Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.
West Babylon has done it ! They comeback and defeat Division, 4-2, to capture the Class A Long Island Championship pic.twitter.com/hhHQzypWoe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2023
For the first time in 30 years, West Babylon captured the Long Island Championship in 2023 as they came-from-behind to defeat a powerhouse Division team at Farmingdale State College.
It was one of those magical seasons, where they were able to overcame every obstacle in their way including having to beat the No. 1 seed Bayport-Blue Point in the Suffolk Class A Finals.
Ultimately, they had their season ended in the NYS Class A Semifinals against Columbia. They finished with an overall record of 22-5.
Their head coach, Victor Manzella, stepped down following the season and is now coaching at Bayport-Blue Point to be closer to his family. His assistant, Shaun Kaminski, was promoted to head coach and was approved by the board the week before Christmas.
“First I want to shoutout Victor. Not a lot of people know this but he let me start coaching when I was a senior at Old Westbury. I played for him at Babylon. He left a glowing recommendation to the Athletic Director. Everything has been smooth sailing since there. Sometimes I’ll just text him and be like ‘we did that, we actually did that. It’s been a pinch-me moment. Those kids were playing together since 5-and-6 years old and for them to experience that was amazing,” said Kaminski, who is one of the youngest head coaches on Long Island at 25-years-old.
The team has been having winter workouts twice per week and he noted that the turnout has been great as more and more kids wanted to be part of the program after the Long Island Championship. They have 40 kids in the program between JV and varsity and that is an increase from what it had been as they are riding the high of last year.
From that group, they did graduate a handful of big-time players.
St. John’s-commit Ryan Adams crushed a 2-R shot and West Babylon extends their lead to 8-2 pic.twitter.com/pesi62nzOB
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 12, 2023
Leading the pack was catcher Ryan Adams. He is taking a gap year to train and work but will be attending St. John’s in the fall. Adams was a menace at the plate. He scored 31 runs and was impossible to get out in the playoffs – he drew 14 walks and was hit by 5 pitches in 7 games (.808 OBP).
“He will be a tough guy to replace,” said Kaminski.
They also graduated SS Ricky Fasitta who was All-League and is at SUNY Plattsburgh. He batted .366 with a .518 OBP and scored 35 runs. Dom Gerbasio was their No. 2 pitcher and recorded the save in the clinching game of the County Finals. He is at Dominican University. LHP/OF Chris Critchley graduated and is at Nichols College. Sean McGuire, who is not playing in college, was a big piece for them and had a huge impact in the playoffs.
Fortunately, they return a handful of impact players that all played a big role in last year’s championship run.
RHP/1B Jace Alvino, was named All-League, but had some of the best numbers of any pitcher on Long Island. He went 7-1, notched 1 save in the County Finals at BBP, he compiled a 1.66 ERA and fired 63 innings. He also was the winning pitcher in the Long Island Championship. He also defeated Clemson LHP Justin LeGuernic on the road. He will anchor the rotation once again and they will be confident they can beat any team with him on the mound.
He was a big reason they were able to go toe-to-toe against some of the best pitchers on Long Island; LeGuernic, Nick Rizzo (Stony Brook), Hunter Colagrande (Stony Brook-commit), Ryan Muskopf (George Mason), Matt Neglia & John Margolies (St.Thomas Aquinas commits).
West Babylon RHP Jace Alvino fired a complete game, allowing 2 runs as he improved to 7-0 on the season. He was named Class A Playoff MVP as West Babylon is headed to the NY State tournament in Binghamton pic.twitter.com/IGNb2i3usc
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 4, 2023
Behind him in the rotation is senior RHP Brandon Hancock. He was 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA and fired a no-hitter against Deer Park. At the plate, he batted .370 with 30 hits.
In CF, they have Elijah Outlaw. He had a remarkable season as a sophomore. He batted .414 (and coach noted he was flirting with .600 most of the season), he scored 38 runs, drove in 28 runs, hit 2 home runs and added five triples. He is a supremely gifted athlete, and is the QB of the football team.
The first recipient of the Axcess Baseball x BK7 Brand Player of the Week is Elijah Outlaw (West Babylon 2025) ! pic.twitter.com/BxRrytTALT
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 1, 2023
“I’m glad I have him back, he eases the process for me,” said Kaminski.
Behind the dish, they have Anthony Gerbasio. He is a junior and he will also pitch.
At SS they have sophomore Josh Gomez. He will be replacing Fasitta, but they are confident in his abilities. He hit a home run in his first varsity at bat as a freshman.
Coach also mentioned sophomore Nico Milani as an impact player. He tore his ACL in the fall but they are expecting him to be back to at least DH during the season.
“We are excited about him – he can pitch but that’s probably not in the cards this year.”
Coach stated that their pitching is the strength of the team. “We have a lot of open spots around the field, I think the pitching will hold us over while the newcomers get their feet wet.”
They will open up against Deer Park on March 25 in a league game. Prior to that, they have some scrimmages set up against Bayport-Blue Point, Holy Trinity snd St. Dominic.
