NEWS
Suffolk County Class AA Power Rankings
With just a handful of games remaining in the regular season, the playoff picture is pretty clear. League II remains pretty murky as Sachem North, Bay Shore, Northport and Connetquot all remain alive in the postseason hunt. The rest of the leagues are more clear. With that being said, here’s this week’s top big-school teams. 10. Bay Shore/Northport (10-5, 10-6) I’m doing it again, because not only do they have similar records, but they both beat Commack. I was willing to give the edge to whoever avoided a sweep, but they both did. Like I said last week, I give a slight edge to Northport because I really think the top of their order is underrated and they backed that up. Frankie Stola had a big 2-for-3 game against Commack with three RBI and two runs scored. Sean Klein rec...
Sal’s Hitting School: Episode 2
Sal’s Hitting School Episode 2 is now live on our YouTube channel. You can watch it below, as Sal Agostinelli discusses the importance of getting into a proper load at the plate. Sal is the Director of International Scouting for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Old Westbury and Farmingdale Upset In First Round
Two perennial Skyline Conference powerhouses--Old Westbury and Farmingdale–suffered stunning early exits in the first-round of the Skyline Conference tournament. Both came on their home field. The day began with No. 4 seed Old Westbury taking on No. 5 seed Mount St. Mary’s, who entered with an overall record of 13-26 (9-9 in conference). The Panthers sent Trey Pizzutello to the mound. The Knights got out to an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Chris Introcaso to score Nick Rizzo (Smithtown East ’16). The Panthers responded quickly with a run in the the bottom half of the third on an RBI double by Liam Slattery to score Jesse Matos. Pizzutello settled in and was dominant over the next several innings, but he was matched zero for zero by his counterpart, Blake Ke...
With Draft Day Looming, Jesse Berardi Remains Laser Focused
With all the distractions that come along with playing under the the spotlight of Div-I baseball, it would be easy to understand if a player got caught up in the hoopla. Most players are constantly on social media and can allow outside talk to effect their play. Most players are not Jesse Berardi. The St. John’s SS is having a season for the record books. The slick-fielding Commack native has compiled a triple slash line of .385/.497/.519 and is on the draft radar of at least 20 of the 30 Major League teams. Every move from this point on will most likely be recorded by a scout either on video or timed with a stop watch. It will be sent to the regional supervisors and national crosscheckers and Directors of Scouting and possibly, the General Managers. This is not uncharted territory f...
Patch Dooley Takes No-Hitter Into Sixth, Hills East Wins 7-4
It’s been one of those seasons where nothing can stop Patch Dooley. Not even 30-40 MPH gusts of wind. “This is probably the worst conditions we played in wind-wise,” said Hills East Head Coach Tim Belz following their 7-4 victory over League III rival Smithtown West. “It’s tough when the ball is moving back and forth, it makes it tough to throw strikes. Another dominating outing from him–no-hitter into the sixth inning,” he added regarding his pitcher who is committed to the College of Charleston. Final: Hills East 7, Smithtown West 4 WP: Patch Dooley pic.twitter.com/VciyH4RFaE — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 2, 2017 Dooley, who has already fired a no-hitter this year, was five outs away before Christian Amoruso lined a clean single in...
Andrew Nagel Dominates Manhasset in 3-1 Victory
One of the hot topics in Major League Baseball is pace of play. How can they speed the game up and keep the young fans interested? One way is they can do exactly what Andrew Nagel did in today’s 3-1 victory over Nassau County Class A rival Manhasset. The senior LHP fired a 75 minute complete game that featured no errors, no pitching changes and no pinch-hitters. With his impeccable control, he forced many batters into first-pitch outs and uncomfortable at bats. Final: Garden City 3, Manhasset 1 WP: Andrew Nagel (complete game, 6 K) Rich Marooney: HR pic.twitter.com/dZiLUXzA1x — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) May 1, 2017 “I normally work quick,” said the Amherst-commit. “It’s nice, it keeps the fielders on their feet, try to make everyone stay moving so...
Angelo Navetta: These Are the Best Pitchers I’ve Faced in the ECC
(Editor’s Note: Angelo Navetta is currently a junior at Molloy College. He is coming off a spectacular 2016 season in which he was the recipient of Baseball on the Island’s Most Valuable Player Award. He is widely regarded as one of the best defensive first baseman and pure hitters in the East Coast Conference. The following words are his own) Frank Moscatiello (St. Thomas Aquinas) Frank is a high velocity, high effort kinda guy. This makes him tough to hit because you know he is not going to take a pitch off. You want to make him work and foul pitches off but when he pounds the zone with his fastball he is very tough to hit. His high velocity fastball is supported by his tight slider, which has great late movement. For me, that’s what makes him difficult because the slid...
Neal Heaton: Who Are the Top 3 Arms in the Class of 2017?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lot of great pitchers over the years. The group of arms in the 2017 class gives them all a run for their money. Here are my top three based on what I’ve seen. Brian Morrell (Shoreham-Wading River, Notre Dame-commit) The thing I like about Brian Morrell is he pounds the strike zone. Electric arm and his curveball is flat-out nasty–it’s a knuckle-curve. Change up is way above average and of course, his velocity is 88-92 AVG. He’s a competitor, and he’s also a great hitter. 2. Ben Brown (Ward Melville, Siena-commit) Tremendous work ethic. Fastball anywhere from 88-91 MPH with a great overhand curveball and great change up. He pounds the strike zone too and he’s a very tough competitor. Being 6̵...
Nassau Class A Power Rankings (4th Edition)
With one week remaining in the regular season, things are really starting to heat up in Class A. As of right now, there is not one dominant team in Nassau County. This means that we are in for an outstanding postseason. With that being said, here’s this weeks new and improved top 5. 5) Lynbrook (9-3) (Last week: 2) After dropping the first 2 games of the series to North Shore, the Owls bounced back in game 3, winning 11-3. Last week marked Lynbrook’s first series loss all year, but they have no reason to panic. North Shore always seems to get hot at the right time, so it makes plenty of sense that they played their best baseball of the year last week. With 3 games left to play, Lynbrook still holds a 2 game lead for first place. All they have to do is beat Valley Stream South o...
Nassau Class AA Power Rankings (4th Edition)
Another week, another new team at No. 5 in the power rankings. Oceanside sweeping Massapequa was the highlight of baseball this week in Class AA. With two weeks left in the regular season, let’s take a look at the top 5. 5. East Meadow (9-5-1) (Last week: 4) After splitting with Herricks last week, the Jets find themselves hanging on for dear life in the top 5. If East Meadow wants to make a deep run in the playoffs, they’re going to have to be more consistent at the plate. As oppose to last week in which they scored 14 runs in 3 games, they only scratched across 8 runs in 3 games this week. East Meadow will look to bounce back this week in a series with Long Beach. 4. Calhoun (10-5) (Last week: Unranked) An impressive 3 game sweep over Baldwin lands Calhoun back in the top 5. ...
Power Rankings Volume 10
The cream is rising to the top. The local college baseball teams have really begun to play great baseball and things will get really interesting when we get our first dosage of playoff baseball with the Skyline Conference tournament getting underway on Wednesday through Sunday. St. Joseph’s will be hosting the tournament, but home field advantage has not meant much the previous few seasons–they won at Farmingdale last year, Old Westbury won at St. Joseph’s in 2015 and Farmingdale won at Old Westbury in 2014. It will be interesting. The ECC and NE-10 playoffs will be the following week and the America East, Atlantic-10 and Big East will be the week after that. Here’s our 10th installment of the weekly Power Rankings. St. John’s (Record: 31-7, Stock UP) We cover...
Stony Brook Completes Sweep as Maine’s Pitching Struggles
A lack of control and command on the mound cost the Maine Black Bears in their game against Stony Brook on Sunday. Ten of the Seawolves’ runs in their 12-6 win came in the first two frames. From then on, the Seawolves may have been outplayed, but those two frames were the catalyst to their victory. The Seawolves scored ten runs in the first two innings while walking 11 times. Most of the runs in the game were recorded due to bases loaded walks. Only one player in the Stony Brook lineup had more than one hit. Sean Buckhout had two hits to go along with three RBI and a run scored and two walks. He was a major factor in their victory. Toby Handley also had three RBIs to go along with a hit and a pair of runs scored. Casey Baker, Dylan Resk, Nick Grande, Jeremy Giles and Dan McEvoy all h...
