Wheatley Looking to Defend Long Island Class B Championship

 

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

by Max Edelman

It was a strong 2024 season for The Wheatley School Wildcats. The team, led by head coach David Burke, went on a remarkable run, before ultimately losing in the state regional finals.

“It went pretty well.” Burke said. “We ended up losing in the state regionals to Spackenkill. We won the Nassau County and Long Island B championships last season. Anytime you have a true ace, a guy that’s a trained pitcher that can lead your team you get excited about what could happen and I knew the caliber that we had and the supporting cast that we had on the team that we were going to be very competitive. So the season went the way I thought it would.”

The ace that Burke is speaking of is Connor Quinn. Quinn, who is now pitching at SUNY Brockport will be sorely missed by his former high school. However, Wheatley will be returning seven of their nine starters, a big positive for a team with no shortage of recent success.

When it comes to key returners, there is no shortage of talent. Andrew Asaro, the starting shortstop for the Wildcats, was an All-County player a year ago, and will be joining SUNY New Paltz following the conclusion of the season. 

Noah Fiorello, the starting catcher, was also an award winner, finishing the season as a member of the All-County team. Fiorello is set to play at Fairleigh Dickinson Florham beginning in the 2026 season. The final of the three returning award winners, Ryan Silva, was an All-League player last year. Asaro, Fiorello and Silva make up a big three of an exclusively upperclassman team.

Burke is excited for the return of Alex Golub. Golub missed much of last season due to Tommy John surgery despite not being a pitcher. But after having recovered, Wheatley will benefit greatly from the returning junior.

“I pulled him up my first year when he was a freshman for the playoffs.” Burke said. “He helped us out a little bit and unfortunately he had Tommy John.”

The other junior, Casey Quinn, is the brother of former pitcher Connor Quinn, could be called upon to fill the void left by his older brother. Much like his brother, Quinn is also a pitcher.

“He’s a returning junior that logged a lot of innings last year.” Burke said. “So I expect him to definitely be a part of our team’s success this year.”

Coinciding with the success of the Wildcats varsity programs was the success of the JV team, as they only lost one game during the 2024 season. Therefore, a number of guys that helped the team succeed will be part of the varsity fold this season. They include Krish Patel and Lawrence Brown, who are expected to pitch, and in Brown’s case, play the outfield. And P.J. O’Connor is going to play the outfield for Wheatley as well.

When it comes to the biggest strength for Wheatley this season, it lies with the team’s defense.

“I think we’re going to be sound defensively.” Burke said. “When I look at this entire roster, most of the guys play club, and a lot of the guys are going to be able to play positions that they’re trained in. So defensively I don’t see any holes. If there was a team I needed to have to be able to compete in this league, this is the team.”

The Wheatley Wildcats will open their season against Island Trees on April 1.