Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series.
A playoff no-hitter !
Chaminade 1, St. Dominic 0
WP: John Carroll (6.2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 R)
S: James D’Alessandro (.1 IP)Chaminade will face Holy Trinity tomorrow at 4pm in the winner’s bracket pic.twitter.com/93SKLSAU4r
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2023
For the first time since 2018, a team other than Chaminade captured the Catholic League Championship. The Flyers’ had their impressive streak end by Holy Trinity – although they did not go down quietly. They were in the Finals, but ultimately lost the best-of-three series at Hofstra University.
Longtime head coach Mike Pienkos, who has 669 career wins and 20 NSCHSAA Championships, stated the following:
“We got a lot out of that group of seniors. Going into the playoffs, we thought anyone could win the league. We went in as the No. 2 seed, Anthony’s had won the division. We got some really good pitching performances in the playoffs. Trinity played really well against us and won two of three,” he said.
As is always the case, Chaminade graduated a great group of seniors – many were a part of the dream season of 2022 in which they captured the first ever New York State Catholic League Championship. Leading that group Evan Baschnagel, Matt Dieguez and Aidan Katzman.
Baschnagel, who is at the University of Maine, had an outstanding season. He batted .444 with 7 HRs and 31 RBs – he even hit 3 HRs in a single game. Dieguez, who is at Fordham University, batted .433 on the season. Katzman, who is playing at Manhattan College, batted .333 on the season.
This year’s group is a little lighter on returning seniors, at least of the position players.
They do return Stony Brook-commit Mikey Cervoni. He is a three-year starter at 3B, which is very rare for the Flyers who typically do not call up many sophomores. Cervoni batted .305 last season and they will be expecting him to be a major part of their offense this season.
Impressive weekend from Sean Sweeney (Chaminade 2024). Showed plenty of pop and great athleticism pic.twitter.com/R1iAbgEQ7d
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 3, 2023
They also return Binghamton-commit Sean Sweeney. He is the younger brother of Mike, who is at Hofstra, and was a standout player for the Flyers. Sean batted .290 with 11 SBs, but he is expected to have a breakout season in 2024.
“He’s just a really good athlete, he can do everything. He could wind up being our starting SS,” said Pienkos. His speed is a game-changer and they will likely have him atop the batting order this season.
They also return Kentucky-commit Michael Gardner.
Michael Gardner (Chaminade 2025) 83 mph across the diamond pic.twitter.com/EwDjyi4bzJ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 16, 2023
“He could be one of our best athletes. He’s got a gun for an arm. He’s vying for the shortstop position and outfield. Still not sure, but he will certainly be in our lineup,” said Pienkos.
Congratulations to Next Level Showcase on capturing the 2023 Axcess World Series. They went 4-0 and allowed just 5 runs @NextLevelBaseba
Collin Anderson (Chaminade 2025) was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament going 8-for-10 with 8 RBIs, 2 doubles and 5 stolen bases… pic.twitter.com/kq012yKQTb
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) September 17, 2023
Junior infielder Collin Anderson was mentioned as an impact player. Coach said “he’s got a foot up on everybody for second base.” Anderson was named the Most Valuable Player of our Axcess World Series back in September after going 8-for-10.
They have another promising junior, TJ Bradford, who is supremely talented and will be in the mix as well.
“You get spoiled sometimes,” Coach said in regards to having large senior classes. “This year is kind of wide open,” he said in regards to positions.
Behind the dish they will have a competition. Senior Shane McGuinnes is a returning player, but did not see much playing time last year. He is committed to Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Coach said he’s a “smart kid with a strong arm.”
The pitching staff is anchored by Naval Academy-commit John Carroll. The southpaw went 5-0 with a 1.82 ERA last season and he fired the playoff no-hitter against St. Dominic. He sits in the low to mid 80s with his fastball, but his game is command and his terrific 12-6 curveball. With Carroll on the mound, they have a shot to beat anyone.
LHP John Carroll (Chaminade 2024) gets the start in the Championship for Next Level Scout pic.twitter.com/QREh111N1p
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 2, 2023
Coach mentioned a few returning players that will be in the mix for significant innings on the mound; Jimmy D’Allesandro, Mike Meehan, Matt Korologos, John Murray and Ben Krittman.
The Flyers have 54 kids trying out for the varsity team, so they are still in the process of finalizing the team. Coach said the process takes a while considering the volume of talent in the school.
They will open up their league schedule on March 26 against St. Anthony’s. Prior to that, they will have non-league games against St. Francis Prep and Iona Prep.
