FEATURES
Michael Rizzitello on His First Year in Pro Ball
(Editor’s Note: Michael Rizzitello is a 2012 graduate of Connetquot HS and 2016 graduate of Dowling College. He was named to our All-Long Island team last year and he participated in our Battle of the Border. He is currently playing professional ball in the Pacific Association. The following words are his own.) The hardest part about playing the game of baseball is knowing when to hang it up–something that I thought I would have to do at the end of my senior season of college baseball. It was January of 2017 when I was trying to figure out where I would shift my attention to, now that baseball didn’t consume my life. Let me tell you something, I have never been so miserable. I knew that I couldn’t play forever, but I didn’t think it would end so soon. One night, after a long da...
Who Is Jack Gonzalez?
Sachem North made a surprise playoff run in a difficult League 2 this season thanks to a strong pitching staff led by Chris Lollo, Kevin Kochen and Jack Gonzalez. Lollo is at Washington College, Kochen is at Queens College and Gonzalez announced yesterday that he has committed to St. Thomas Aquinas. They are coming off an appearance in the Div-II College World Series, where they won the first two games before falling just short of the ultimate goal. Gonzalez is a crafty left-handed pitcher that works in the 78-79 MPH range, but has tremendous command of his pitches. He had a very good summer with Motus Academy, where he was named to the All-Tournament team of the WWBA in Georgia. He will be leading the Arrows’ rotation in 2018 as they look to build on this year’s 11-win season....
Hermes Abreu Speaks Softly and Lets His Play Do the Talking
With Commack garnering much of the attention in League 2 in 2017, it was easy to let some of the other outstanding performances go underappreciated. Bay Shore, one year after recording the most victories in Suffolk County, compiled a record of 14-8 and won a playoff game over Kings Park before getting eliminated by Hauppauge. Their biggest impact player was League 2 MVP Hermes Abreu, who was also named first-team All State. He is one of the rare two-way players that plays primarily behind the plate. He had numbers that jumped right off the stat sheet; he hit over .500 with 4 HR, 35 RBI and went 7-0 with 3 saves on the mound. You could argue he would’ve won the Yaz Award had Brian Morrell not dominated as well. He is currently at Concordia College, where he will begin his collegiate c...
Why Kate McGuire Will Make You Pay Attention
T.J. McGuire does not hesitate when he says his 12-year-old sister, Kate, is the best player he’s ever watched. Just to clarify, he’s referring to the sport of baseball. Keep in mind that T.J. McGuire played on the 2014 Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms squad that won the New York State Class A championship. That team had a number of phenomenal individuals that went on to play at the college level and prospered there as well–notably Jack Piekos who won the Paul Gibson Award and struck out 122 batters over 74 innings with a record of 10-1. “I’m saying this not as her brother but as an unbiased fan–if you lined up all the players on the field,” said McGuire, “I would choose my sister first and bat her third and play her at shortstop,” he went o...
Who Is Jordan Rose?
The St. Anthony’s Friars put together one of their most talented teams on paper in 2017. Their lineup consisted of a few players that had already gone on to accept scholarship offers such as Cameron Tomaiko, Noah Fortuna and Kyle LaGrutta. They also had a few other players such as Jared Restmeyer, Steven Rizzo and Jordan Rose who are certain to accept scholarships as well. While Restmeyer and Rizzo enjoyed breakout seasons, Rose suffered a painful injury against St. John the Baptist which cut his season short and sidelined him for the summer season as well. He is back to 100 percent, however, and will take part in our inaugural Home Run Derby on September 9 at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). He is a tremendously gifted outfielder with premium power. He spoke with Vinny Messa...
Who Is Terrence Murray?
Grand slam by Fordham-commit Terrence Murray (Kellenberg ’18). Feature story on him coming tomorrow ? pic.twitter.com/ritVl5q501 Axcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) August 21, 2017 In many ways, 2017 was a banner year for Kellenberg Memorial HS. They rode an historically dominant pitching staff and a core group of seniors to a consecutive CHSAA championship. One of the unsung contributors on that team was junior Terrence Murray. He hit a respectable .280 and played a strong defense in outfield. He turned his play up a notch early on in the summer season. Murray was able to parlay that success into something much bigger. He was one of the first incoming seniors this summer to commit to a Div-I program when he verbally committed to Fordham University. He spoke with Vinny Messana a...
Jay Loviglio: A Life in Baseball
There are many former Major Leaguers that have received more praise and notoriety than Jay Loviglio. The East Islip native is just fine with that. The man who has been involved with every level of baseball has seen just about everything. He’s just not a fan of telling everyone about it. In fact, even the man who hired him for his current role as hitting instructor for the LI Black Diamonds only found about his credentials from a Google search after running into him while he was working at PC Richards & Sons. Don’t let the modesty fool you, though, Loviglio has all the traits of a baseball lifer. After graduating from East Islip HS in 1974, he attended Suffolk Community College due to an error by the admissions department at LIU Brooklyn. Despite attending classes for the e...
Chris Buehler Commits to LIU Brooklyn
Stop me if you’ve heard this before–a Ward Melville pitcher has announced his verbal commitment to a Div-I school. Chris Buehler, 2018 LHP, became the latest pitcher from the Patriots to vindicate his potential as a high-ceiling pitcher. He is coming off a very strong 2017 campaign in which he was part of the vaunted rotation of Ben Brown (MLB Draft pick) and Max Nielsen (UCONN). He compiled a record of 5-2 with a 0.66 ERA and 45 Ks over 42 IP during the school season and has continued that strong season into the summer where he has compiled a 2.23 ERA wwwith a 4-1 record over 37.2 IP. I had the chance to speak to him and here’s what he had to say… Talk a little about the recruiting process and why you decided to verbally commit to LIU Brooklyn The recruiting proces...
Who Is Kyle Johnson?
One of the top two-way prospects in the class of 2018 is now off the chart with Kyle Johnson (Newfield) committing to Stony Brook University on Friday night. The SS/RHP is a slick fielder with great pop at the plate and a 87-89 MPH fastball on the hill. Kyle Johnson (Newfield ’18) on to pitch the third inning for B.A. pic.twitter.com/kkpnvPvRWf aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) July 20, 2017 He’s had a great summer, hitting over .300 against top competition. He also compiled a ridiculous 0.69 ERA with 74 strikeouts against only five walks. I had a chance to talk to him, and here’s what he had to say… Can you talk about the commit to Stony Brook and how it came about? I became very familiar with Stony Brook baseball at a very young age. When I was 4 years old ...
Who Is Luke Hansen?
Playing out on the east end makes it difficult to get noticed sometimes. In the case of Southold LHP Luke Hansen–who announced his verbal commitment to Div-I Sacred Heart University on Friday–you can make up for that lack of notoriety with a dominating fastball. He had a tremendous season, compiling 101 strikeouts this season with a sub 1.00 ERA while guiding his team to a Class C Long Island Championship. I had the chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… Can you talk about the college recruiting process and how Sacred Heart came about? I started talking to Sacred Heart towards the beginning of the summer after they saw me pitch in a tournament. I was also interested in a handful of other schools, some in the north and some in the south. I felt a goo...
Q & A With Holy Trinity Head Coach Dan Luisi
(Photo Credit: 27east.com) During my days at Farmingdale State, I had the pleasure of playing for Coach Dan Luisi in 2011. Since then, he has moved up the coaching ranks to Div-I as an assistant at Stony Brook, then a Head Coach for the West Hampton Aviators of the HCBL and now as the Head Coach of his alma mater, Holy Trinity HS. I had the opportunity to speak with him, and here is what he had to say… How excited are you to be taking over a very storied and successful Holy Trinity program and taking over for a well-respected Head Coach? Being able to take over Holy Trinity HS is inspiring and self-rewarding for me. I have always been a Titan–even long after I graduated from there in 2005. I have a great deal of pride in the school and the program, an I’m honored to follo...
Who is Franklin Parra?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yVp_42nMk Every once in a while a kid will burst onto the scene and make a name for himself in a short period of time. While most of the elite players are identified as soon as they enter high school, others develop later or struggle to put it all together. Copiague LHP Franklin Parra fits this latter description. The flame-throwing southpaw has been the topic of discussion this summer ever since his dynamite showing in Georgia. He has since dominated Long Island hitters, averaging 2.5 Ks per inning on the mound while also compiling a 1.250 OPS at the plate. He certainly has a chance to get drafted next season. I had the chance to watch him play yesterday and it lived up to the hype. The Dominican-born pitcher struck out three over two shutout innings whil...
