NEWS
GAME RECAP: Luke Coats Fans 10 in St. Anthony’s Opening Day Win
West Virginia-commit Luke Coats on the win for St. Anthony’s pic.twitter.com/jH8Ky6MXBV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 25, 2025 4 games in one location in front of a packed house at Moriches Athletic Complex. Baseball fans were treated to an absolute perfect setting for Opening Day of the Catholic League. It was an incredible pitching match up between the reigning champs, St. Anthony’s, against the Kellenberg Firebirds. The Friars sent West Virginia-commit Luke Coats against Miami-commit Jack Durso. A handful of MLB scouts were on hand anticipating a tremendous pitcher’s duel. St. Anthony’s got off to a quick start in the top of the first. A leadoff single by Stony Brook-commit Jacob Vaccariello, HBP of West Virginia-commit CJ Alfano and a single to left by ...
Shoreham-Wading River Ready to Compete in Loaded League VI
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Tucker Terranova When one examines the landscape of Suffolk County baseball, the history of the Shoreham-Wading River baseball program is impossible to ignore. The Wildcats have long been one of the most successful programs on Long Island, securing 13 league titles and eight Suffolk County titles throughout their storied history. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement in the program’s history is the 37-year playoff streak, where they earned a postseason bid every year from 1986 to 2022. After an uncharacteristic season in 2023, finishing 6-14 and missing the postseason, Shoreham-Wading River bounced back in 2024, posting an impressive 17-6 record, a performance much more indicative of the program’s...
Bellport Looking to Make Headway After Difficult 2024 Season
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas The Bellport Clippers went 10-10 in 2023, leading many to believe that they would begin to take the next step with a young roster in 2024. However, things went completely sideways for head coach Joe Murphy, as the Clippers went just 1-19 in a difficult year for the program. Bellport did not have any seniors last year and did not field a JV roster for the second time in three years. “The enrollment in our program has been down for several years,” Murphy said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We have a lack of numbers so that definitely puts us behind the eight ball. Our goal last year was to forget about wins and losses. We wanted to play hard and try to compete in every single ...
Axcess Baseball’s Preseason All-Long Island
The 2025 season is upon us. We made it through another offseason. The Catholic League will kick off tomorrow at Moriches Athletic Complex while the public schools will wait another week before they open up. Without further ado, here’s Axcess Baseball’s Preseason All-Long Island 1st & 2nd teams. Below the graphic, you’ll see the additional impact players that comprised the annual list. Special thanks to LI Field House for hosting our photoshoot at their facility. Thomas Apollo, Seaford Dylan Beirne, Oceanside TJ Bradford, Chaminade Alex Bono, St. Anthony’s Vincenzo Buffolino, Kings Park Alex Casey, Hills West Nolan Comerford, Bellport Kyle Coppola, Deer Park Ryan Conigliaro, Wantagh AJ Cumbo, Clarke Jacob Daddino, Carey Christian Danzilo, Wantagh Alex Darz...
Friday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
by George Caratzas With conference play starting for a couple local teams this week, let’s check out how the action went down on Friday. Division I: Delaware 8, Stony Brook 1 The Seawolves dropped their Coastal Athletic Association opener, as some poor defense contributed to a six-run third inning. Eddie Smink cruised through the first two, and Stony Brook plated a run on a Matt Jackson RBI double in the top of the second. In the third though, Johnny Pilla misplayed a ball with a runner at second base, opening the door for the Blue Hens. From there, right fielder Aaron Graeber launched a two-run homer to take a 3-1 lead before RBI’s by Brett Lesher and LT Cockrill made it 6-1. Then, Jackson Tyer capped off the scoring with a two-run bomb of his own, making it eight runs for Delaware, six o...
Longwood Enters 2025 With Heavy Hearts
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Tucker Terranova Longwood has been a model of consistency under head coach Ryan McSherry, now entering his 10th season at the helm. Since taking over in 2016, he has built one of Suffolk County’s premier programs, consistently knocking on the door of a championship. His expectation for this season is clear: “The goal is to win a Suffolk County Championship.” McSherry’s confidence stems not just from talent but from the culture Longwood has built. This group has played together since elementary school, developing side-by-side and fostering a program built on family. That family faced a tragic test this offseason. Nolan Horn, a member of the Longwood baseball program, passed away last December, adding...
Friends Academy Ready to Make a Statement in 2025
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Adrianna Armani After a challenging 2024 campaign, Friends Academy is set to take the field with renewed energy and a deeper roster under second-year head coach Nick Attardi. With key players returning and new talent emerging, the Quakers are aiming to turn last season’s struggles into a playoff push in Class B. Reflecting on his first year at Friends Academy, Coach Attardi acknowledged the ups-and-downs but emphasized the team’s love for the game. “We had some positives and negatives throughout the season, but we have a great group of kids who love the game and want to learn. Last year was a big stepping stone for what’s in store this year,” he said. The Quakers finished with just two...
Smithtown West Poised for Playoff Run
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello Al Nucci is entering his 20th year as head coach of the Smithtown West Bulls. After winning their league for the first time since 2016 last spring, they will look to build upon that and have another great season in 2025. “We competed in every game and played very consistent and fundamentally sound baseball from March to May.” Nucci said. “We had major contributions from a wide variety of players on the pitcher’s mound, in the batters box, on the base paths, and defensively in the field. The playoffs didn’t go according to plan, as we lost to a Comsewogue team in game one, who we swept earlier in the season, which put us in the losers’ bracket. We were then able to beat a very s...
‘Unfinished Business’ for the Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman Top 4: Bayport-Blue Point has broken through with 5 runs via 2-R single by Tyler McKillop and a 3-R shot by Nick Karafantis pic.twitter.com/Msbcv8WFFm — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 29, 2024 When you bring a new head coach to your program, it’s hard to expect an immediate impact. Few could have expected the new head coach of the Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms, Victor Manzella, to have the remarkable success he had in his first season in charge, leading his team to a 15-3 record. “Last season went great.” Manzella said. “We were League VII Champs and Suffolk County runner-ups. When I was in West Babylon, I beat Blue Point in the Suffolk County Championship. But coming her...
Plainedge Geared Up For Another Deep Postseason Run
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello FINAL (7 innings): Plainedge 1, MacArthur 0 WP: Matt Rosenberg – 5.2 IP, 7 K LP: Tyler Bonsignore – 6 IP, 12 K pic.twitter.com/mAAQRuN17b — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 1, 2024 Colin Fratrik is getting ready to enter his 13th season as the head coach at Plainedge High School. After a solid 2024 season, the Red Devils are ready to make some noise in 2025. “Looking back on our season, I thought that we had a good season.” Fratrik said. “We were extremely competitive throughout the season, finishing in 2nd place in our conference, and lost in the semi’s to a really good Wantagh team. We felt like we had chances to win that game 3, but didn’t make enough p...
Young & Talented Core Should Bring Success to Riverhead
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello The Riverhead Blue Waves are looking to improve from last season as we quickly approach the 2025 season. Kevin Kerman is entering his 3rd year at the helm of the Riverhead baseball program, and is excited for what this season has to offer for the Blue Waves. The Blue Waves finished with a record of 4-16 last year in a tough League 1. “Obviously not the result we wanted but we are still very much in a retool mode.” Kerman said. “We saw improvement from the year prior and got varsity experience for a lot of our younger guys. At some points of last year we had an 8th grader and 3 freshmen in the lineup. We are looking for those guys to take a nice step forward this year.” A key piece of the t...
Hills West Looks to Return to the Postseason After Missing by One Game
LeGuernic with his eighth strikeout in the fourth inning pic.twitter.com/4oGJ1moZUO — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 3, 2023 Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman When you have been a head coach as long as Tom Miglozzi, who has been at the helm for the Hills West Colts for the last 31 years, you see the ebbs and flows of high school baseball. Unfortunately for Hills West, the 2024 season was a down year for the program, falling just one game short of their goal of making the playoffs. This came a year after they won 14 games including two in the playoffs. Last year’s Colts team featured seven seniors, three of which are playing baseball at the college level, including Arthur Green, who is pitching at Molloy...
