Game Recaps
Bobby Stang, Matt Minio Lead Massapequa to 13-3 Win
Final: Massapequa 13, Port Washington 3 WP: Matt Minio Bobby Stang: 2 HR Connor Kelly: 3-R HR pic.twitter.com/fBFV1omeLK — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 5, 2021 As Massapequa‘s head coach Tom Sheedy stated earlier this week, the team is utilizing the next four weeks to prepare for the playoffs. The three-time reigning Long Island Champs just got their full squad back on Monday after their football team captured the Nassau Conference II Championship over Oceanside last weekend. Well, it doesn’t hurt to win some games along the way and in typical Massapequa fashion, they are off to a 2-0 start to the season. Today’s game was one of two high school games that took place on Long Island, and the Chiefs steamrolled Port Washington, 13-3, in a rematch of the 2019 Clas...
Tyler O’Neill and JT Raab Go Toe-To-Toe in Thriller, Mepham Wins 3-1 in Extras
Final (9 innings): Mepham 3, MacArthur 1 WP: Billy Kender pic.twitter.com/DGjKSp2pwV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 4, 2021 They’ll be talking about this one for years to come. I knew this would be a great pitching match up between two of Long Island’s best pitchers in Stony Brook-commit JT Raab and Bucknell-commit Tyler O’Neill, but somehow the actual game exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. MacArthur and Mepham are two of the top teams in Nassau County entering 2021 and they proved it today, in an unbelievable pitcher’s duel that resulted in a 3-1 victory in 9 innings for the Pirates with the go-ahead run scoring on a safety squeeze with the bases loaded executed by Jack Hellerer to score Billy Kender – who led off with a two-strike doubl...
Vin Roman’s RBI Single Delivers 2-1 Win For Chaminade
Final (8 innings): Chaminade 2, St. Anthony’s 1 WP: Andrew Heiderstadt Vin Roman go-ahead hit to score Anthony Lods pic.twitter.com/7wqqhZAOgZ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 30, 2021 When you hear about the CHSAA being the most competitive league on Long Island, it’s because of the parity. This week was an excellent example in the series between Chaminade and St. Anthony’s. In the rematch of the 2019 championship series, the teams exchanged victories on Tuesday and Wednesday in the first two games of the series setting the stage for today. Chaminade was able to come away with the 2-1 victory, with the go-ahead run scoring in the top of the 8th inning on an RBI single by Vin Roman to score Anthony Lods – who led off the inning with a walk. As is usually...
Chaminade Starts Title Defense With 11-5 Win at St. Anthony’s
Final: Chaminade 11, St. Anthony’s 5 WP: John Downing pic.twitter.com/xoWMAPcczU — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2021 It turns out the demise of Chaminade was greatly exaggerated. The reigning champs went out on opening day at St. Anthony’s and handed it to the Friars with an 11-5 victory. Both teams are fielding inexperienced rosters in terms of their varsity experience, but Chaminade is certainly not lacking in their star power and that was evident today. Head Coach Mike Pientkos who has led the Flyers to over 600 wins spoke to me last week about the uncertainty of his roster and their lack of experience at this level. He did note, however, that they have a lot of players that can really play the game and will be impact players for them. From my vantage point...
Wildcats Capture TOB Special Event
by James Ryder Sachem East goes down swinging on back to back strikeouts for outs 2 and 3. We’re approaching the bottom of the 2nd, where the Wildcats will look to expand their lead: pic.twitter.com/HXs1ZARLR1 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 17, 2021 The Wildcats competed against the Arrows Saturday night for the first 2021 Town of Brookhaven Special Event title. In what wound up being a pitching and offensive clinic, the Wildcats tore through the Seminoles on their way to a 9-1 victory. Grodski was the Wildcats starting pitcher. He started and went 3.2 innings, and was dominant. He struck out four batters in his time on the mound. His second and third Ks came back-to-back to end the top of the second inning. Joe Dwyer replaced Grodski in the fourth inning with the bases loade...
Molloy Stays Hot, Defeats Queens For Sixth Consecutive Win
The Molloy Lions may have limped out of the gate but they have turned their season around recently. They ran their win streak to six after a 10-8 victory over Queens yesterday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep. They took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI triple by Peter Theodorellis – who entered the game with a robust .400 AVG – and an RBI double by Sean Hogan – who was just behind at .375 AVG. Corey Tingo got the Knights on the board with an RBI double to score Brad Sakellarides in the second. Molloy extended their lead to 6-1 in the third after an RBI ground out by Matt Overton, RBI single by Thomas Brady and a two-run double by Garrett Scavelli. To their credit, Queens did not back down. Andrew Smith drove in Evan Christopher with an RBI single in...
LIU Cruises To Series Sweep Over FDU
Defense is absolutely critical in the game of baseball and that was evident on this afternoon as the LIU Sharks capitalized on five errors by the Farleigh Dickinson Knights which led to six of their nine runs. The Sharks came away with a 9-2 victory to pull off the weekend series sweep to improve to 8-4 on the season. Coach Dan Pirillo‘s team has looked to hit their stride early on this season, being unaffected by the unusual circumstances surrounding this season. Remember, this is a group that dealt with the sudden merging of two programs last year as well – so they have come to expect the unexpected. “With not having many non-conference games to start the year, we have to figure out our team on the offensive and defensive side on the fly,” said Pirillo. “The...
Farmingdale Sweeps DH Against Manhattanville to Open 2021
Bobby Pollock’s grand slam to break the game open for Farmingdale! @FarmStateRams pic.twitter.com/MSSmoHVnL8 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 20, 2021 Is there anything better than Opening Day? Oh that’s right, Opening Day on a 50 degree sunny day with no wind. Although it was a little later in the year than normal, Farmingdale State finally kicked off their title defense on Saturday in a home double header against Manhattanville, the newcomers to the Skyline Conference. I cannot say that there was a raucous atmosphere, considering there was no spectators in attendance besides myself and Christine, our photographer. The Rams came away with two victories, here’s how it went down: Joe Marino got the start for the Rams and he was opposed by Luke Schaffer. Both st...
Molloy’s Bats Are Hot; Cruise Past Adelphi 11-4
Final: Molloy 11, Adelphi 4 WP: Joe Minucci (5 IP, 2 ER, 10 K) pic.twitter.com/3JVn9RFaC3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 16, 2021 Garden City, NY — There was one critical moment in this game where Molloy needed to bear down and keep Adelphi from gaining the momentum and cutting into their lead. It was the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, one out and pinch hitter Matt Alifano at the plate. The Center Moriches grad came in hitting a robust .600 on the season, but wasn’t starting the game to rest his arm. He smoked one up the middle that appeared destined for an RBI single, but SS James Messina made a terrific sliding grab and flipped to second to start an inning-ending double play. The moment was huge as it not only kept the Panthers off the board, but was...
Hofstra Scores 8 Unanswered Runs, Defeats Sacred Heart 8-5
Final: Hofstra 8, Sacred Heart 5 WP: Faello S: John Mikolaicyk pic.twitter.com/p1MyK5fsIs — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 12, 2021 The jubilance of playing their home opener in March on a beautiful 66 degree, sunny afternoon quickly turned into trepidation as the Hofstra Pride fell behind Sacred Heart, 5-0, in the second inning on Friday at University Field. Sacred Heart managed to score their first run on a fielder’s choice, they added two more on a two-run double by Julian Pedrouzo, a fourth on an error by Ryan Rue and a fifth on a double by Austin Markman. At that moment, it did appear that the game was firmly in doubt. But Hofstra made a move to the bullpen, calling on RHP Mark Faello (Plainview JFK 2018) to put out the fire in a precarious situation with a runner on...
Fordham Pulls Off Comeback Victory Over Stony Brook
Well, it’s not quite Yankees vs Red Sox, but two teams that do not like to lose to each other are Fordham and Stony Brook. Two of the top Division-I programs in the northeast battled it out yesterday for the first time since March 13, 2016. For much of the rivalry, Stony Brook has dominated – the Seawolves have an all-time record of 17-5 against NCAA’s winningest program. For much of yesterday, it appeared that the Seawolves would do more of the same. They had a 7-2 lead in the top of the seventh, well on their way to a victory. But the Rams would chip away at the lead with two runs in the seventh and eighth innings before breaking through with three runs in the ninth – with the go-ahead run coming on an RBI single by Jack Harnisch that was his third of the day. Jos...
Luke Napolitano Drives in 7 Runs as Hofstra Salvages DH Split With La Salle
It should’ve been a double header sweep, but the Hofstra Pride salvaged a split with La Salle on Monday thanks to a heroic performance by redshirt freshman Luke Napolitano – as he went 4-for-5 with 7 RBI in a 14-5 victory in the night cap to improve to 4-2 on the young season. Game 1 The Pride could not have gotten out to a quicker 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The red-hot Austin Gauthier led off with a solo shot to right field. In the third inning, it was Gauthier again who ripped an RBI double to score Kevin Bruggeman and open up a 2-0 lead. Jimmy Joyce was on the mound and he retired the first 7 batters of the game – including striking out the side in the second inning. He allowed his first base runner on a single by Connor Coolahan but he was erased attempting to ...
