A stunning comeback by Babylon as they overcame a 5-2 deficit in the Class B Long Island Championship with the winning run coming in on a walk-off walk
Babylon 6, Seaford 5 pic.twitter.com/dN02nDZ6RG
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2023
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.
In a way, last year was many years in the making for Babylon, as the team took their lumps the first few years under head coach Michael Birnbaum, but with the understanding that it would eventually be worth it.
When he took over 2020, the season was cancelled, but there was a core of several freshmen that were going to be up on varsity. That team faced a challenge in 2021, playing in a difficult league against teams like Mount Sinai and Shoreham-Wading River. The next year, they suffered a couple key injuries – specifically to 3B Matty Goldstein, which set the team back, according to Birnbaum.
But boy was it worth it, as the stars aligned perfectly in 2023. Babylon not only made a legitimate run at a perfect season as they started 20-0 before losing Game 2 of the Suffolk Class B County Finals, but they were able to defeat Seaford in the Long Island Championship game at St. Joseph’s University, in come-from-behind fashion, 6-5.
Here’s the walk-off walk that delivered Babylon the Class B County Championship pic.twitter.com/iuBzyhMoes
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2023
“I think a lot of that goes back to how they played together. They played a very tough schedule their sophomore year. These guys never wanted to end practice – we’d be out there at 5:30 and the sun is going down and they just wanted more reps. It was a senior-heavy crew. They realized a lot was taken from them between the covid year and then the injuries. They had a lot of resiliency and unity. These kids would’ve done anything for their village – for Babylon.”
The leader of the team was undoubtedly Daniel Madsen. He had a season for the ages, as he went 11-0 (1 no-decision) with a 0.71 ERA, 0.69 WHIP as he won every big game for Babylon and had every clutch hit down the stretch. Remarkably, he walked only 8 batters over 78 innings.
Babylon 1, Center Moriches 0
WP: Daniel Madsen (CG shutout, 9 Ks, 1 H, 0 BB) pic.twitter.com/gDu6GwBF6y— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 2, 2023
Birnbaum noted that he put him up for the Paul Gibson Award which ultimately went to Charlie West of Ward Melville.
“I think that there’s a small-school tax that he paid,” he said in regards to Madsen being overlooked for the award. “He finished behind West and Dom Carbone, I think,” he added. Madsen proved his mettle by throwing 6 shutout innings against Kings Park, which is a Class A school. He noted that he wanted to finish the game but he was on a 75 pitch limit with a big series coming up the next week.
Madsen is a kid that did not play summer ball and was a complete unknown entering the season. He put the team on his back and was the embodiment of an ace. He went un-recruited, and is currently attending SUNY Oneonta just as a student.
“My hope is that he will find a place on a team next year.”
Aside from Madsen, they had a number of impact players. Mattingly Goldstein was named All-League, and was the recipient of the Suffolk County Gold Glove Award for third baseman. He is currently at Felician University.
At shortstop, they had All-County senior Cristino Tufano, who is currently at George Washington. Birnbaum noted that he didn’t have the best year with the bat, but he was outstanding defensively making 3 errors in 80 total chances at short.
“Nothing was getting through the left side of the infield. They basically took away every hole. Goldstein could’ve played shortstop if we needed him to, but we didn’t need Tufano to pitch last year.”
They also graduated All-League OF Andrew DePalma and All-League OF Joey Hansen – who wound up going 4-0 on the mound.
Behind the dish, they had Nicholas Crone, who also graduated and is now coaching travel baseball. They graduated Rohan Brown, who had some truly awful luck last year – getting hit with a baseball in his face the day before the Long Island Championship game, which required facial reconstruction surgery. Coach noted that he visited him in the hospital after the LIC win. He now makes baseball bats in his free time.
With that huge graduating class, comes opportunity for the next crop of players.
They have only 3 seniors on the team – Logan Marrin, Colin Schmidt and Ben Stricoff.
“They are all multi-sport athletes. They will also look to step in and continue or success. They were behind a lot of seniors last year,” said Birnbaum.
Babylon will be a junior-heavy team in 2024, and that is led by Aidan Kistner.
Babylon 4, Mattituck 0
WP: Aidan Kistner (No-Hitter with 12 Ks)Babylon improves to 10-0 on the season pic.twitter.com/ivT0xr11cl
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 22, 2023
“He was as good as advertised,” said Birnbaum. “He was with us in 8th grade, he went to Chaminade for 9th grade and came back last year and wound up being our No. 2 pitcher. He went 7-2, 7-0 in the regular season. He will anchor the staff this year. He’s top at 86 MPH this winter and sits 82-84 MPH and he has a good curveball. He has good command of his pitches. He’s also an All-County soccer player – he’s a good athlete. He also DH’d for us last year.”
Even with all their success last year, Birnbaum noted one player that completely flew under-the-radar and that was sophomore 2B Johnny Harkins. He is now a junior, and coach said he “was probably our best hitter the last two years. He was All-League last year – and I think he should’ve been All-County. He batted .434 last year as a sophomore and .333 as a freshman. He will be our most important bat. And he will play shortstop for us. He helped us roll 15 double plays last year. That really helped. He might pitch if needed as well.”
Gio Rodriguez and Charlie Murphy will be behind the dish this season. Rodriguez batted .400 in limited at bats last year. Coach noted that he is versatile enough to play the infield was well. Junior James Rugolo is another player that will play a role this season as a corner infielder and pitcher. Birnbaum said, “he’s a big, strong kid. He has a high ceiling.”
Joe Cavallo is an intriguing player in that he is the rare switch pitcher, and has a glove that allows him to seamlessly make the switch depending on the batter.
“That’s a pretty cool thing and he will also be a nice power bat for us. He has a good lefty swing.”
Junior pitcher Bretton Coffey “is sort of a throwback pitcher. He throws like 7 different pitcher. He’s a professor of his craft. He’s a change of pace arm. He will definitely see some innings on the mound.”
Last but not least, coach mentioned freshman Jake Ostertag. He was recently graded as an 8 by Perfect Game as a freshman.
“He’s already throwing in the mid 80s. He has a lot of pop. He’s about 6’2, 6’3. Right handed pitcher, righty bat. He has a high ceiling. He was on JV since 7th grade. The first thing I noticed was the ball exploded off his bat,” said Birnbaum.
They will kick off the season against Shoreham-Wading River. Their league opponents will also include John Glenn, Bayport-Blue Point, Southampton, Center Moriches and Mattituck.
While it will be nearly impossible to duplicate the incredible 2023 season that they had, the foundation has been built for Babylon to be successful for many years.
