NEWS
In 2nd Season Under Sean Lynch, Northport Aims To Compete in Talented League 3
It was the start of a new era in Northport last season. Legendary Head Coach John DeMartini, who had been at the helm for 32 seasons, stepped down as Head Coach due to health complications. His incumbent, Sean Lynch, who had been with the program for 20 seasons since graduating from the University of South Florida. “For him, it’s about the love of the game,” said Lynch in regards to DeMartini. “He has so much love for his players and this community. He has taught me so much,” he added. Lynch has known DeMartini for over 20 years, dating back to high school when he played in the Empire State Games and he coached alongside Bill Batewell. “My hope is that he continues to coach as long as he desires,” he added. Lynch noted he and Jim DeRosa will...
Port Washington Eager To Avenge Their Tough Playoff Loss From Last Year
(Photo Credit: Gregory Giaconelli) Anytime a bitter postseason loss occurs, it results in a long, long off season. In perhaps one of the most exciting games in recent playoff history, Port Washington fell to Plainview in 12 innings last season. This game took over the course of two days to eliminate them from the playoffs. Clearly, this one hurt. As a result, Port Washington is eager to avenge their playoff loss. Not only are their players working hard this off season, but the numbers for winter workouts are higher than ever. Saying the Vikings are hungry is an understatement. Port Washington finished last season with a regular season record of 9-8-1, but they know they were better than that. Two of their regular season wins came against Massapequa and Oceanside, the two teams that compete...
Lou Petrucci Wins Steve Lembo Award
(Photo Credit: Ray Nelson) Ward Melville Head Coach Lou Petrucci received the Steve Lembo Memorial Award last week at the annual N.Y. Pro Baseball Hot Stove League dinner in Great Neck. Petrucci has not only been one of the most successful Head Coaches in Long Island since taking over 12 seasons ago (6 League I titles, 1 Long Island Championship) but he has sent dozens of players to Divison-I programs and an unprecedented three pitchers drafted in the past decade (Steven Matz, Anthony Kay, Ben Brown). Additionally, seven of his former players are now Division-I coaches. The Patriots have compiled a .673 winning percentage during his tenure, which trails only Tom Migliozzi, Jim Moccio and Ken Klee among active coaches with 9 or more years of experience in Suffolk County. “I wish to th...
Hauppauge Looks to Replace 13 Graduating Seniors From 2018
by Andrew Giantasio Final: Hauppauge 2, BBP 1 (11 innings) WP: Pete Sanderson Ryan Levenberg hits walk-off sac fly Rob Ray pitches CG pic.twitter.com/ANoE4lPiD0 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2018 Despite having their season end at the hands of Miller Place in the postseason, it was another winning season for the Hauppauge Eagles. They played a thrilling extra-inning game against Bayport-Blue Point in which Ryan Levenberg hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning to spoil League MVP Rob Ray’s gem. With a year of Class A baseball under their belt, Josh Gutes‘ club enters 2019 as one of the favorites once again. While three new teams enter the Class A division this year (Eastport, Hills West and West Babylon), in their second season, the Hauppauge Eagles are ready to tak...
Bellmore JFK Ready To Build on 2018
Since their county championship appearance in 2016, Bellmore JFK has hit a bump in the road as far as success. In 2017, the Cougars struggled to the finish line in a rebuilding year. Last season, they rebounded nicely with an 11-9 record before getting eliminated in the first round of playoffs. Going from a county championship caliber team, to a lowly season, back to a playoff team in just a year, it was evident that Bellmore JFK had the talent to make another postseason run, but changes needed to happen. This year, a whole new coaching staff will lead the way for the Cougars. After being the assistant coach for three years, Mike Gattus will take over as Head Coach this season. Dan McDermott (STAC ’11), will be the assistant coach for Gattus. By bringing in a change of scenery, it ha...
North Shore Ready For Another County Championship Run In 2019
If you have been following Nassau County Baseball for the last 4-5 years, you know who the top teams are. Since 2015, North Shore, Wantagh and Division have each appeared in the semifinals at least twice and the county championship a combined six times. In 2018, the three teams combined for a record of 45-9. This year, all three teams will be in the same conference. Stacked? I think so. However, there is one team in particular that stands out the most in Conference A4 and that is the North Shore Vikings. With Wantagh and Division graduating a significant amount of seniors in 2018, North Shore is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. They enter the 2019 season returning several amount of key players that led them to a 14-4 record last year. Their only playoff losses came to the bac...
Plainedge Leaning On Strong Arms Heading Into 2019
Every year, Plainedge goes under the radar as one of the best baseball programs in the county. From Plainedge Youth Baseball League, to varsity, Coach Fratrik consistently has his players ready for the next step. This is one of several reasons as to why they are always in contention for a conference title. Not only are they one of the favorites to stomp through their conference this season, but they possess a strength that other teams in the conference don’t have; pitching. The Red Devils finished the season 14-4-1 in 2018, but fell to Valley Stream North after 13 innings in the second round of the playoffs. Expect them to come into the season with a chip on their shoulder. This year, Plainedge’s conference consists of Hewlett, South Side, Roslyn, Glen Cove and Bethpage. With t...
Riverhead Prepares For New League, Unique Challenge
There are many inherent obstacles of playing in the northeast–namely the weather. Riverhead is one of the only teams that has a legitimate gripe with their travel. While most schools on the east end of Long Island are either Class A, B or C schools, they are the only AA. This is an issue in terms of travel because their shortest bus ride is 45 minutes. That’s the first problem. Secondly, the official start time for Suffolk County is 4 pm. The reality is that with school ending at 2pm and the baseball team needing to wait until the regular buses leave at 2:20, the earliest the bus can leave is at 2:30 pm. With most of their rides lasting over 1 hour, this means the team has roughly 20-30 minutes to get off the bus, get dressed, take infield/outfield or batting practice and have ...
Clarke In Great Position to Make Deep Playoff Run
Consistency has been synonymous with Clarke baseball over the past two decades since Head Coach Tom Abruscato took over in 1999. There may be no simple formula to the success, but a good place to start is their work ethic and dedication. For example, the team has been running team workouts on Sundays for the past few weeks, beginning at 8 a.m. With full attendance from all players in the program. How many teams have that type of commitment from players? It has resulted in some unprecedented success. From 2002-’10, they played in either the Nassau County Class A semifinals or finals every single season–including the NYS Class A title in both 2002 and 2005. They lost the state finals in 2009 and won the County Championship again in 2013; led by Matt Seelinger and Jesse Russo, who...
Frank Valentino Signs Pro Contract
Frank Valentino (NYIT ’17) has extended his baseball career for at least another season as he signed a pro contract with the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League. The 23-year-old RHP attended West Islip HS and graduated in 2013. Last season, he played with the Vallejo Admirals in the Pacific Association, going 5-8 with 5.05 ERA and striking out 92 in 98 innings in 16 starts. The 6’3″ RHP has a low-to-mid 90s fastball which helped him dominate at Suffolk CC before transferring to NYIT and leading the rotation for two seasons along with fellow RHPs Elias Martinez and Matt Diaz. During his senior year, he suffered from some extremely difficult luck. His seasons defied all logic by going winless at 0-9, despite pitching two complete games and pitching deep into every game....
David Wright Makes Surprise Appearance at NYIT Practice
(Photo Credit: NYIT Athletics) The NYIT baseball team was treated to a nice surprise this morning when 14-year MLB veteran and New York Mets legend David Wright made an appearance at practice. He spoke to the team and also did an interview with SNY. David Wright’s motivational words to the @NYITBears ? pic.twitter.com/zc0OBLutg8 — SNY (@SNYtv) January 25, 2019 David spoke of the importance of getting your work in when nobody is watching or telling you what to do, he also spoke about finding the motivation to work regardless of the weather conditions, which he feels is a major reason he was able to get to the big leagues and find success as a corner infielder that is 6’0″ and roughly 205 lbs despite obvious size disadvantages from guys like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and ...
