NEWS
Axcess Baseball Featuring Travis Bruinsma
Check out our latest edition of aXcess baseball featuring special guest Travis Bruinsma. The SUNY Maritime ace just set the program-record for wins in a single-season with seven. He also was a part of Connetquot‘s Long Island Championship in 2015 in which he won a program-record 13 games.
Saturday April 29 Game Recaps
Long Islanders officially have something to be happy about. Not only has high school baseball lived up to the expectations, but college baseball has improved dramatically since the start of the year. The teams that have succeeded are continuing on that pace and the teams that have struggled have mostly turned it around. After another successful Saturday, Long Island baseball has definitely redeemed itself since the start of the season. Stony Brook sweeps Maine in double-header The Seawolves have pulled a full 180 on their season as they inch closer to the .500 mark. With the double-header sweep of Maine on Saturday, they move to 19-21 on the year. They were able to snag game one 6-3 and game two 4-3. In game one, a majority of the Seawolves’ runs came in the sixth inning as they put up a f...
Late Rally Pushes Seton Hall Past St. John’s
Seton Hall used a late game hit barrage to hand 11th-ranked St. John’s its seventh loss of the year on Saturday. Seton Hall’s Cullen Dana took a shutout into the eighth as he rolled through the Red Storm lineup. What originally looked like a pitcher’s duel in the early innings ended up turning into a convincing 7-0 win for the Pirates. “You gotta give that kid credit where credit’s due, we just didn’t have a good approach,” St. John’s Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer said. “We let him settle in and he kind of got his breaking ball in there enough to keep us off balance.” St. John’s starter Jeff Belge was electric as well through the first five frames. He retired 10 straight Seton Hall batters after opening the game with a walk, and allowed just one hit while striking out six. But Dana was down for...
STAC Spoils Senior Day for Molloy with DH Sweep
St. Thomas Aquinas College won both games of their doubleheader 8-7 to complete a four-game sweep of Molloy. It was a tough break for the Lions who had celebrated their Senior Day just before the first game. Game one saw four lead changes between the two teams, starting with a first inning sacrifice fly from STAC’s Anthony Shkrelja. Molloy answered with two of their own in the second inning, one coming on a double by Anthony Galanoudis, and another on an Austin Nieves ground out. STAC came back with a huge four run fifth inning, where runs scored on doubles by Shkrelja and Bobby Morse, a single from Greg Dawber and an error by Molloy. They led 5-2, but it would not last long. Molloy responded with a monster inning of their own, scoring five runs to take a 7-5 lead. After an eight-pit...
Chris Cappas leads Kellenberg to a 9-1 Win Over Chaminade
Playing at Eisenhower Park on a beautiful spring day, Kellenberg won a crucial game against Chaminade 9-1. Thanks to a huge offensive fifth inning, a dominant start from lefty Chris Cappas and some exquisite defense the Firebirds took two of the three games in this series. Cappas started strong, striking out the opposing side in order to start the first. He then helped his own cause with an RBI single to left that put his side on the board in the bottom of the first. Lian Dvorak was on the mound for Chaminade, and after that first run he began to settle down. It was a classic pitchers duel until Kellenberg erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jack Delany started the scoring that inning with a single to right that brought in Andrew Russell. That signaled the end for Dvorak, bu...
Brian Morrell Fires Fifth Career No-Hitter, Fans 15 in 7-0 Win
Move over Nolan Ryan, you have someone on your heels. Shoreham-Wading River RHP Brian Morrell struck out 15 in his fifth career no-hitter on the way to a 7-0 victory over rival Bayport-Blue Point. The Notre-Dame commit struck out the final batter with a wicked curve ball to send his dugout into a frenzy. He hit 95 MPH with his fastball on two occasions. Morrell does it again! His fifth no-hitter is a 15 strikeout performance against Bayport-Blue Point pic.twitter.com/1tRBkfUJcy — aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) April 27, 2017 He allowed only three base runners–all on walks–but was electric for the duration of the game. He did so in front of a hand of MLB local scouts and regional cross checkers. He has a chance to get drafted in the top 5 rounds in the Jun...
Matt Carey’s RBI Hit, Strong Pitching Leads Oceanside to 6-4 Victory Over Massapequa
In an emotionally-charged rivalry like Massapequa-Oceanside, it pays to keep things simple. That’s what Oceanside’s junior RHP Matt Carey did that today in a crucial victory against a conference rival. “I just try to block everyone out, pitch the ball and strike everyone out,” said the NYIT-commit. Not only did he pitch very well–recording the win with six solid innings of work and 10 strikeouts, allowing three runs–he also smacked the go-ahead hit in the top of the seventh innings to propel Oceanside to the 6-4 victory. He came out of the gate guns blazing with eight strikeouts through the first four innings, using a high-octane fastball and a quality curveball to keep the Chief hitters guessing. Their offense got going against Dan Gdanski (Cortland-com...
Suffolk Class AA Power Rankings
Prior to the season, I wrote up some predictions for Suffolk Class AA based on my observations from the previous season and the improvement I saw from each team in the off season. So far, those predictions are looking pretty good. Here’s the top 10 teams in Suffolk Class AA right now. The obvious limitations to this list is that I’ve been covering games in Nassau and the CHSAA as well, so I haven’t yet gotten to see all the teams in Class AA, but within the next two weeks I should be able to. Here’s my best stab at it. 10) Deer Park (8-4) One of the biggest surprises this year, they have been led by senior Connor Hewlette, who already has four wins and Robert Belotti, who has three. They also have a fairly easy schedule remaining, which gives them a good chance at a...
North Babylon Wins 5-4 On Walk-Off Error, Honor Slain NYPD Sgt. Tuozzolo in Pregame Ceremony
What started with an emotional ceremony to the family of slain NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, ended with a dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory for North Babylon against the reigning Class AA Long Island Champs. With North Babylon down to their final out trailing 4-2 against Kyle O’Neill (Felician-commit), Paul Tchinnis ripped a game-tying two-run single to center field with Argenis Escarfullery scoring the tying run. The game went to extra innings after Tom Gatto retired the next batter. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases and scored on a walk-off error on a controversial play in which West Islip contested that the runner interfered with Greg Tsouprakos, but the run would stand resulting in a huge win for North Babylon. Their starter Pat Solomita did a terrific job ...
Nassau Class A Power Rankings (3rd Edition)
After a crazy week of baseball, 3 new teams have earned a spot in the top 5. With only 2 weeks left of play, virtually every conference title is up for grabs. Let’s take a look at the new top 5. 5) Garden City (6-2-1) (Last week: Unranked) Being on the outside looking in for the entire season, the Trojans have finally cracked the top 5. Rich Marooney and TJ McEvoy continue to carry this experienced team offensively, along with help from Andrew Nagal on the mound. After beating MacArthur this past week, it’s safe to say Garden City is now the favorite to win conference A1. With an easy series coming up against Great Neck South, Garden City will look to solidify its spot as the top team in the conference. 4) Plainedge (7-2) (Last week: 5) Plainedge continues to impress more and m...
Nassau Class AA Power Rankings (3rd Edition)
Photo Credits: Jim Primm There’s a new #1 team in this week’s power rankings which shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone. Officially more than halfway done with the season, here’s your top 5 teams heading into this week. 5) Farmingdale (8-4) (Last week: 5) An impressive victory over Oceanside keeps Farmingdale locked in the top 5. Pitching is clearly a stronghold for this Farmingdale team, as they haven’t given up more than 6 runs all season. Not only do the Dalers have a strong rotation, but they have a talented bullpen as well, led by Anthony Burriesci. After their bye week, the Dalers have their toughest series of the season coming up against Massapequa. 4) East Meadow (8-4) (Last week: Unranked) The defending county champions are finally back in the top 5...
Power Rankings Volume 9
This was a rough week for local colleges in general. There was some long losing streaks, especially from the Div-I programs. Still, a couple teams took advantage and will rise up in the rankings because of it. Here’s our ninth installment of the Power Rankings… The Elite- St. Johns (Record: 29-5, Stock UP) They won all three games this week. They are coming off a 15-run offensive attack, which tied their season-high. They already have four players with over 50 hits (Jesse Berardi, John Valente, Michael Donadio, Jamie Galazin) and a team 2.59 ERA. Trending UP- 2. St. Joseph’s (Record: 21-10, Stock UP) They have steadily risen up. After winning four of six games this week, they have proven they are for real including a gauntlet of back-to-back Skyline double headers against...
