NEWS
Greendogs Rally Late to Defeat LIB Roar
Through a furious rally in the final inning, the Farmingdale Greendogs successfully pulled off a comeback victory against LIB Roar. The Greendogs struck first. After a leadoff single and stolen base by Anthony Mancuso, Mateo Morales ripped a line drive double to left-center field. However, while trying to stretch it into a triple, Morales was thrown out at third. The Greendogs worked the bases loaded, but were unable to add on to their lead. A combination of some sloppy defense by the Greendogs, as well as patience at the plate by LIB led to them answering right back, putting up three runs of their own in the bottom half of the first inning. LIB extended their lead in the bottom of the second inning without a recording a hit. A hit batsman, a stolen base, an error on a ground ball to the p...
Bandits Ride Big First Inning to Victory Over Owls
Bandits starting pitcher Ivan Epps on his outing: pic.twitter.com/MUNY7z7s9e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2019 by Ethan Marshall The Oil City Bandits scored three runs in the first inning without the benefit of a hit and never looked back as they defeated the Islip Owls 4-2 in five innings. Bandits starting pitcher Ivan Epps allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and four walks over 3.1 innings. His only blemish came in the second inning on a two-run double by Brandon Ruocco after back-to-back walks to open the frame. The other two hits he allowed both came on swinging bunts down the third base line that the hitters barely managed to beat out. According to Bandits head coach Tommy Beirne, Epps looked better as the game went along, but he had to be pulled onc...
Game of the Week Presented by Muddy Locker Sports: NYIT Captures NCAA East Regional
Head Coach Frank Catalanotto on NYIT’s rapid ascension in his first season pic.twitter.com/le2EN2ND3e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2019 One year ago, NYIT closed out their regular season with a loss to Queens College to finish their campaign at 13-25-1. On June 7th, they made waves by hiring 14-year MLB veteran and Smithtown native Frank Catalanotto. The move was a positive step forward for a program that had suffered through 13 straight sub .500 seasons. In less than one year, the program has rapidly ascended into becoming a 35-win team that will now participate in the NCAA Division-II Super Regional next weekend either at Southern New Hampshire or neighborhood-rival LIU Post. The 35 wins is a program record, previously set in 1987. Today they continued their fairy...
LIU Post Advances to NCAA East Regional Championship
Yesterday was an incredible day of college baseball action. There was three local Division-II programs competing in the NCAA East Regional, four Division-Is playing for their postseason lives, one Division-III team in the NCAA Regional and a Junior College team hosting the Super Regionals. From 9am until 10pm, there was important games going on. This doesn’t even factor in the high school baseball going on. For purposes of brevity, we will focus on the college action. We covered the NYIT game at 9am in which their offense supplied the power to send them to Saturday’s Championship against Wilmington needing just one win to punch their ticket to next weekend’s Super Regional. The other big news of the day was LIU Post who squared off against perennial powerhouse Southern Ne...
NYIT Pounds Nine Runs on 11 Hits to Advance to East Regional Championship Game
Final: NYIT 9, Franklin Pierce 3 WP: Joseph Murphy S: Zach White Cumbo: 4-for-5, 4 R Bears advance to the NCAA East Regional tomorrow pic.twitter.com/IkI950LQfa — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 17, 2019 Early wake-up call? No problem. The NYIT Bears cruised past perennial Division-II powerhouse, Franklin Pierce, by the score of 9-3 to advance to the Division-II NCAA East Regional Championship Game tomorrow at noon. The game today began at 9am, but it didn’t matter one bit to the Bears offense who put up a three-spot in the first inning thanks to RBI hits by E.J. Cumbo, Kieran Dowd and Matt Malone. “We actually do pretty well in the early morning games,” said Jake Lebel, the power-hitting first baseman for the Bears. “We’ve had three or four of them a...
James Varela Continues To Dominate, LIU Post Advances to Winner’s Bracket in NCAA Regional
The LIU Post Pioneers continued their dream campaign with a 7-2 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division-II East Regional over No. 6 Felician. The Pioneers, who are the No. 3 seed in the tournament but the No. 25 nationally-ranked team, got out to a quick 3-0 start in the first inning. After Giovanni Ciaccio led off the game with a walk, he advanced to third on an error and scored on a sac fly by Dave Brehm. An RBI ground out by Anthony Vaglica and a wild pitch extended their lead. With their ace on the mound, that was more than enough. Since beginning the season with two consecutive losses, Varela has returned to being one of the best Division-II pitchers in the nation. He struck out 15 batters–bringing his season total to an unbelievable 139–and walked just two batters...
E.J. Cumbo’s Big Day Gives NYIT Thrilling 10-7 Win Over Wilmington
It only takes one pitch for Mueller to seal the deal. NYIT 10, Wilmington 7 (10 innings) Franklin Pierce will take on NYIT at 9am tomorrow pic.twitter.com/PcVENv56LF — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 16, 2019 Last year, E.J. Cumbo was sidelined with a hamstring injury and was forced to watch as his team limped to the finish line in their first season in the ECC. Today, he was the catalyst and pilot of their ship that is now headed to the winner’s bracket in the NCAA Division-II East Regional after their dramatic 10-7 victory over No. 4 Wilmington. Cumbo, the nation’s second-leading hitter for most of the season, is now hitting a robust .448 following today’s 4-for-6 performance in which he drove in four runs–including a two-run double in the top of the 10th...
Adelphi’s Ninth Inning Rally Comes Up Just Short, Fall to No. 8 Franklin Pierce 4-3
It’s not often that the No. 1 seed has to face a seasoned and battle-tested No. 8 seed such as Franklin Pierce. The host Adelphi Panthers dropped the first round of the NCAA Division-II East Regional, 4-3, to the NE-10 Champions. In front of a packed house at William J. Bonomo Field the top-seeded Panthers fell behind 2-0 in the second inning on a two-run double by Jonel Ozuna to put the Ravens ahead 2-0. This came after a dominant first inning for Baram who blew 91 MPH fastballs past two of the first three batters in a 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Lucas Terwilliger got the Panthers on the board with an RBI single to cut the deficit in half. The Panthers missed several run-scoring opportunities in this game, failing to capitalize on five Ravens’ errors. It was a m...
Chris Roach Delivers 16 Strikeout Gem To Lift MacArthur Past Plainedge
FINAL: MacArthur 1 Plainedge 0 WP: Chris Roach (CG, 2H, 0ER, 16K) pic.twitter.com/OQ4powmQVt — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2019 The Class A playoffs are officially underway in Nassau County, as 16 teams began their quest for a County Championship on Wednesday afternoon. In Levittown, the #9 seeded Plainedge Red Devils took on the #8 seeded MacArthur Generals. It was MacArthur who got the best of Plainedge, walking away with a slim 1-0 victory. Considering it was game one of the playoffs, both coaches called upon their aces to take the hill. For MacArthur, senior Chris Roach was handed the ball. The first at-bat of the game, he surrendered a single to Anthony Labita. However, he rebounded instantly as he struck out the next three batters. He went the distance in this one, a...
Jordan Ramlogan’s Triple Delivers Holy Trinity With Upset Over St. Dominic
Final: Holy Trinity 5, St. Dominic 3 The Titans advance to face No. 1 Chaminade on Monday at St. Joseph’s pic.twitter.com/EaJY5PKl5f — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2019 Don’t tell Holy Trinity they are underdogs. In the ultra-competitive CHSAA, the Titans know every team is tough and they also know they can compete with anyone. “I’ve told this team all year that if you play good baseball, take care of the ball, play together as group–they can beat anyone,” said second-year Head Coach Dan Luisi. “Doesn’t matter who they’re facing, just play tough, stay with your guys and compete, you have a shot to win any baseball game,” he said. They jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against Teddy Brennan on an RBI single by Stephen...
John Carroll Pitches Kellenberg Past St. Anthony’s
Final: Kellenberg 6, St. Anthony’s 3 WP: John Carroll (10 K, 0 BB) S: Matt Leahy Kellenberg advances to face No. 2 St. John the Baptist pic.twitter.com/DGBSa1BDwT — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 16, 2019 John Carroll shook off a screaming line drive off his leg on the second batter of the game. Not only did he stay in the game, but he was outstanding–striking out 10 without issuing a walk in Kellenberg‘s 6-3 victory over St. Anthony‘s on Wednesday night at Mitchel Field. “I was hyped up for the first playoff game,” said Carroll. “I got the first strikeout, took the bruiser off the knee-it hurt a little bit–but just wanted to get back out there. I got through the first inning, gave up a run in the second and then the offense helped ...
Mepham Knocks Off Wantagh, 3-2, Behind Gianni Macchio’s Walk Off Double
Gianni Macchio walks it off with a 2RBI double and Mepham eliminates Wantagh!!!!!! FINAL: Mepham 3 Wantagh 2 WP: Tyler O’Neill (CG) Gianni Macchio: Walk off pic.twitter.com/KWbKBq1QJ9 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2019 There is nothing quite like the atmosphere of a win-or-go home playoff game. In any given sport, emotions are always at their peak and anything can happen. Sure enough, this ballgame lived up to the hype. In a game for the ages, Mepham knocked off the three-time defending Long Island Champion Wantagh Warriors on a two strike, walk off 2 RBI double courtesy of Gianni Macchio. Heading into Monday, nobody predicted this outcome. Considering the fact Wantagh was sending their ace, Mason McLane, to the mound, it seemed even more unlikely. Tyler O’Neill got ...
