Game Recaps
Recap of Week 2 of New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana For 40 years, kids ages 5-15 have made their way to the New York Baseball Academy to develop their skills and learn from some of the brightest minds and most recognizable names in the Long Island baseball community. The director of the academy, legendary former NYIT coach Bob Hirschfield, has recently moved the camp to the beautiful campus of Hofstra University. The 240-acre campus is the perfect environment for young baseball players to hone their craft of the game they love. This week was a tremendous success once again. Former MLB slugger Patrick Lennon and longtime Mineola Head Coach Helms Bohringer were the special instructors along with the usual Head Coaches, who all have had successful playing careers and combine for decades and decades of experience between them. ...
Recap of Week One of New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana For 40 years, kids ages 5-15 have made their way to the New York Baseball Academy to develop their skills and learn from some of the brightest minds and most recognizable names in the Long Island baseball community. The director of the academy, legendary former NYIT coach Bob Hirschfield, has recently moved the camp to the beautiful campus of Hofstra University. The 240-acre campus is the perfect environment for young baseball players to hone their craft of the game they love. This week concluded week 1 of the academy, and it went as well as expected. There were special insructors; Matt Giuliano (Connetquot grad, Owner of Play Like a Pro, seven years Pro player), Eddie Waters (St. John’s University Hall of Fame, played professionally with New York Yankees, St. Thomas...
Dylan Rooney Named MVP in 1-0 Victory for Suffolk
By Nakeem Grant The 12th annual Grand Slam Challenge between Nassau and Suffolk was a pitcher’s duel through-and-through as Suffolk defeated Nassau by a score of 1-0. Both teams made remarkable defensive plays, turning several double play balls, and flagging down pop-ups and fly balls in Farmingdale State College’s spacious foul grounds. Dylan Rooney was named the Rawlings MVP for the Grand Slam Challenge. He drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly to left field in the top of the 6th after fighting off multiple curveballs from Nassau’s Joe Minucci. “He threw me three straight curveballs and I fouled them off,” Rooney said. “I said to myself that if he throws me one more, I’m going to sit back and try to get this run in and that’s exactly what I did.” Rooney, senior from Bayport-B...
Wantagh Wins the Class A NYS Championship
by Vinny Messana Being the No. 7 seed entering the postseason? No problem. Not having a two-time All-State pitcher available in the postseason? No problem. Facing an undefeated Queensbury team in the NYS title game? Psh. The Wantagh Warriors defeated Williamsville East to capture their first Class A NYS title since 1998. Starting pitcher Bobby Hegarty, who fired a one-hitter against Mount Sinai to capture the Long Island Championship went the distance, although he did struggle in the early going putting the Warriors in a 5-1 hole. They clawed back with a three-spot in the fourth inning and tied the ballgame in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Fontana that scored Jimmy Joyce. The game was tied going to the ninth inning when Joyce smacked the go-ahead home run to left field that put ...
Suffolk Tops Nassau, 5-0, in the Inaugural Battle of the Border
by Vinny Messana After seven months of planning, the inaugural Battle of the Border finally went down. I’ll get to the timeline of how it came about and all the difficulty that went into planning it shortly–but first, here’s how the game went. Suffolk won 5-0 behind the stellar pitching of Matt Kostalos (ECC Pitcher of the Year from St. Thomas Aquinas), Nick Girardi (St. Joseph’s), Dylan Mouzakes (Pace), Kevin Martinez (Farmingdale), Matt Leach (St. Joseph’s) and Peter Vath (Molloy). They allowed only three hits as a staff. The game was scoreless until the fifth when Suffolk broke through with RBI hits by Nicholas Gargan (St. Thomas Aquinas) and Joe Calabrese (St. Joseph’s). They added a run on a wild pitch. T.J. Riccio (New Haven) added an RBI single in...
West Islip Cruises to Its Second Long Island Class AA Title in Three Years
By Nakeem Grant If there was any doubt that there would be a letdown after their tooth-and-nail series victory over Northport, that was put to rest right away. West Islip dominated in the Class AA Long Island Championship– defeating East Meadow 16-0 at Farmingdale State College. West Islip’s offense and pitching left the game in no doubt as they kept their foot on the pedal throughout the game. Twelve of West Islip’s 16 runs came in the first three innings of the ballgame with most of the damage coming from the core of their lineup. Jake Guercio, James Kory, and Jimmy Mattera each had multi-RBI games and as a team, they racked up 12 hits. According to today’s winning pitcher, Ray Weber, this is another typical game for their offense. “All year we’ve been great on offense putt...
Bobby Hegarty Throws a Gem in Class A Long Island Championship
by Vinny Messana Being a sophomore, Anthony Fontana hasn’t faced too many pro-caliber pitchers yet. It took him just one at bat to adjust to Sam Kessler‘s stuff and he laced an RBI single to right field in the third inning which extended Wantagh‘s lead to 2-0 at the time, and proved to be the game-winning run that delivered their first Long Island Championship since 2010. “OH MY GOD–An experience I’ll never forget,” said the sophomore first baseman. Both teams went quietly offensively through the first two innings. Sam Kessler, who entered with eight wins, and will be headed to West Virginia this summer–if he does not get drafted next week–got the start for the Mustangs. He pumped fastballs in the high 80s and mixed it with a hellacious...
Wantagh Wins Class A County Finals on Walk-Off Single
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rqVci8Boeg by Vinny Messana Not even Martin Scorsese himself could script a more fitting end to a County Championship game. Bases loaded, two-out, bottom of the ninth inning with the clean up hitter up after Bellmore JFK manager intentionally walked two batters to load the bases and set up a force at any bases. On a 2-2 count with score knotted at 2-2, DH Will O’Brien laced the walk-off single to right field to score Charlie Interrante in front of an electric crowd and give Wantagh their first Nassau County Class A title since 2010. “It’s a feeling I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said O’Brien. “All I wanted to do was get the ball on the bat and score the winning run and that’s what happened. Best ...
Northport Takes Advantage of West Islip’s Miscues, Forces Do-Or-Die Game Three
by Vinny Messana When the West Islip bus showed up at 3:45pm, or about an hour later than planned, it was a good omen for Northport. The Northport Tigers (20-7) took advantage of five errors by the Lions and were led by Nicholas Palmerini‘s complete game to force a do-or-die Game Three tomorrow at West Islip. They are looking for their first Suffolk County championship since 1983. “The energy from the crowd helps, and with my team behind me, I can throw whatever I want and feel confident,” said Palmerini. The crowd was highly energized and chanting on the Tigers at every opportunity and it certainly was a factor in this game. After the Lions took an early 2-0 lead from a wild pitch that scored Lou Antos and an RBI single by Nick Valenti that scored Ray Weber, Palmerini se...
Jimmy Joyce Does It With The Bat and On the Hill In Wantagh’s Game One Win
by Vinny Messana As Wantagh’s Head Coach Keith Sachs noted “this ain’t the pros,” so when his ace, Jimmy Joyce, is struggling with his command during the seventh inning of Game One of the Nassau County Class A Finals, you let him figure it out. “I couldn’t find the strike zone,” said Joyce, who experienced a brief bout with Steve Blass Disease after retiring the first two hitters in the seventh inning–one out away from a CG shutout of Bellmore JFK. He allowed a two-out double to catcher Reid Oreste and an infield single to Pete Cuttita before walking Frank Bruno to load the bases. UConn-bound Mikey Schwartz drew a bases-loaded walk to end the shutout and cut the deficit to 3-1. That brought up Jason Coules–the sophomore who started and ...
Kessler’s Complete Game Sends Mt. Sinai to Their First Long Island Championship
By Chris Amato All season, Mount Sinai knew they held the upper hand when Sam Kessler went to the mound. In front of a capacity crowd at home, the West Virginia-bound ace fired a complete game against Rocky Point in a 4-1 win to crown the Mustangs as Suffolk County Class A champs for the first time in their program history. Coming off his previous win against Miller Place, Kessler took to the mound on 4 days rest looking to shut the door on his crosstown rivals. The righty was dominant throughout, only allowing 1 run that came off of a throwing error in the first inning. Kessler did not give any breathing room after that. The Eagles were able to gather just two hits and two walks off of him. Having a clear game plan and more than enough preparation was major factor in Kessler’s win. ...
Jimmy Mattera Throws Out Runner At Plate to Send West Islip to Class AA Finals
by Vinny Messana What. A. Finish. With West Islip clinging to a 3-2 lead, Smithtown East’s leading hitter, John Marti, came to the plate with the tying run on second base. West Islip had their ace, Albany-bound RHP Ray Weber, on the hill looking to send the Lions into the Suffolk County Class AA Finals. With first base open, they opted to pitch to Marti and he lined a single to left. The left fielder, Jimmy Mattera–who had pitched the first six innings–charged the ball and fired a strike to catcher Nick Valenti, who applied the tag for the final out and send the Lions into a frenzy. “I just got the ball and let it fly,” said Mattera, who recorded the victory in the clinching game. “I just came off the mound, so my arm was all warmed up so I knew if I had...
