NEWS
Saturday’s College Baseball Recap (3/9) Presented by The Schwarz Institute
John Condon discusses his five-hit day which included the big game-tying 2-R single in the sixth pic.twitter.com/VzO1X2eTpS — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 9, 2019 When it comes to March weather, you have to count your blessings when you get 45 degrees and sunny. There was a few local teams in action here on the island, while the rest made the smart decision to head down south. There was plenty of excitement with a walk-off hit, game-tying hits and a one-run game between two of the Division-Is! For the game recap of Farmingdale-Lehman, you can click here. Division-I: In an evenly matched battle on Saturday, Fordham defeated Hofstra 4-3. Hofstra jumped out to an early lead thanks to solo shots by the suddenly-resurgent Vito Friscia and Vinnie Costello, but Fordham was able to c...
Brian Perez’s Walk-Off Single Gives Farmingdale Double Header Sweep Over Lehman
Brian Perez on his walk-off hit and the DH sweep for Farmingdale to start 2019 season pic.twitter.com/6yn4rvDK9A — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 9, 2019 Game 1: After having last week’s double-header was cancelled due to weather, Farmingdale was anxious to get on the field today against Lehman college. They showed they were ready to go, winning the first game 6-2. Farmingdale immediately got things started in the 1st, when a double-steal plated freshman, Patrick Leach, giving the Rams their first run of the season. The Rams were aggressive all day on the base paths, stealing nine in the first game. Shortstop Brian Perez would immediately follow up with an RBI single to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. The Rams would threaten but not score until the fourth, when they busted the game o...
Friday’s College Baseball Recap (3/8) Presented by The Schwarz Institute
As we move closer towards Spring, the weather is starting to get nicer and baseball is starting to kick into full swing. With nine teams playing on Friday, let’s take a look at how things shaped out. Division-I: On Friday afternoon, Fordham won their 6th game of the year as they defeated Iona, 9-2. From the beginning of the game, it was never really close. Matt Mikulski picked up the win in relief for Fordham, going six innings allowing one earned run and seven hits. Offensively, their bats were on fire. Jake Mackenzie continued his hot streak at the plate, going 4-4 with 4 RBI. He’s now batting .354 on the young season. They play Iona again today at 11 AM. West Islip grad, Jake Guercio, had two hits and continues to swing a hot bat in the early going of his college career. In ...
Mount Sinai Brings a Young Team With a Ton of Potential
Our @DigmiNation Player of the Game is 8th grader Kyle Salvati who recorded the save in Mount Sinai’s 9-4 victory over Shoreham-Wading River pic.twitter.com/090WdVUNMO — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2018 Mount Sinai is coming off a 12-win season in which they ran into a buzzsaw in Southampton‘s ace, Jem Sisco. The junior fired a one-hit shutout with 11 Ks against a very talented Mustangs lineup that featured four seniors that went on to play at college. Those players are Ryan Picarello (Adelphi), Jared Donnelly (NJIT), Ethan Angress (CCNY) and George Rainer (RPI). “We had a really good group of kids,” said Head Coach Eric Reichenbach, who just finished his 14th season. “We were hamstrung a little with our No. 1 pitcher going down and missing the...
Babylon Looking To Overcome Last Year’s County Championship Defeat
In 2018, Babylon once again had a season to remember. They finished with a combined record of 18-6 and reached the County Championship game. Unfortunately, they fell just short of their ultimate goal, which was winning the county championship. Coming off an extremely successful year, Babylon comes into this season facing some difficult tasks. The main obstacle standing in their way is replacing their seniors from last season. As county runner-ups, their roster was loaded. Joseph Rende (2nd Team All-State), Ian Morgan (All-League), Mitch Carmody (All-League) and Frank Vano (All-League) all graduated in 2018, leaving Babylon with big shoes to fill. Although Babylon has to replace these productive seniors, they bring in plenty of talented players who were key pieces towards their deep postsea...
New Hyde Park Hoping To Turn Things Around In 2019
After missing the postseason the last two seasons, New Hyde Park is ready to turn things around in 2019. After being the JV Head Coach for 16 years, Joe Rotondaro will be the man in charge. Rotondaro attended New Hyde Park high school, where he was named All-County and went onto play baseball at Adelphi. The experienced ballplayer will look to bring a new spark of energy towards the varsity team. In a conference that’s wide open, New Hyde Park expects to compete for a playoff spot. Their 2019 schedule consists of Carey, Garden City, Manhasset, Jericho and Bellmore JFK. “If we execute and don’t give up any extra outs, we’re going to be right there in the mix for playoffs,” said Coach Rotondaro. Offensively, the Gladiators return two seniors who will play baseba...
Frank Catalanotto: Which Hitting Drills Work Best?
(Frank is a 14-year MLB veteran. He is a 1992 graduate of Smithtown East HS, where he was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 10th round of the MLB Draft. He compiled a .291 AVG in over 3,800 at bats. He is the Head Coach of NYIT and gives lessons for Steel Sports Academy at Baseball Heaven. This article originally was published in 2017.) by Frank Catalanotto The truth is that everyone is different, so when it comes to baseball and hitting drills, you need to find out which ones work for you and which ones don’t. The repetition of the drills is so important. Part of getting better is teaching muscle memory–especially for younger kids. Here are some that worked for me. One arm drills might be my favorite because each arm gets strengthened individually. I would get a small, lightweight bat...
Shoreham-Wading River Enters 2019 With A Chip On Their Shoulder
No Class A Suffolk County program has come close to matching the resume of Shoreham Wading-River. In the past decade, we have seen five County Championship appearances, three County Championships and three Carl Yastrzemski Award winners (Brian Morrell twice). These are just a few of their highly prestigious accolades. Considering they have made the postseason 33 consecutive years, there’s no reason to expect this year will be any different. Head Coach Kevin Willi has set the bar high for this program, taking over for legendary coach Sal Mignano causing their players to consistently play to their full potential. In 2018, the Wildcats won their league title for the third year in a row, but fell short of their ultimate goal, losing to Rocky Point in the County Championship. Returning ma...
Hills West Well-Positioned For Another Run at League 5 Title
With an elite Head Coach such as Tom Migliozzi, sometimes a team can catapult from playoff contender to League Champions. That is precisely what happened last year when Hills West took a team with two seniors and two freshmen and tied for the League 5 with Eastport-South Manor. Migliozzi, now in his 27th season at the helm, has 394 wins and 11 league titles to his name. He has the uncanny ability of maximizing the ability of players. Winning a league title with two starting freshmen is no small task. True to his personality, he was not willing to take credit for it. “A major part of our success last year came from senior Ethan McMenamy‘s ability to lead them,” said Migliozzi. “We were in search for a leader, he helped instill a good culture within the team,” h...
West Babylon Hoping To Improve Through Young Core
Coming off an 8-12 season, West Babylon comes into 2019 hoping to be competitive in an extremely tough conference. The largest obstacle they face heading into the season is inexperience. In total, they return one senior. While their age may show early on, their young core of players will have the privilege of playing a significant amount of varsity baseball, benefiting them for the future. West Babylon’s extremely tough schedule consists of Hills West, Eastport-South Manor, Kings Park, East Islip and Happauge. Offensively, West Babylon has some bright spots, but some holes to fill. Their lineup will be led by junior (IF/RHP) Jack Rankin. As a sophomore, he finished with a .322 average. Behind Rankin in the lineup is Tristan Santiago and sophomore Cole Maucere. Maucere has prior varsi...
Power Rankings: Week 3
This was a very frustrating weekend because so many games were wiped out. With the storm that hit last night into this morning, this very likely that any game that was scheduled to be played early this week–such as NYIT vs Adelphi will now be cancelled. The silver lining is that with Spring Break coming up, many teams will be able to get 5-7 games in this week. Like last week, there’s no reason yet for the Division-III Power Rankings since Farmingdale and St. Joseph’s haven’t played a game yet and Old Westbury has only played two games. Division-I: Fordham (Record: 5-6) It was a great weekend for the Rams as they won three of four against Maryland Eastern Shore. In the first game, a familiar face Jake Guercio (West Islip 2018) had a three-hit day. The combination of...
