.
“We went down early, and there was a couple of bad calls against us at 2nd base. Breaks didn’t go our way and we didn’t hit the ball as well as we had and lost 6-3.”
Regardless, it was a season to be proud of as the Colts went 25-4 and proved that they could play with the best teams in the region. For example, look at their RBI leaders for the season:
- Andrew Schneir – 31
- Brian Chin – 27
- Alec Edwards – 26
- Brooks Montalbano – 23
- Matt Kalfas – 21
- Ryan Pucella – 20
And here’s their AVG leaders:
- Kalfas – .466
- Edwards – .405
- Schneir – .395
- Chin – .364
- Pucella – .329
- Imhof – .324
- Montalbano – .303
- Goodman – .287
They did have a large group of seniors that graduated. Coach said there was about 10 – which is a big number for their program. We’ve made it this far into the article without mentioning their pitching staff which was a major reason for their success as well. They had a team 1.80 ERA for the season, and the headliner of that group was Brian Chin who was just outstanding all season. He went 7-2 with a 1.29 ERA and struck out a ridiculous 102 batters and allowed just 25 hits (24 came in the playoffs).
In regards to Chin, coach said, “He was mid 80s, with a nice curve that he threw for strikes, he kept the ball in good spots. Next thing you know it’s the third or fourth inning and he’s given up no hits. It was amazing.” He allowed a single to the first batter of the season and then went the REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON without allowing another hit. Simply unfathomable. Now he did have a couple starts in the playoffs where he didn’t have his best stuff but that shouldn’t overshadow what he was able to accomplish during the stretch. Chin graduated and attended Wentworth Institute of Technology.
They do return catcher Ryan Pucella, Charlie Imhof (Molloy-commit), Matt Kalfas (Fairfield-commit), Jordan Babbo (St. Thomas Aquinas-commit), Sean DiPaolo, PJ Kakalos, Brian Sanchez and both Goodman brothers. They are in very good shape once again.
“This team is built very similar to last year’s team. I think we will be fairly strong but we need the breaks,” he added.
The pitching staff will feature several of the above names. Coach said they will be counting on Sean DiPaolo. “He’s a big senior righty, he throws a heavy ball, he throws three pitches for strikes.” He also mentioned Kakalos, who closed out the game in the County Finals, he said “he will pitch a lot”. Danny Goodman, he described as “very poised and someone that throws strikes.” His brother, Joey, who was more of a position player, has looked good during winter workouts and he said “he will pitch, he’s really impressed me.”
Final: Calhoun wins the Nassau County Class A Championship 12-6 over Clarke.
PJ Kakalos strikes out the last batter of the game to secure the victory for Calhoun pic.twitter.com/56K7FXIOjN
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2022
Up the middle they are in great shape with Pucella behind the dish, and Brian Sanchez at SS. He said, “he’s a very good fielder, he’s an excellent athlete. He has a good arm. He was a little light with the bat last year but he had a growth spurt and I think he will do a nice job this year.”
They will open up on March 27 against Long Beach as they begin their quest for their title defense.
