Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Joe Bello
FINAL (7 innings): Plainedge 1, MacArthur 0
WP: Matt Rosenberg – 5.2 IP, 7 K
LP: Tyler Bonsignore – 6 IP, 12 K pic.twitter.com/mAAQRuN17b— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 1, 2024
Colin Fratrik is getting ready to enter his 13th season as the head coach at Plainedge High School. After a solid 2024 season, the Red Devils are ready to make some noise in 2025.
“Looking back on our season, I thought that we had a good season.” Fratrik said. “We were extremely competitive throughout the season, finishing in 2nd place in our conference, and lost in the semi’s to a really good Wantagh team. We felt like we had chances to win that game 3, but didn’t make enough plays defensively, and Wantagh took advantage and ended our season.”
The Red Devils finished with a record of 17-9 last spring, good for 2nd place in their conference and made the playoffs. They defeated Island Trees in the quarterfinals to advance into the semis but ultimately fell short to Wantagh with an 8-6 loss in game 3.
They graduated a handful of impact players from last year’s team. Their starting catcher, Zach Rosenzweig, has graduated and is now playing at Division-II Wilmington University. Rosenzweig was a 4-year starter for the team and one of their leaders, he was awarded All-County honors as a junior and All-Conference as a senior. Nick Gerardi has moved on, he is playing at St. Joseph’s University LI this season, he was a 3 year starter at first base for the Red Devils. He was awarded All-County honors last spring. They also will be without pitcher Matt Rosenberg, who was on the varsity squad for 3 years, he is now playing at Queens College.
Also winning awards last season at Plainedge was Bobby Wescott (All-County), Jaxson Torres (All-League), and Taylor Nitsch (All-League).
Mike Colon was awarded All-Conference last season, but unfortunately he recently tore his ACL so he will miss the season. “I feel terrible for him, he was a huge part of our success last year. His presence in our lineup will be missed.” Fratrik said.
Luckily for Fratrik, he does have a lot of talent returning this year on his team. Wescott, junior, is the starting first baseman for the Red Devils and is committed to Stony Brook University. As a sophomore last season, Wescott hit .420, with 4 HR and 29 RBI.
“Bobby is a special leader and player for us.” Fratrik said. “Bobby was brought up during the playoffs as an 8th grader. Bobby has spent the offseason in the weight room, working hard on becoming more athletic and stronger. I am really looking forward to seeing how all his hard work pays off for him this upcoming season.”
Also returning is sophomore pitcher Jaxson Torres, who as previously mentioned was awarded All-League as a freshman last year. Fratrik calls Torres a “special athlete.” Standing at 6’3”, Torres sits around 85 MPH on the mound, last season he pitched to a 2.26 ERA in 34 innings with 48 strikeouts.
Taylor Nitsch (2026 Plainedge) is a top 500 player in the country
He features a high 80s fastball that tops out at 90, with a reliable slider in the low 70s pic.twitter.com/E917TRFjfD
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 23, 2025
Junior Taylor Nitsch, who also won All-League honors last season, will also be a threat on the mound for the Red Devils. A “complete pitcher” as Fratrik put it, with a fastball in the mid-to-upper 80s. Nitsch had a 2.80 ERA last season in 39.2 innings pitched, with 50 strikeouts.
Senior Aiden McCarthy, committed to Barry University, and fellow senior Nick Williams will also help out on the mound for Fratrik’s club this spring. In 23.1 innings last year, McCarthy had 28 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA. While Williams had a 0.34 ERA in 20.1 innings pitched last season.
RHP Aiden McCarthy (Plainedge 2025) commits to Barry University pic.twitter.com/qBGnsvGtB4
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) December 8, 2024
The Red Devils have been preparing for the season these past 2 months during winter workouts. They even have been able to get outside recently, a rare occurrence during the winter for a baseball team in the northeast.
“Winter workouts have gone great.” Fratrik said. “We were able to get our pitchers throwing for the last 2 months, building up arm strength, and getting a lot of cage work for our positional players. Luckily the weather has been great the last few weeks, so we have been able to get outdoors on the turf field to get some defensive work in as well.”
Fratrik is excited for the season to begin, one that should be once again filled with success for Plainedge.
“I am really looking forward to this season.” Fratrik remarked. “We are going to be very competitive, and feel that our pitching staff should keep us in each game. Our JV team was very successful last year, and some of the kids coming up from that team have really looked like they are ready for Varsity competition.”
Plainedge kicks their season off on April 2nd in a Non-League game against Bethpage.
