by Max Edelman
(Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscaping Design for sponsoring the season preview series.)
Special Jerseys being worn by North Babylon today in honor of Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo in annual Law Enforcement Tribute Game pic.twitter.com/yJAfQnxumG
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2023
Entering his 12th season as the head coach of the North Babylon Bulldogs, head coach Steve Corrado is coming off a 2023 in which his team finished with a solid 14-9 record. Although they did not reach their ultimate goal, the Bulldogs did win a playoff game. And are poised to make another deep run in the 2024 season. The Bulldogs lost their first playoff game in 2023 at the hands of West Islip, before beating Northport in their second game. Following their win to keep their hopes alive, the Bulldogs were ultimately defeated by Smithtown West.
North Babylon also lost several players to graduation. Hayden Magliano, who was an All-League pitcher a year ago, is now playing at American International College. Dennis Kelly, also an All-League pitcher, is now pitching at the College of Staten Island. The Bulldogs also lost All-League center fielder and Gold Glove nominee Eric Schulteisz, who is now playing with Utica. However, going into the 2024 season, Corrado is looking to his returners to make an impact, and his newcomers to step up big
“We had a lot of returning players last year.” Corrado said. “We’re going to have a bunch of returning players this year, but our pitching staff was predominantly seniors. Senior pitchers started 20 out of 23 games, and pitched 80% of our innings.”
Because of the major losses for the Bulldogs on the mound, it will be up to the returning players to carry their weight. Not just on the mound, but at the plate as well. The Bulldogs are returning two players who were All-League a year ago and are entering their senior seasons. Chris Stumpf is the team’s shortstop, as well as a pitcher. And Isiah Gutierrez, the team’s second baseman, also received All-League honors during his junior season.
Postgame interview with Chris Stumpf who was the winning pitcher in Game 1 & 3 of the series and saved Game 2 as North Babylon improves to 3-0 on the season. He’s our Player of the Game Powered by @GCsports pic.twitter.com/XewGp9GQ2w
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2023
While not All-League recipients, the Bulldogs do have three players who are currently committed to playing college baseball following the conclusion of the 2024 season. Ariel Nunez, RHP/INF is going to be playing at Farmingdale State College beginning next year. Both left fielder Joe Kirincic and pitcher Tyler Anderson will be going to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
Ariel Nunez (North Babylon 2024) commits to Farmingdale State College @NextLevelBaseba pic.twitter.com/JMoiEGgRT2
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 2, 2023
A big luxury for the Bulldogs going into 2024 is the fact that their entire infield from 2023 will be back this season. Among them is lefty first baseman Jake Miele. Corrado had high praise for his starting first baseman.
“We expect him to bat in the middle of the order,” Corrado said. “He’s a big 6’3” lefty. He can also give us some innings on the mound.”
Jordan Konig, who started as the team’s catcher a year ago, will be moving from behind the plate to the outfield.
Because of Konig’s move to the outfield, the starter behind the plate will see either Daniel Goodis or Nick Atwell get the majority of time as catcher
Tristan Garcia, a sophomore, looks to be on track for a big role with the Bulldogs throughout the next three seasons.
Top 4: plenty of action in this game – a 2-R single by Tristan Garcia and North Babylon opens up a 9-4 lead pic.twitter.com/829aNslIGO
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 31, 2023
“[Garcia] played in every single game last year.” Corrado said. “He batted .395 as a freshman. He had a tremendous season last year. And we expect him to take another step forward. And he’ll most likely compete to be one of our starting pitchers this season.”
As previously mentioned. 20/23 games last season were started by seniors who have since graduated. Chris Stumpf is the only non-senior who started for North Babylon last season, and Corrado plans to use him out of the bullpen. This means that North Babylon will roll out a new look starting rotation this upcoming season.
Corrado’s plan as of now is to use a mix of upperclassmen and underclass arms in the rotation, moving away from the senior-dominated rotation of the year prior. A good chunk of the starts available could be taken up by players who are going to be called up from the JV team. North Babylon’s junior varsity team finished the 2023 season with a very impressive 17-3 record.
One of the main contributors to the success of the JV team was their starting rotation. Three of the key pieces of that starting rotation will be receiving the call-up to varsity. One of which is Tommy Morton.
Morton dominated at the JV level a year ago, recording a perfect 6-0 record that included two no-hitters. While he likely could have seen time on varsity last season, Corrado opted for a different plan.
“He had a tremendous year on JV.” Corrado said. “But we didn’t want him to come up and not get innings, so we had him stay on JV to continue to develop. And we’re hoping he can take a major step forward in our rotation this year.”
The other two starters happen to be twin brothers. Ryan and Timothy Camier, both juniors, combined for a 10-3 record on JV last season. Corrado also intends on having Tristan Garcia get time in the starting rotation this season as well. Last season, Garcia was the team’s starting right fielder, but he will move to center field this upcoming season.
One of the biggest advantages North Babylon possesses is its strong JV program. Corrado is pleased with the program’s ability to constantly have players moving up.
“Coach Panarelli has been the coach of our JV team the last six years.” Corrado said. “He’s done a great job preparing the kids to come up to us and be ready. When we do workouts in the offseason, we incorporate a lot of the JV players with the varsity players, so they are able to come up and be ready.”
The North Babylon Bulldogs will begin their season on March. 26, against Half Hollow Hills East.
