by George Caratzas
Final: St. Dominic 8, St. John the Baptist 7
WP: Luke Lang (3.2 IP in relief, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 Ks)Victor Frederick: 3-4, 3 RBIs
Ray Kim: walk-off sac fly
Matt Cruz: 2-4, 2 RSt. Dominic will face St. Anthony’s on Wednesday at Hofstra 4:30 pic.twitter.com/GfehEMfM9p
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2024
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series.
Since head coach Joe Fusco’s staff took the reins in 2022, St. Dominic has gone 51-25, including a 38-12 record over the past two seasons. In that same window the Bayhawks have won 27 of their 34 league games, but are yet to claim the ultimate end goal: a Catholic League championship.
After losing to Holy Trinity and St. Anthony’s in last year’s postseason and losing four key players to graduation, Fusco believes that the current iteration of the Bayhawks will be just fine.
“This might be the most hungry team I’ve ever had,” Fusco said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “They have a sour taste in their mouth from being the [No.] 1 seed and getting bounced.”
In the offseason, Fusco and company lost four All-League selections from 2024 with pitcher Victor Frederick now at St. John’s, shortstop Matt Cruz playing college ball at Rutgers and pitcher Danny Onorato starting his collegiate career at Iona. Additionally, St. Dominic graduated catcher Thomas Garrett who registered a .402 on-base percentage a year ago, who is currently attending Clemson University.
Final (10 innings): St. Dominic 2, Holy Trinity 1
WP: Luke LangWalk-off single Thomas Garrett pic.twitter.com/YOC8Yilsxv
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 27, 2024
Nonetheless, Fusco is confident that the Bayhawks will have plenty of talent to replace their departed stars.
“Talent wise, we are very talented,” Fusco said. “I’m not concerned as far as our ability on the field. The biggest thing that we have to replace is the leadership, not the play on the field.”
One returner that will contribute both on and off the field is pitcher Luke Lang. Despite Frederick’s 1.18 ERA last year, it was Lang that took home the league pitcher of the year honors. In his junior season, the Iona commit appeared in 11 games for St. Dominic — starting four of them — and pitched to a team-best 0.76 ERA in 37 innings. He also posted a 6-1 record and struck out 57 hitters.
Fusco speaks of his presence off the field as highly as his time on the mound.
“We have a tremendous leader in Luke Lang,” Fusco said. “We have no doubt as a staff that he’ll step into that leadership role and be everything that we need him to be.”
Two other players that could play a key role on the hill for the Bayhawks are righty Ray Kim and southpaw Lucas Moseman. Kim — who also figures to handle shortstop — did not get much time on the mound in his freshman season, only throwing three innings. Moseman only got two innings himself, but both are in Fusco’s pitching plans for this season.
Another option for St. Dominic is sophomore Connor Ackerman, who was called up to varsity late last season and struck out 10 batters in his five innings pitched. Senior Ben Feil — a commit to SUNY Canton — is also in the mix to get some innings this season.
Connor Ackerman (St. Dominic 2027) named Most Valuable Player of Kings Point Classic. He went 5-for-7 with a double, triple and 7 RBIs at the plate and pitched 4 shutout innings with 6 Ks on Saturday pic.twitter.com/QFwY0Oa8sR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 10, 2024
As for the offense, much of Fusco’s offseason work has been finding a new shortstop, as Cruz — who was tabbed as the league’s offensive player of the year last season — has since graduated.
“I don’t think you can replace him,” Fusco said. “You have to find ways to replicate the runs that he created by himself and that falls on us as a coaching staff. We’ve graduated some great players in the past and found a way to get by afterwards.”
Replicating Cruz’s production means producing a .424/.479/.518 slash line with a .997 OPS. Cruz also led the team with 36 hits, a home run, 18 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Kim will be one of St. Dominic’s solutions to replace their departed veterans. Across 73 at bats in his first season at the varsity level, Kim reached base at a .397 clip while scoring 12 times. Fusco has high expectations for the sophomore, speaking highly of his overall game.
“I am getting a million calls from Power Four schools about him,” Fusco said. “He is a legit Power Four caliber player and there’s no question about it. He is up to 88 [mph] on the mound with four pitches that he can throw for strikes. To also hit almost .300 as a freshman in the Catholic League is also pretty good so he will be a major part of what we do.”
Second baseman Dom Muccia is another spark plug that figures to play at the top of the batting order, as he hit .342 last season. Additionally, Muccia posted an .840 OPS and had a team-best four doubles in his freshman year. He scored 15 runs and had the second-most hits on the team with 25 in 2024.
“Muccia was the first freshman all league player at St. Dominic since 2018,” Fusco said. “He is a tremendous player who led off for us all year and we’re looking forward to getting another great year out of him.”
Behind those two, corner infielder and senior Joe Galeotafiore’s ability to drive in runs is crucial for the Bayhawks as he enters his senior season. Also a standout on the football field, Galeotafiore hit .274 last season with a .370 on base percentage and 14 RBI.
Sophomore outfielders Chris Vangelatos and Nick Vitale are two more youngsters that got significant playing time St. Dominic last season, behind two of the four freshmen that Fusco penciled in his every day lineup. Despite varying degrees of success at the plate in their respective first seasons, each tallied three doubles as also Vangelatos drove in 15 runs. On the flip side, Vitale was a threat once reaching base as he scored 13 times.
When he is not pitching, Ackerman can also hold down either corner infield spot and is a viable option to get some at bats. Third baseman Georgie Sakellis and first baseman and outfielder Dan Noebel are two players that Fusco can work into his lineup in each of their senior seasons. Sakellis is also headed to SUNY Canton in the fall while Noebel is set to head to the Bronx to play for SUNY Maritime.
As for Fusco, this will be his fourth year at the helm and after claiming the league’s Coach of the Year award last year, he is looking for team success over personal achievement.
“That was a great honor for me and it shows a lot of hard work that went into the award,” Fusco said. “However, the program is more important to me. Three years ago, we had 27 players in the program and now we have over 50. We have had the best record in the league for the last two years and have been on the doorstep of getting where we want to be so from where we started with 27 players, that is the bigger accomplishment for me.”
With a much younger core than has been at its disposal the last few seasons, St. Dominic is ready to go.
“The players hear everything,” Fusco said. “They hear the people saying ‘Doms is down, Doms isn’t what they once were.’ They’re fired up. This is the hungriest team I’ve had in my four years at St. Doms.”
The Bayhawks will kick off their 2025 campaign on March 20 against LuHi before welcoming their first league action on March 26 in a matchup with St. Mary’s.
