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Led by 4 Returning All-County Players, Plainedge Hungry to Be Last Team Standing

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

By Anthony DiCocco

Following consecutive seasons ending just shy of their goal, the Plainedge Red Devils are looking to get over the hump in 2026.

Plainedge pieced together a dominant regular season under the watchful eye of head coach Colin Fratrik a year ago, going 22-3 overall and 17-1 in league play to secure a conference title. However, the Red Devils were eliminated by Seaford in the semifinals, marking the second straight year that it fell just short in reaching the Nassau County Championship series.

“Obviously, we were disappointed with the way our season ended,” Fratrik said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “But with winning 22 games and only losing one regular season game, it’s hard to classify that as an unsuccessful year. We were pretty happy with how we played.”

At last season’s end, Plainedge graduated SS Jack Kregeloh, LF Jake Parpan, RHP Nick Williams and RHP/OF Aiden McCarthy, who is now playing for Barry University’s junior varsity team. Despite those four losses, the Red Devils are returning some heavy hitters this spring, including four All-County recipients that will serve as the team’s core.

“Having a lot of returning players gives us some experience,” Fratrik said. “It’s really helped us so far in the beginning part of the season as far as how we like to run our practices and how efficient we are.”

Bobby Wescott, who is committed to play at Stony Brook, will continue to man first base and be the main cog in Plainedge’s lineup. Last season, Wescott racked up 32 hits, including 11 doubles and six homers, with 43 runs batted in (RBI) and 33 runs scored. The southpaw is also vying to be the first arm out of the Red Devils’ bullpen.

Fratrik will have a couple of right-handers at his disposal to lead the rotation in Taylor Nitsch and Jaxson Torres. 

Nitsch is set to join Towson in the fall after going 5-2 last year with a 1.79 earned run average (ERA), 63 strikeouts and a 0.93 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP) across 43 innings. When not on the mound, he occupies a corner outfield spot and is a threat with the bat, as he batted second last year and was a finalist for the Joe Corea Diamond Award. With the stick, he collected nine doubles, a triple, two bombs, 20 RBIs and 34 runs.

Torres — a junior — is another dangerous two-way player. While sporting a spotless 7-0 record, Torres produced a 0.34 ERA and 0.56 WHIP with 64 punch outs in 41 innings of work. At the plate, he slashed .478 with six doubles and a pair of home runs while driving in 20 runs.

“[Nitsch and Torres] are like a 1A and 1B for us,” Fratrik said. “They were both very successful on the mound last year and they’re looking forward to getting started and having big years for us.”

The Red Devils’ final All-County player is senior Jayden Gaghan, who will reprise his role as the team’s starting catcher. Of Gaghan’s 25 hits last year, he tallied five doubles and three triples. Gaghan also notched 25 RBIs and crossed the plate 19 times.

To round out the infield, Fratrik will call upon Dom Santavasci, as well as Mike and AJ Calapai. After starting at second base last year, Santavasci (SUNY Oneonta) will slide over to shortstop to take over for Kregeloh. AJ Calapai will be Santavasci’s double-play partner while Mike will man third base once again after earning an All-Conference nod last year.

Along with Nitsch patrolling either right or left field, senior Brady Henderson is slated to be Plainedge’s center fielder. Henderson, who was the Red Devils’ leadoff batter and an All-Conference player last year, is fully healthy after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during the last week of the regular season.

Aside from Nitsch, Plainedge’s other corner outfield position is up for grabs. Another spot that is up in the air is the Red Devils’ No. 3 starter, but RHP Matt Sharon is the leading candidate as of now. In 14 innings in relief last season, Sharon earned a win and a save while picking up 22 strikeouts and allowing 10 hits.

“I think a big breakout guy is going to be Matt Sharon,” Fratrik said. “He was able to be one of the first guys out of our bullpen and pitched in some big spots for us in the playoffs last year. With pitching being so important in the game of baseball, hopefully he can take that spot and follow Taylor and Jaxson’s lead.”

Senior RHP Ty Stark is competing with Wescott for the top reliever spot while junior right-handers Matt Judge and Adam Rosenberg will provide additional pitching depth.

Though winning a Nassau County Championship and even a Long Island Championship remain the end goals, the Red Devils plan on taking things one day at a time.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead,” Fratrik said. “We’ve lost in the semifinals the last two years so guys know the competition in Nassau County is really tight and that any team can win on any given day. If we’re able to put ourselves in a position to get over the hump, we have to execute situational baseball to move onto the next round.”

Plainedge will kick off its quest for a Nassau County title on Tuesday against Wheatley.