Kings Park Begins Title Defense Following Best Season in Program History

A balk-off

Kings Park wins on a walk-off balk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th to capture the Class A Long Island Championship, 3-2, against Clarke pic.twitter.com/QaNltVVMxy

— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 1, 2024

Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series

by Vin Messana

You never forget your first dog pile.

In a season of incredible accomplishments, Kings Park head coach Andrew Abreu cited one moment that stands out and that was the team’s celebration after defeating Bayport-Blue Point in the Class A Suffolk County Championship.

“It was just raw emotion,” said Abreu who took over prior to the 2020 year. “The first time we got to see them dog pile, that is something I’ll never forget.”

It wasn’t their last dog pile. In fact, they won an outstanding Long Island Championship game against Clarke in 9 innings, 3-2, on a walk-off balk.

“I know people want to talk about the ending but if you love baseball, it was such a great game,” said Abreu. “Defense was huge, both left fields threw out runners at the plate, both pitchers left it out there. It was too good of a game to focus on that. Both teams played their hearts out.”

They went up to Binghamton for the first time since 2001, and they shutout Pittsford Sutherland in the semifinals, 7-0, behind ace Hunter Colagrande. He wound up capturing the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award and was named Axcess Baseball’s Man of the Year after compiling a season for the ages. He went 10-0 with a 0.30 and striking out 104 batters. For his career, he was a perfect 17-0 at the varsity level. He is currently a freshman at Stony Brook University.

Congratulations to Kings Park Senior Hunter Colagrande who was the recipient of the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award given to the top player in Suffolk County. He led the Kingmen to their first Long Island Championship since 2001 while going 10-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 104 Ks on the… pic.twitter.com/OagX3WA7RH

— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 11, 2024

“He’s probably the best pitcher to ever come through Kings Park, and we’ve had some great ones. You don’t necessarily replace a guy like him. You see his impact after he’s gone. It’s evident now how much he meant when you see younger guys coming up acting mature like him. You never saw him rattled. That’s a big deal when you’re go-to guy is calm, cool and collected. Confidence is contagious.”

After that shutout victory, they advanced to face Maine-Endwell in the NYS Finals – the team that captured the 2016 Little League World Series. They lost a heartbreaker, 5-3, in which Kings Park loaded the bases in the top of the 7th inning. Freshman Everett Zarzicki smashed one that appeared like it could be an extra-base hit, but Maine-Endwell’s third baseman, Michael Jamba, made a remarkable, full-extension dive and stepped on the base to end the game.

Although Colagrande was certainly the highest-profile player on the team, he was far from the only impact senior that graduated.

Brandon Hauk, who was named League MVP in 2023, followed that up with an even better season in 2024. He batted .507 with an absurd .611 OBP, scored 22 runs, compiled 36 hits (9 extra-base hits), drove in 18 runs, was hit by 11 pitches and remarkably struck out only 2 times. “That’s a big deal for us,” said Abreu in regards to the strikeout total. He was twice named Suffolk County’s Gold Glove winner for first baseman. He is currently at Division-II St. Thomas Aquinas.

Brandon Hauk (Kings Park 2024) commits to Division-II St. Thomas Aquinas @USG_Baseball @KingsParkBSB pic.twitter.com/MOkp2VfUUv

— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 3, 2024

Mitchell Landau was named Class A Playoff MVP. He batted .407 for the season with a .467 OBP, scored 27 runs, struck out just 5 times all season and compiled three 3-hit games in the playoffs. He is at Western Connecticut along with fellow classmate Steven Carini.

They also graduated All-League infielder Anthony Altobelli (Mercy) and RHP Matt Callahan (St. Thomas Aquinas).

Fortunately, with the long season they had, Kings Park relied on several younger players that are returning for their title defense.

Anchoring the pitching staff is sophomore Everett Zarzicki who flashed poise beyond his years by going 6-2 with an ERA under 1.00.

“I was surprised, but not surprised at all,” said Abreu in regards to the immediate success that Zarzicki had in the pressure cooker as a freshman. “He had that as an 8th grader when we called him up. He pitched in huge spots. He’s totally built different. His mentality is way advanced. This matters to him a lot and you can tell.”

It’s back ! The popular “Up Next” Series. Special thanks to State Farm Ken Kortright Agency for sponsoring this years series. First up is Everett Zarzicki of Kings Parkhttps://t.co/b2T2Q0HtYE pic.twitter.com/Fm1a6ffiZV

— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 29, 2023

His classmate, Dylan Frers, is another flame throwing sophomore that was up as a freshman. In fact, he was the winning pitcher in the Long Island Championship and held his own with the stick – going 6-for-17 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored.

Behind the dish, they have senior Vincenzo Buffolino who is entering his 4th year on varsity. After sitting behind Anthony Agostinelli two years ago, he replaced him last year and had the challenge of handling one of the top pitching staffs on Long Island. For the season, the team compiled an ERA under 1.00 and Abreu believes he was a big reason for that.

“In 2023, he played third because we had a need and he was willing to move. Pitching only takes you as far as the guy behind the plate. He did a sensational job. It was a really big deal. He controlled the running game and you could count on one hand how many passed balls we had.”

Anthony LoBasso is also returning. He rolled his ankle during their series against Miller Place and missed a couple weeks and when he returned, he had an immediate impact. He batted .380 and the team was undefeated when he was in the lineup.

“We are excited about him for sure,” said Abreu.

The outfield will be some combination of Chase Renna (Plattsburgh-commit), Nick Paliotta and Mark Smith.

Going back to the 2024 team, Abreu stressed the importance of how close the team was and how that ultimately benefitted them on the field.

“We spent a lot of time together in the offseason. Day-to-day, you can’t even describe how much they love to complete. The group has been together sine Kings Park Little League. The dynamic was just something special to be around. Everyone was supportive of each other. We never needed to have difficult conversations – they held each other accountable. Conversations that we needed to have with them in the past, they were able to have with each other. The families were very close, they vacationed together, they played together all way the way from Kings Park travel until 13 when they got to middle school. They’ve been around each other their whole lives.”

Add it all up, and you get a 23-3 record and an appearance in the New York State Finals.

Kings Park will kick off their title defense on April 1 against Rocky Point. They’ll also face Rocky Point, Sayville, Islip, Shoreham-Wading River and Miller Place.