Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Max Edelman
In a season that started red hot, the South Side Cyclones were unable to complete their goal of winning a championship. However, head coach Tom Smith, who is entering his 12th year in charge in 2025, believes that some of that blame falls on him.
“Last season was up and down.” Smith said. “We came out of the gate in league play pretty hot but then we hit a road bump. I blame myself on that one, I needed to have a procedure done and I felt disconnected. We lost some really tight games down the stretch, finished second in the conference. We managed to get ourselves in as the number four seed. But we didn’t execute in some key moments and ultimately fell short of our goal.”
While last season didn’t end the way that Smith, or the Cyclones wanted it to. Smith believes that with a young team in 2025, they are primed to make some noise this season. Although the Cyclones will be without Jack Bodkin, who is now playing at Hofstra, Aidan Medeirosi who is playing at Queens College, Matt Arnott, who is playing at St. Thomas Aquinas and Brady Callahan who is at Curry College, the Cyclones have plenty of young talent to lean on this year.
John Pericolosi hits a 2-run double to left to make it a 6-2 Next Level lead pic.twitter.com/ApKKJFsNWm
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 21, 2023
At the top of that list is John Pericolosi, the junior Stony Brook commit. Pericolosi is a lefty hitting right handed shortstop that hits the ball in the gaps and then uses his speed to extend singles into doubles, and even on occasion, doubles into triples.
“He’s a quiet workhorse.” Smith said. “He comes to play every single day. He’s the guy that you want on every team that leads everybody by example. He has a tremendous motor and is such a phenomenal team player that he truly is the leader of our team. He’s that guy we’re going to lean on at the top of our order to really set the table for us, and score as many runs as humanly possible.
After an outstanding freshman season, in which he was named to the all-conference team, Smith is expecting yet another big season out of AJ Magaraci. In his freshman season, Magaraci drove in 17 runs and scored 19 hitting in the heart of the Cyclones batting order.
“AJ got really hot for us when we got into league play and he didn’t really cool off.” Smith said. “No moment ever seemed too big for the young man. He hit two monster home runs vs. Glen Cove last year. We’re looking for both him and Pericolosi to continue to do what they did last year as well as improve. Both young men are tremendous athletes at the high school level.”
The ace of the South Side pitching staff comes in the form of sophomore pitcher Stellan Zangari. In his freshman season for the Cyclones. Zangari struck out 35 batters in just 32 innings pitched. Zangari pitched to a 1.74 ERA as well.
Up Next Powered by @AgencyKen : Stellan Zangarihttps://t.co/EKKwiZeccH pic.twitter.com/u2Jl18ahS5
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) November 13, 2023
“His ability to get ahead with his fastball early and dominate the zone really led to his success.” Smith said. “That’s really what we’ve been pushing from him throughout his summer season and his winter training. Last year as a freshman, he was a fastball slider pitcher. This year, we want to add a curveball. We want all three of his pitches to be able to dominate the zone in any given count. He’s totally embraced it, he’s excited, he’s worked extremely hard. We’re also looking for Stellan to play a little third base for us.
Entering his third and final season on varsity for South Side is Gavin Donoghue. The big left handed first baseman has held down the position since sophomore year, and Smith is hoping for one more strong season out of his power hitting lefty.
“He’s an intelligent hitter.” Smith said. “He has a very good bat, he goes gap to gap, he really grinds his at bats out, which is what you want from a guy that hits in the middle of your lineup. He’s held us down at first base for the last two years and we’re really looking forward for his final year as a senior. Being our leader, knowing what it takes to elevate the team to its goals.”
Another key returner that Smith is excited about is Scott Bernabeu. Bernabeu features a strong two-seam, cutter and curveball and will be called upon to be the day two starter for the Cyclones. After strong careers on junior varsity, Smith is also looking forward to adding Jack Boyens, Conner McNulty and Ryan Soloman. All three are players that Smith hopes will contribute to his team straight away.
When it comes to his squad’s biggest strength. Smith points to his lineup. The Cyclones will score runs in bunches, and hit the ball all over the field.
“This year it’s going to be our lineup’s ability to hit gap to gap.” Smith said. “We have a lot of young men in our lineup that are smart in the batter’s box. They’re aggressive, they know when they want to be aggressive but they know when to take pitches. It’s something we preach and work on throughout the year. I think our offense is going to be the big key.
The South Side Cyclones will start their season on March 29 with a non league game against Baldwin.
