Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by George Caratzas
Following a 17-7-1 campaign in 2024, the Long Beach Marines saw eight starters graduate, with six of them going on to continue their respective careers in college.
However, head coach Jason Zizza has no problem utilizing his team’s youth in the upcoming season.
“In my time here as the head varsity baseball coach at Long Beach, I have always created a lot of in-house competition,” Zizza told Axcess Baseball. “We’re going to allow the younger players to compete for spots at the varsity level.”
Among the Marines’ largest losses were pitcher Christian Parisa, outfielder Troy DeFrancesco and catcher Dan DeFonte. DeFrancesco and DeFonte spearheaded a Long Beach offense that led Nassau County in runs scored during the regular season.
Top 1: Long Beach 1 | Division 0
Dan Defonte’s RBI double opens the scoring. pic.twitter.com/dXhg1fnIim
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2024
Parisa — who was named the Nassau AA-I Conference Pitcher of the Year — is now playing baseball at Mount St. Mary’s after putting up a 0.76 ERA in 27 ⅔ innings in his senior year. DeFrancesco was the school’s valedictorian and is now playing club ball at Princeton. As the team’s starting centerfielder, hit .549 with a 1.299 on-base plus slugging (OPS). Finally, DeFonte — who is now at Allegany College of Maryland — hit .388 in his senior year. He drove in 17 runs in league play with a 1.124 OPS.
This year, Zizza acknowledged the change that will take place after losing much of his team’s core.
“We were an extremely explosive offense,” Zizza said. “We will be an above average hitting team, but nothing like last year. We’re going to have to rely on our pitching and defense a lot more this year and I think we are very prepared to do that.”
6’1 RHP Matthew Hayes (Long Beach 2025) gets the start for LIB Prime pic.twitter.com/q0f4sDQy4w
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 23, 2024
To replace the production of those three, Zizza will look to Matty Hayes to both ignite the offense and hold together a new-looking pitching staff.
Hayes was effective as the second starter for Long Beach last year, pitching to a 1.57 ERA while striking out 62 batters. He held opposing hitters to a .150 batting average.
In the playoffs last year, Hayes — a senior commit to SUNY Cortland — threw a complete game shutout in what Zizza called, “one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen.”
At the plate, Hayes slashed .361/.478/.444 for an OPS of .923 while driving in 13 runs and scoring 12.
“He has a ‘refuse to lose’ attitude,” Zizza said. “He has the ability to literally put the team on his back and win a game.”
Another returner that will go a long way in ensuring a successful season for the Marines is catcher Paddy Henry. Henry embodies a hard-nosed ballplayer as he spends his winters playing for the Long Beach varsity ice hockey team.
“He is a catcher at heart,” Zizza said. “He is tough as nails and comes in ready to compete every day. Paddy had a tremendous year for us last year as he was an All-Conference player.”
Henry ranked second on the Marines in batting average as he batted .417 while reaching base at a .571 clip for an OPS of 1.120. He figures to slide into the middle of Zizza’s every day batting order.
Replacing DeFrancesco in center field will likely be junior Joe Lordi. While he does not have any varsity experience, Zizza is confident that Lordi can hold down both the center field duties and excel in the Marines leadoff spot.
“We can see him being successful in both of those roles,” Zizza said. “He is going to have to win the competition for both of those spots but we are very confident in him doing so.”
First baseman Steven Misrok figures to anchor the middle of Long Beach’s batting order. Last season, Misrok compiled a .977 OPS while walking more than he struck out (15 to 9).
“He’s going to be a big time player for us this year,” Zizza said.
Evan Marks is another candidate for Zizza that can fill holes and multiple infield spots.
“He had a really good run for us last season,” Zizza said. “I look forward to seeing him take that step forward and being a key piece for us.”
As for the pitching staff which is reeling for the loss of Parisa, Hayes will lead the way. After him, Zizza will look to senior Jack Passman and sophomore Aiden Perry to fill in the back end of the rotation. Passman threw 15 innings last season, striking out 10 batters. Perry did not see game action at the varsity level, however Zizza believes that he has what it takes to claim the final spot in the rotation.
“He’s a big sophomore that throws the ball really hard while throwing a lot of strikes,” Zizza said. “He was very good at the JV level and had a really good summer in the travel circuit. We’re definitely going to give him an opportunity to win a spot and start for us.”
With all the losses that Long Beach sustained, it is unstandable why expectations would be low going into 2025 for the Marines, but for Zizza, it is the complete opposite.
“We have talent spread throughout our program,” Zizza said. “We are going to give everyone a chance to win a spot at the varsity level.”
Last year’s playoff exit also rubbed off on many of Zizza’s returning players.
“A big part of winning is knowing how to win,” Zizza said. “The good teams know how to win and are comfortable in uncomfortable situations. I think just being around last year’s team will play a big role for the guys we’re getting back as well as the younger guys.”
The Marines will open their season on March 29 on the road at New Hyde Park. They kick off their conference season against Mepham on April 7.
