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Longwood Looks to Take Final Step and Capture County Title

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

by Max Edelman

 

As he enters his 10th season as the head coach of the Longwood Lions. Ryan McSherry is excited to see what this season has in store. Before looking at his team for this year, McSherry reflected on last year in what he believed was a successful year for his squad. The team went 19-5 before losing to both Smithtown East and Connetquot, the eventual Suffolk County champions in the playoffs.

“We want to get over the hump and win a Suffolk County title.” McSherry said. That’s always the goal every year. We knew this team for a while. They came up through our youth clinic. We’ve developed relationships with them since they were in elementary school. They were a super talented group and hope that they are off doing fantastic things in their lives.”

Of last year’s Longwood team, 16 members of the team were seniors. Which not only means there will be a lot of new players this year, but also that a number of them are continuing playing at the college level. They include AJ Servellon is playing at Suffolk Community College, Dom Lauria is playing at Penn State Burke, Kyle Connolly is playing at Post University, Luke Rizzi is at American International College and Matt Farone is playing at Farmingdale State. 

This year’s Lions squad consists of 10 players that were members of the team in 2025. At the very top of the list is Brayden Franco. Last year, Franco hit .338 with 21 RBIs, 19 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Franco also plays both the outfield and third base.

“He is a very polished hitter.” McSherry said. “He has natural power, he’s a hard worker and a good leader. Just a really good kid in general.”

On the mound, the Lions have high expectations for Cortland-commit Brendan Rivera despite being a junior last year, Rivera was the ace of the Lions staff last year and McSherry hopes that he will continue to feature as the ace this year. Rivera finished last season with a 6-1 record. In 52 innings, Rivera struck out 59 batters, had a 1.00 WHIP and a .184 average against. Rivera finished the season with a 1.35 ERA. 

“He threw a no-hitter in the playoffs against Pat-Med.” McSherry said. “He ended up being named all-state. He has very good control of his pitches on the mound. He’s very confident  in himself too. His fastball is sitting at 84 to 86. He’s got a nice tight slider. He can throw both pitches for strikes at will and he’s a great competitor.”

One of the few underclassmen on the team last year, Jagger Franco will look to begin the second half of his high school career similar to how he ended his first. Last year, Franco hit .371, with 16 RBIs, 17 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. 

“He’s an electric player.” McSherry said. “He can excel in any facet of the game he’s involved in. Defensively I can put him at catcher or shortstop and he’s gold glove caliber. On the mound he’s an ace, and offensively he’s a terror. He has excellent hand-eye coordination. He’s very savvy, knows the game very well. He can steal bases, and he has power, just a menace. 

Other returners include Stephen Moscatello. McSherry complimented Moscatello’s gold glove caliber defense in the infield, as well as his very strong hands and loose quick swing at the plate. McSherry believes that Moscatello can be a breakout bat in the order this season. Tyler Grablewski is someone that McSherry believes put in a lot of work this offseason. 

“He’s someone that’s really worked their butt off.” McSherry said. “He added a lot of muscle, even more than he did the previous year which was noticeable. He’s a hard worker, the ball jumps off his bat. He figures to factor in in a variety of ways. He’s going to be a middle of the order hitter. He is very good in the outfield defensively with a sneaky plus arm and he can pitch on the mound as a left handed pitcher.”

Adam Szczepanik is expected to feature heavily on the mound this year for the Lions. McSherry complimented Szczepanik for his wipeout slider and mid to upper 80s fastball that he can use to shutdown hitters. In terms of newcomers. McSherry is excited for the transfer of former St. John’s the Baptist player Ryan Audette. Like Szczepanik, Audette is expected to feature as a pitcher.

“He has a loose, whippy arm on the mound.” McSherry said. “He attacks hitters aggressively. His fastball is in the low to mid 80s range, he has excellent command of several pitches and has a very good stick as well.”

As the Lions enter 2026. They will do so with the memory of Nolan Horn pushing them forward. Horn passed away of cancer in 2024. In his honor, the Lions wear his number, the number three on all of their hats.

“He was a valued teammate and valued friend and is spoken of frequently.” McSherry said. 

When it comes to the strength of his team, McSherry believes with a very deep rotation, that the Longwood Lions have the ability to make yet another deep run in 2026.

“I think we got some very dynamic pitchers that are going to challenge hitters and give them fits.” McSherry said. “We have quite a few arms that can fill a variety of roles for us in our bullpen. Our top of the order has some boppers in it that can scare some other teams pitchers and we have some ballplayers. We have nine kids that can really scrap and grind and play baseball that we really embody and value as coaches.”

The Longwood Lions will open their season on March 26 against Riverhead.