BREAKING NEWS
Mike LaDonna Commits to Palm Beach State
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings) WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R) Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019 One of the most consistent pitchers on Long Island over the past two seasons was West Islip RHP Mike LaDonna. The hard-throwing RHP was a key cog in the Lions’ incredible 22-game win streak in 2018 that culminated in another Suffolk Class AA Championship. He also had a dominant 2019 season in which the Lions made it back to the Final 4 but ran into Max Nielsen and the Ward Melville Patriots. LaDonna also won the Boomer Esiason Award, given to the top QB in Suffolk County after an incredible season in which he threw for 19 TDs and ran for 21 TDs, but lost to Lindenhurst in the Suffolk II title ...
Cameron Leary Transfers to P27 Academy
Boston College-commit Cameron Leary has found a new home. The St. Anthony’s outfielder that was entering his senior year has transferred to P27 Academy in Lexington, South Carolina, according to his father. Classes began today, which means the switch is official. If you have never heard of the academy, you are not alone. There is very minimal information available online about the academy, but here’s what it says on their website. “Located in the heart of South Carolina, P27 Performance Center is the premiere student-athletics development program, targeted at students from across the country. The goal of of P27 is to provide students the very best in skills and developmental programming, designed by the P27 cadre of season professionals in all facets of baseball and ten...
Paul Parsolano Named St. Anthony’s Head Coach
In a move that is likely to reverberate throughout Long Island baseball, Paul Parsolano will be the new Head Coach of St. Anthony’s, where he was previously an assistant from 1995-2007. In fact, the last time St. Anthony’s won the CHSAA title was in 2000, when he was on staff. He is also credited with the rapid ascension of Franklin Parra from obscurity to being drafted by the New York Mets in the 11th round this past June. Parsolano had been the pitching coach of St. Joseph’s College since 2014, where he helped break their drought of winning the Skyline Conference championship in 2016. They also won it in 2018, in large part to his pitching staff. Here are some facts since he took over. 2 Conference Championships (2016, 2018) 2 Regular Season Championships (2015, 2017) 6...
Long Island University to Merge Athletic Programs
Long Island University announced that it is combining the athletic programs of its Post and Brooklyn campuses beginning in September 2019. The news came as a surprise to the athletes of each campus. The Brooklyn campus had been competing at the Division-I level, but the Post campus is in the Division-II East Coast Conference for baseball. The switch certainly upgrades the profile of the school, which in turn will help recruiting, but in the short-term it spells bad news for several recruits and current players. Here’s what we know so far: -The move is effective September 2019, so they will compete in the ECC once again this year. -They will play baseball on the Post campus, which means the players currently living near Brooklyn will need to commute. -Several of the Division-II player...
Logan O’Hoppe Wins Rawling’s Gold Glove Award Given to Top HS Catcher in Nation
It has been quite a year for Sayville-native Logan O’Hoppe. The 6’3″ backstop led the St. John the Baptist Cougars to the 2018 CHSAA championship for the first time since 2014. From an individual standpoint, he was named CHSAA Player of the Year, he won the offensive triple crown, he was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 23rd round of the MLB Draft and he took home a slew of other awards. He can add another to the mantle after Rawlings/ABCA named him the 1st Team All-American Gold Glove Award winner. It is quite an achievement for a player who burst onto the scene only one year prior with an outstanding showing in the Dominican Republic. His defensive prowess has been well-documented on here. He is considered the best defensive catcher coming out of the island ...
Fall Ball Series Returning This September
By popular demand, the Fall Ball Series will be returning this September, presented by the The Greene Turtle! Last year, we visited each of the colleges in our coverage area for a day dedicated to previewing the upcoming season; including interviews with coaches/players and videos/photos of the impact players. Here are the list of schools that will be included in the same (in no particular order): Division-I: Stony Brook Hofstra Fordham St. John’s Division-II: Adelphi Molloy LIU Post NYIT Division-III: Farmingdale Old Westbury St. Joseph’s Maritime Junior Colleges: Suffolk Nassau In case you missed it, this is last year’s editions for each school. LIU Post Farmingdale Maritime Hofstra Stony Brook NYIT St. Joseph’s Old Westbury Molloy
John Rooney Selected in Third Round by Los Angeles Dodgers
The dream season for Hofstra LHP John Rooney continues. The 6’5″ southpaw was selected in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round (104th overall). The last Hofstra player selected in the draft was Bryan Verbitsky in 2013 by the San Diego Padres–also in the third round. Rooney was a critical piece for the Pride this season as they qualified for the CAA postseason for the first time since 2012. He was named CAA Pitcher of the Year. He lights-out from day one; compiling a record of 8-2, with an ERA of 1.23 with 108 strikeouts over 95.0 IP. He held opposing batters to a .166 AVG and combined on a no-hitter with Seamus Brazill against Mount St. Mary’s on March 10. He also set a program record with 12 pick offs. Tremendous outing by John Rooney to...
Third Annual Awards Banquet To Be Held Jan. 6
We are pleased to announce our third annual Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday Jan. 6 at the beautiful Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook, NY. The newly-renovated building’s elegant and spacious design along with its fine cuisine makes for the perfect destination for our biggest event of the year. The 2017 All-Long Island team will be honored along with numerous individual awards such as Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Additionally, we will be introducing a handful of new awards this year such as “Best High School Team.” The finalists for that are Massapequa, Kellenberg, Wantagh, Commack and Shoreham-Wading River. Recipients of the awards will not be charged, however, the cost per guest is $50 per plate. You can purchase tick...
Axcess Baseball Extends Partnership With Baseball Heaven
(Baseball Heaven GM Frank Zitaglio (left) pictured with Axcess Baseball President Vinny Messana) We are pleased to announce that we have come to terms with Baseball Heaven on a one-year extension of our partnership through the 2018 season. Under this agreement, Axcess Baseball will have the rights to cover league games, showcases and tournaments that occur at their facility. This season, we have already covered several league games, the Elite College Recruiting Showcase, Northeast Elite, National Youth Baseball Championship, Antonia Agostinelli Memorial and Strength Heals tournaments. Next year’s season will feature much more of that. Baseball Heaven is a 27-acre baseball complex in Yaphank, NY owned by Steel Sports. The complex has eight (four small, four large) artificial turf fiel...
Jake Guercio Diagnosed With Torn ACL, Will Miss Remainder of Season
Another big injury for a top-tier Long Island prospect. West Islip outfielder Jake Guercio, Fordham-commit, was diagnosed with a torn ACL and will undergo surgery on April 24. It is a huge loss for the reigning Long Island Class AA championship and for the young outfielder who was garnering looks from MLB scouts after a tremendous sophomore season. He recorded a hit in all but one game during their championship run and also led the football team to the Long Island Championship as the starting quarterback. While the injury is certainly a terrible break, he will have a chance to return for his senior season next year. His father, Phil, stated that Fordham already acknowledged that they will honor their scholarship and their Head Coach, Kevin Leighton, has been nothing but supportive.
Rawlings to Sponsor Battle of the Border
We are thrilled to announce that Rawlings has agreed to sponsor our second annual Battle of the Border at Hofstra University on May 30. They will be providing the uniforms, wood bats, baseballs and the Most Valuable Player Award. The event will be for draft-eligible college NCAA players. Last year’s event was between the best 20 players from Nassau vs. Suffolk. Six of the 40 participants went on to sign professional contracts. This year, we will switch up the format to be the top 20 players from Long Island vs the boroughs. With the MLB Draft slated for June 12, it is a perfect opportunity for players to showcase themselves in front of the scouts in hopes of hearing their names on draft day. Beginning this week, we will send out invites for the participants.
Sal Agostinelli Joins aXcess Baseball
Sal Agostinelli will be our Hitting Analyst/Head Scout–in this role, he will be providing player evaluations and hitting videos throughout the 2017 season. He brings a wealth of experience that is matched by very few people at–not just at the amateur level but–any level. Agostinelli (Hills East grad) is currently the International Scouting Director for the Philadelphia Phillies. Sal was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 1983 draft out of Slippery Rock University. He was named All-American and at the time of getting drafted, held the program mark for highest single-season batting average at .466 in 1981. That mark is currently third in program history. He played in the minor leagues for 10 years, topping out at Triple-A. He has drafted 31 Major Le...
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