Game Recaps
February 26 Recap
Div-I: St. Johns wins seventh straight, remain perfect: The Red Storm squared up with the UMBC Retrievers on Sunday and turned to starting pitcher Ryan McAuliffe who delivered 6.1 innings of scoreless work, striking out five while scattering only six hits. However, McAuliffe’s efforts were matched by UMBC’s starting pitcher Matt Chanin as both starters traded zeros on the scoreboard through the first four innings of play. The Johnnies were finally able to break the scoreless tie in the fifth thanks to three consecutive defensive miscues, the latter being a wild pitch that allowed Robbie Knightes to score from third base. After a walk of Mike Antico who finished 1-for-2 on the day with two runs scored, redshirt junior John Valente collected his second hit of the day via RBI single to left ...
February 25 Recap
by Mike Guido The season has reached day two of weekend two and ball clubs are beginning to lay their foundations and discover their identities. Unfortunately, six out of nine teams took the loss in seven of the ten games played on Saturday. However, there were some bright spots and the season is young so progress is due. Division I: St. John’s remains unbeaten after six: St. John’s is off to a scorching start to begin the 2017 campaign earning their sixth win in as many games. The most impressive thing about this club’s streak is the fashion in which they’re grabbing victories. After beating Kansas State earlier this weekend 9-2, they added a 15-3 win against UMBC to their resume on Saturday. A strong outing by Mike LoPresti was a key component to the victory while earning his second win....
Ninth Inning Dooms NYIT
All eyes were on Elias Martinez today at Angelo Lorenzo Memorial Field. The big RHP impressed all the scouts on hand with a dynamite fastball and a big curveball that produced seven strikeouts while allowing only three hits over 8.1 IP. It was what happened after he left, though, that resulted in a 6-2 loss at the hands of Sacred Heart University. “I thought he commanded the zone well,” said pitching coach Al Sontag. “He had all the stuff working–he got ahead of batters. He went into the ninth inning with under 90 pitches, we wanted to give him a chance to try and get a ‘W’, but once he got over 100 pitches I thought it was time to get him out. He made one bad pitch all day.” The Bears took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a ...
Jake DeCarli Strikes Out 10 in 4-3 Victory over Southern New Hampshire
Jake DeCarli looked like the 2015 version of himself in last night’s outing against No. 6 ranked Southern New Hampshire. The senior RHP struck out 10 and allowed only four hits over 7.0 IP in the 4-3 victory. Dan Jagiello came on in relief and struck out all four batters he faced to record his first save of the season. The Pioneers’ offense was dormant for the first four innings, and they trailed 3-0 when they came to bat. They sparked a rally, with the first run coming on an RBI single by Michael Greene. Reigning All-Long Island outfielder Rob Andreoli smacked an RBI single of his own, as did Anthony Vaglica. The go-ahead run came across on a double play off the bat of Zach Fritz. With the victory, the Pioneers improved to 2-3. They will be back in action today against Felicia...
Hofstra Dominates in Season’s First Win
The Pride began their weekend at the Mardi Gras Invitational with a 10-3 win against Nicholls State. Hofstra tallied 18 hits to Nicholls’ three. Thanks in part to a masterful performance from starting pitcher John Rooney, he threw five no-hit innings in which he struck out six. When he left he had put his team in great position to win–as Hofstra was up 7-0. Hofstra wasted no time, first baseman Nick Bottari got them on the board with a two-run double in the game’s third at bat. They continued to pad their lead until the seventh inning, when Hofstra delivered a knock-out blow in the form of a three-run home run from shortstop Mikey Riesner. Nicholls came back to score three unearned runs in the eighth, but by that point it was all but over. Riesner led the team in RBIs wit...
Recap of Dominican Republic Trip
What a tremendous experience it was for the 20 players who were a part of Sal Agostinelli‘s All-Star team this past week in the Dominican Republic. The competition was top-notch. All players were either already signed and playing on the Dominican Summer League teams of their respective organizations or very worthy of being signed. In fact, a number of Dominican players were signed right on the spot after their performances on the field. All five of the games were played in front of several MLB area scouts. Here are some notes from the five games. There were 2 teams–one from the class of ’17 and ’18 and one from ’19 and ’20. Each team played the Dominican Summer League teams from the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers...
Long Island Baseball Tops Team Steel 2-1
When the weather dips below 50 degrees and there’s high-end pitchers on the mound pitching to batters with wood bats, you can expect offense to be at a premium. That’s exactly what happened in the first game of the Antonia Agostinelli Memorial tournament tonight at Baseball Heaven, in which Long Island Baseball topped Team Steele 2-1. With Team Steel clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth and runners on second & third with two outs, the third-place batter lofted a fly ball to right field which was dropped and allowed the tying run to score. The next batter smacked a single to right field to score the go-ahead run which proved to be the winning run. Both starting pitchers battled through command issues but allowed zero runs through four innings. Each team stranded...
Coltrane Calloway Smacks HR, Throws CG in 3-2 Win over Titans Gold for Championship
by Vinny Messana, Editor Going into the game, Coltrane Calloway knew the opposition would soon be his teammates. The 13-year-old will be playing with the Long Island Titans during the 2017 season, but for tonight he showcased what makes him such a terrific player. He went 2-for-2 with a walk and the go-ahead solo HR in the top of the fourth which ultimately was the deciding factor in Team Beast’s 3-2 victory over the Titans Gold in the championship of the 12U summer league at Baseball Heaven. Team Beast took an early 2-0 lead off starting pitcher A.J. Joya with a bases loaded two-run single by Jack Vallario to right field. Joya got the runs right back with a two-run shot off Trane to left field. Calloway noted that Joya is the one player he really feared in the lineup. “I was m...
Recap of Week 6 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana This week concluded the 41st year of the New York Baseball Academy. The annual camp was a tremendous success highlighted by special appearances from former professional players (Pat Lennon, Matt Giuliano, Dave & Matt Lemanczyk, Mike Gaffney, Brian Dorsey, Reid Gorecki, etc.) with Long Island roots. Just as importantly, however, was the experience for the young ballplayers who were able to improve their ballgame while having a great time in the process. This week the morning clinics were run by current LIU Post Head Coach Mike Gaffney, current Hofstra Head Coach John Russo and legendary NYIT Head Coach Bob Hirschfield. As always, a bevy of different awards were handed out. Below are the winners of the coveted “Super Hustler Award”–given to the players that...
Recap of Week 5 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana, Editor Long Island baseball has never been better represented across Major League Baseball than it is right now. The bar has been raised high to become a great player and if you don’t want to fall behind you have to put the work in. Over the past five weeks, close to 1,000 players have walked onto Hofstra University’s baseball field and taken part of the famous New York Baseball Academy–which is now in its 41st year. It was another tremendous week of baseball, filled with 210 players–headlined by some of the brightest baseball players on the island, including Matt Pelcher of Calhoun and the younger brother of Marcus Stroman. This week featured morning clinics from Hofstra’s Head Coach John Russo, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Tyler K...
Recap of Week 4 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana It was yet another fun-filled week of baseball at the New York Baseball Academy. There were 210 kids eager to learn from a coaching staff that has decades and decades of experience and have taught some of the top players this region has ever seen. The players had the fortune of learning from a couple of special guests. Dave Lemanczyk (1979 A.L. All Star) imparted his wisdom on the young men in an insightful morning clinic and also gave batting instructions at the cages all day on Wednesday. Former Long Island Ducks pitcher and LI native Brian Dorsey was in charge of the pitching specials on Tuesday and also gave a fascinating speech during his clinic. In addition to learning a great deal, many of the players had awards bestowed upon them. More important than the skill-base...
Recap of Week 3 of New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana The New York Baseball Academy has been home to some of the top young talent in the northeast over the past 40 years. That–combined with a coaching staff that features former professional players and some of the most recognizable and respected baseball minds–has allowed the NYBA to be named one of the top five baseball camps in the country. This week just concluded Week 3 at Hofstra. The camp had over 200 kids between the ages of 7 and 17. They were fortunate enough to get coaching from 12-year big league veteran and Long Island native, John Habyan. After building up the St. John the Baptist program to being one of the elites on the island, he became the pitching coach of Hofstra this past year. Another special guest was Kellenberg-grad and former big leaguer Re...
