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Holy Trinity Ready to Defend Their Title

Holy Trinity turned back the clock to 2012 as they captured the NSCHSAA for the first time in 11 years this past season. They weren’t content there, however, as they proceeded to defeat St. Peter’s and St. Francis to capture the New York State Catholic League Championship.

That team had a remarkable transformation from 2 wins in 2021 to a 14-7 finish in 2022 and then to a 21-8 record and championship run in 2023. Coach Dan Luisi had a plan in place and it worked out perfectly. It should be noted that Luisi was also on Holy Trinity’s 2003 championship team for legendary coach Robert Malandro.

The biggest reason for that incredible upward trajectory is that the team’s core had all been playing together for three years, and while they took their lumps in the ultra-competitive league, the pressure turned into diamonds.

Their seniors truly led the way last season – led by 2nd team All-Long Island RHP/3B Sebastian Velasquez. The URI-freshman not only went 9-2 on the mound with a 1.80 ERA, but he did so against every opposing team’s ace and was completely unfazed by the big moments – beating St. Anthony’s and Chaminade on the road to the title. He pitched 70 innings in 11 starts, which tells you all you need to know about how much of a workhorse he was.

“Watching him grow over the last 3 years into one of the best two-way players was truly incredible. He showed his selflessness to be the ace when we needed him to be the ace. He really flourished in that role – he went out every 1st game of series and put on an incredible performance. While I think our pitching staff is deeper this year, there’s no way to get the 70 innings like we got from that kid,” said Luisi, who was the recipient of Axcess Baseball’s High School Coach of the Year..

Velasquez will certainly be missed, but he was far from the only impact player on the team. Nicholas DelVecchio was another senior who played his best when it mattered, which was the product of being a three-year starter in the toughest league on Long Island. He was All-League and he batted leadoff every game while batting .335 with 18 stolen bases. He is now at Long Island University.

They also graduated 1B Kyle Kozlowski and CF Nico Quiroz who are both attending Thomas Jefferson University. Kyle was named All-League last year and was a bruising bat in the middle of the order. Brian Zweigbaum was initially at Maine but transferred to Post University, a Div-II school in Connecticut. Sean Maddi was their second baseman, he is at SUNY Old Westbury and he was one of their unheralded players last year.

While all of those players have since moved onto to the collegiate level, they do have the player that put the team on his back in the clinching game of the Catholic League Championship against the three-time reigning champs, Chaminade, and that is Tyler Cook.

He recently committed to the University of Troy. Cook was simply amazing in 2023 as he was 1st team All-Long Island, and runner up for League MVP. He batted .410 while leading the team in hits (41), adding 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 HRs, 34 RBIs and stealing 15 bases.

On the mound, he went 3-0 with 6 saves. He saved his best for last – defeating St. Anthony’s and Chaminade in the playoffs. Overall, he pitched 32 innings with 53 strikeouts.

What makes his two-way ability more impressive is that he’s a primary catcher, so the workload is even more challenging to handle. Will they alter their game plan this year?

“Similar to what we did last year, where we didn’t use him much till the end of the season on the mound. That was for him to get innings behind the plate – he’s going to college to catch. When we feel he’s ready to get back on the mound as we get closer to the playoffs we will ramp him up.”

Another huge piece for them is Pace-commit Andrew Heppner. The 6’2 cacher batted .345 with 8 doubles, 3 HRs and 25 RBIs on the season, but he took his game up several notches come playoff time – where he batted .520 including the go-ahead HR in the finals against Chaminade and also the game-tying and go-ahead hits against St. Francis in the NYS Finals. Heppner will provide punch in the middle of their lineup once again.

Bridgeport-commit Andrew Sinclair had a nice season for them, batting .325 with 6 doubles and 15 RBIs. He will be playing 1B and outfield this season. University of St. Joseph’s (Connecticut) commit Ryan Czyz is a two-way player who will play the infield and pitch for them this season.

Coach also mentioned uncommitted Sean Atkinson as another player that played a big role last season and is a senior this year. He batted .300 at the plate and went 3-1 on the mound with 3 saves and a 2.20 ERA.

The pitching staff will be anchored by Molloy-commit Gabe Klarikaitis. The hard-throwing RHP was named All-League, as he went 4-2 during the regular season with a 2.20 ERA.

This offseason, the Titans put in a lot of work at the new Complete Sports Performance facility in Carle Place.

“The guys put in a lot of work this offseason, we have a lot of new pieces, lot of younger guys that are really talented that will have to step up into bigger roles. We lost our first baseman, middle infield and CF. There’s a lot of roles up for grabs and lots of players that have an opportunity to have an impact,” said Luisi.

Their coaching staff remains the same, but they also added 2015 graduate Danny Taggart as an assistant coach and Carlos Quiroz as the head JV coach.

“They’ve been a part of this process of rebuilding the program. They understand what I expect and help us reach our performance goals in how we practice,” Luisi said of his coaching staff.

They will open up against a talented St. Dominic team. Coach said, “It’s a great match up right off the bat, we will be facing one of the best arms on Long Island,” he said referencing Victor Frederick.

 

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Vinny is the President of Axcess Baseball. He is a 2013 graduate of Adelphi University and he is currently the Long Island area scout for the San Diego Padres

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