NEWS
Babylon Avenges County Championship Loss, Defeating Center Moriches 3-0
Babylon senior pitcher Shaun Kaminski went head-to-head with Center Moriches junior LHP Liam Pulsipher–one of the best pitchers in the county. Kaminski fired a complete game, recording the 3-0 victory with five strikeouts, five hits and two walks. “It’s nice to finally beat Pulsipher, we dropped two games to him, the one last year in the county championship, 1-0, and early in the season, 3-1,” said Babylon head coach Victor Manzella. “I couldn’t be more proud of my boys, I couldn’t be more proud of Shaun [Kaminski]; the way he pitched and it was good to get a W in the first game of the playoffs.” The SUNY Old Westbury-commit opened up the scoring for Babylon after leading off the sixth inning with a single. Kaminski came across on an error off the bat of Joe Rende. This would end up ...
Tommy Ziegen: Reflecting on Derek Jeter’s Career
(Editor’s Note: Tommy Ziegen is a 2017 graduate of SUNY Old Westbury. He has twice been named to our All-Long Island team and will make it this year as well. He batted .408 with 6 HR, 40 RBI, 39 runs scored, 13 doubles, 3 triples, .692 SLG, .446 OBP and 19 stolen bases. He will be participating in our Battle of the Border All-Star Game on May 30 at Hofstra University. The following words are his own.) I was never into comic books growing up. I did have a bunch of posters on my wall though, and as far as I’m concerned there was a superhero on every single one of them. However, this superhero didn’t wear a mask, and he didn’t wear a cape. He wore a jersey, with pinstripes, and he wore the number 2. That’s the best way to describe my admiration for the captain. I looked up to him...
Branden Falco Delivers Go-Ahead Hit, Joe Sommer Fires CG to Advance
Final: Kings Park 5, Sachem North 2 WP: Joe Sommer Branden Falco go-ahead two-run single KP will face Commack tomorrow pic.twitter.com/gegR8kuOLR — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 15, 2017 When he was a freshman watching the Kings Park varsity team play, Branden Falco thought to himself “this is gonna be us someday.” As it turns out, it was three years later that he would be playing in front of a packed house with his team trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning against Sachem North in an elimination game. It was the same team that had eliminated them the previous year, with the same pitcher (Chris Lollo) who fired a no-hitter as Falco watched from the sideline due to injury. The LIU Post-commit ripped a two-run single up the middle to put the Kingsmen up 3-2,...
Tyler Badamo: My Message to MLB Draft Hopefuls
(Tyler Badamo is a 2014 graduate of Dowling College. He was selected by the New York Mets in the 24th round of the MLB Draft. He was named All-American for his tremendous season in which he compiled a stretch of 72.1 consecutive innings in which he did not allow an earned run. The following words are his own.) The biggest thing I think everyone needs to realize before I go into what I tried to focus on personally, is that the MLB draft is one of the biggest crap shoots in the world. There are thousands of potential prospects eligible for the draft each year and now only 40 rounds. You can do everything right 99% of the time and still not get drafted. There are plenty of outstanding college seniors every single year that don’t get the call to postpone the real world for a little while...
LIU Post Pioneers Claim ECC Title With Thrilling Win Over Molloy
The LIU Post Pioneers are ECC Champions for the first time since 2010!! pic.twitter.com/jMf2MJWQWK — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2017 For the first time since 2010, the LIU Post Pioneers are East Coast Conference champions. They completed the journey with their 9-7 victory over the Molloy Lions. This was the first time in the past six seasons that the ECC champion was not either Dowling or St. Thomas Aquinas. It was a game that definitely lived up to the expectations as the score bounced around quite a bit, but despite the late push from Molloy, LIU Post was able to come out on top. LIU Post got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first with a Zach Fritz RBI fielder’s choice with the help of a throwing error that brought in a pair of runs. Molloy answered back...
Previewing Sunday’s ECC Championship Between Molloy-LIU Post
Mother nature has forced the ECC decision-makers to push back the championship between Molloy-LIU Post to Sunday, May 14 at 10 am. The teams have taken different routes to get to this point. LIU cruised past the University of Bridgeport, 7-1, on Thursday and edged St. Thomas Aquinas, 1-0, yesterday afternoon. They’ve used dominant pitching by Jake DeCarli and Noah Lorenzo with just enough offense. On Thursday, it was Kenny Daley‘s two-run single that was the difference-maker and yesterday it was Anthony Vaglica‘s RBI single late in the game to break the ice. They’ve used a total of three pitchers to get their two victories. Molloy was defeated, 6-1, on Thursday by No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas. They had a difficult road to take if they wanted to bounce back from that. To...
Jack Delaney’s Clutch Hit, Cappas’ Lights-Out Performance Clinches No. 1 Seed for Kellenberg
Final: Kellenberg 3, St. Anthony’s 0 WP: Chris Cappas (5-1) Kellenberg clinches No. 1 seed and bye in the postseason next week pic.twitter.com/Ju8iKeHfuv — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 12, 2017 With first place on the line, Kellenberg put the ball in the hands of the reigning CHSAA Pitcher of the Year, Chris Cappas, and let him do what he does. The senior, who has routinely silenced the opposition’s bats this season, did that today as well. He fired 6.2 shutout innings, earning his fifth win of the season, and delivered Kellenberg their second consecutive CHSAA regular season title. He was supported by captain Jack Delaney, who ripped a two-run single in the fifth inning to left-center field, which was the difference in this game. Cappas extended his scoreless str...
Post Wins a Ninth-Inning Nail Biter with STAC
A ninth-inning single by Anthony Vaglica propelled L.I.U. Post to a 1-0 victory against St. Thomas Aquinas University in the winner’s bracket of the ECC tournament. It’s the second time in two weeks Vaglica has had the game-winning hit for Post. It was a pitcher’s duel until the end as the starters on both sides threw eight scoreless innings. Noah Lorenzo got the win for post, he ended the day with eight innings pitched with three hits allowed along with two walks and eight strike outs. Closer Dan Jagiello earned his tenth save of the season allowing one hit and striking out two in his inning of work. Joseph Pena led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and a steal of second for STAC. He then nearly came around to score on a single by Anthony Shkrelja, but Post got the...
Suffolk Playoff Seeds Announced
The moment that everyone has been patiently waiting for is here–Section XI has announced the playoff seeds and brackets. The link to the brackets can be found by clicking here, and the seeds are below. Class AA: Ward Melville Commack Hills East West Islip Deer Park Bellport Hauppauge Sachem East Smithtown East Bay Shore Smithtown West Northport Eastport-South Manor Patchogue-Medford Kings Park Brentwood Connetquot Sachem North Biggest Surprise: How does Sachem East fall to No. 8? They beat Ward Melville 2 of 3 and they did it in League 1. Very surprising. Class A: Shoreham-Wading River Sayville Rocky Point Mount Sinai Southampton Islip Bayport-Blue Point Harborfields Biggest surprise: Nothing crazy but BBP probably should’ve been ahead of Islip. Class B: Mattituck Center...
Frankie Moscatiello Dominates, Dingcong Goes Deep Again in St. Thomas Aquinas’ Win
St. Thomas Aquinas HC Scott Muscat on their victory over Molloy pic.twitter.com/WKNXZni7xv — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2017 Fresh off being named ECC Pitcher of the Year, Frankie Moscatiello (Rocky Point ’14) fired 7.1 innings of one-run ball, allowing St. Thomas Aquinas to top Molloy 6-1 in the first round of the ECC Championship. “He pretty much kept the game in control,” said Head Coach Scott Muscat. “He struggled a little bit with the control but he only gave up a run–he did a fantastic job,” he added. When Giovanni Dingcong steps to the plate, the fielder’s might as well vacate the infield and all stand along the warning track. The powerful outfielder launched one of his patented majestic home runs (15th of season) to give...
Jake DeCarli Fires Gem, LIU Post Advances With 7-1 Win
Final: LIU Post 7, Bridgeport 1 WP: Jake DeCarli (complete game) Thomas Asbaty: HR pic.twitter.com/zXjKItFtrg — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2017 Having a pitcher like Jake DeCarli (8-1) is a luxury that teams dream of. The senior continued his tremendous season with a complete game, allowing 0 ER with seven strikeouts to advance LIU Post to the winner’s bracket with a 7-1 win over Bridgeport. “Jake, he’s our leader, he’s our guy that’s been here for four years, we were very comfortable in the situation we were in today with him starting,” said Head Coach Mike Gaffney. “Even with letting up the run in the first inning, we still felt good and he threw a complete game. He didn’t let up a run after the first inning and he ...
Pair of Freshmen Lead the Way in 7-3 Victory for Farmingdale
Final: Farmingdale 7, Port Washington 3 WP: Nick Carbone Robbie Manetta first varsity HR pic.twitter.com/ozsjdmQEk1 — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 9, 2017 It was a couple of youngsters who played key roles in Farmingdale‘s 7-3 victory over Port Washington today. Catcher Robbie Manetta came to the plate with the Dalers leading 4-3 in the seventh and launched his first career varsity HR over the right field fence to open the game up. He also drew two walks and played well defensively. Freshman RHP Justin Rosner threw very well over five innings, allowing 0 ER with two strikeouts, but he did not factor in the decision as the Vikings tied the game up in the sixth inning against reliever Nick Carbone on an RBI single by Ryan Meth. The Dalers responded right back wi...
