NEWS
Insider Notes: March 30
Today I was at Wantagh vs Bellmore JFK to watch the rematch of the Nassau County Class A Finals. The game was basically over as soon as it began, but I was able to jot down some notes from a scout’s perspective on some of the top players in the game. Here’s my takeaways: Jimmy Joyce: Head Coach Keith Sachs stated that he has no doubt that Joyce is the best player on Long Island. He has a point–he’s the reigning Class A Player of the Year, and as many people will tell you–Joyce plays with that chip on his shoulder that makes the opposition hate him. College coaches love that because he’s not out there to make friends. He struggled with his command in the first inning, throwing 26 pitches but he worked out of the jam by picking off the trailing runner at f...
Patch Dooley Fans 15, Fires One-Hitter in 2-1 Victory over Smithtown East
It was a phenomenal pitching duel between Hills East ace Patch Dooley and Smithtown East’s Doug Goodwin this afternoon. Both starters dominated, but Dooley was the star–fanning 15 in a one-hitter and leading the charge in a 2-1 victory. Dooley threw a complete game, the one run he allowed came on the only hit allowed, a home run down the left field line by Andrew Canino to lead off the fourth inning. However, he came back strong recording 11 of the game’s final 12 outs on strike outs, and finishing with 15 Ks. After the game he said, “My curveball was working, I was spotting my fastball and my team did a great job of toughing out two runs to get the win.” Hills East only mustered four hits themselves, but smart base running helped put those who did get on get ...
Wantagh Routs Bellmore JFK in Rematch of Nassau Class A Finals
Jimmy Joyce stated that the reigning New York Class A champs wanted to send a message today. That message was sent with a seven-run first inning. The hard-throwing Hofstra-commit struck out nine over four shutout innings in the season opener, while touching 92 MPH with his heater in the first inning. Wantagh put up seven runs in the first inning highlighted by an RBI single by Joyce, two-run double by Anthony Fontana and two-run double by Trevor Fagan. They added five in the second, one in the third and four in the fourth. Leadoff man Anthony D’Onofrio ripped a single, double and triple in the first two innings. Joyce battled command issues in the first two innings, but settled down and found his groove. He allowed only a single in the third inning and made quick work of his final tw...
Rawlings to Sponsor Battle of the Border
We are thrilled to announce that Rawlings has agreed to sponsor our second annual Battle of the Border at Hofstra University on May 30. They will be providing the uniforms, wood bats, baseballs and the Most Valuable Player Award. The event will be for draft-eligible college NCAA players. Last year’s event was between the best 20 players from Nassau vs. Suffolk. Six of the 40 participants went on to sign professional contracts. This year, we will switch up the format to be the top 20 players from Long Island vs the boroughs. With the MLB Draft slated for June 12, it is a perfect opportunity for players to showcase themselves in front of the scouts in hopes of hearing their names on draft day. Beginning this week, we will send out invites for the participants.
JJ McLaughlin Opens Up About Dealing With Life’s Unforeseen Tragedies
(Editor’s Note: JJ is a pitcher for Nassau Community College. He was forced to deal with the tragic loss of both his mother and father just over one year apart) by JJ McLaughlin Baseball has been my therapy through it all. I’ve been playing since I was little and I don’t know if I would be here without it being a major part of my life. I have gone through so much within such a short period of time and at such a young age, many people question how I am still in school and how I am even still playing baseball. I graduated high school in 2011 and went onto play at Monroe College for my freshman year. When I left for school everything was fine, but before I knew it, my whole world started to fall apart. My dad was diagnosed with Melanoma cancer in the fall of 2012. That was when I knew m...
Shoreham-Wading River Smacks Three HRs, Morrell Fires Four No-Hit Innings in 8-3 Win
Shoreham-Wading River began their redemption tour in dominating fashion in today’s season opener against Mount Sinai. Miles Kelly, Dean Stalzer and Vinny Uzzi smacked HRs and Brian Morrell fired four no-hit innings with six strikeouts in their 8-3 victory. Head Coach Kevin Willi stated that the reigning Carl Yastrzemski Award winner was on a strict 75-pitch limit this afternoon and he hit that after four innings due to the strikeouts and four walks. He was also pleased with their at bats. “We had 11 hits and drew eight walks in our six innings, so guys were working at bats, which is nice to see,” said the third-year Head Coach. Stalzer, a potential X-Factor for them, had a terrific afternoon. The senior ripped a double and drew two walks in addition to his home run. He mi...
A.J. Verga Lights-Out in Varsity Debut, Floyd Wins 6-0
Floyd sophomore A.J. Verga fired a one-hit shutout in his varsity debut today against Longwood by the score of 6-0. Head Coach Paul Longo stated that he was “very proud” of his LHP for stepping up and performing that well in his first start of the season. He struck out five Longwood batters. Niko Rodriguez smacked a two-out two-run double in the fifth and that provided all the offense he would need. His pitching coach, Neal Heaton, stated that he has vastly improved since his time working with him and he threw very well this winter. Floyd is coming off an 8-win season, but they now have a potentially dynamic 1-2 punch in the rotation with Verga and senior RHP Robert Brust, who was the catcher today. They will play again on Wednesday as Floyd looks to win the series.
Dan Gdanski Comes Within One Out of No-Hitter, Massapequa Wins Opener 6-0
Massapequa RHP Dan Gdanksi could not have scripted this one any better. The Cortland-commit came within one-out of throwing a no-hitter in his first varsity start. He allowed a double with two outs in the seventh but struck out the final batter to finish off a masterful 6-0 one-hit shutout in the season opener against Syosset. “A win is our first priority,” said the senior RHP. “I pitched pretty well–I was hitting my spots today. My defense did a great job behind me. We just played together as a team today,” he added. It was a pitcher’s duel early on. Syosset’s Griffin Laine pitched very well through four innings, allowing just a single to DH James Zupo. Massapequa Head Coach Tom Sheedy knew the team would be very excited on Opening Day and did not...
Power Rankings Volume 5
Tier 1: The Elite St. John’s (Record: 18-2, Stock UP) Status quo for the Red Storm. They swept Maine this week. Sean Mooney fired the program’s first complete game since 2015 and he needed only 99 pitches to do so. They are firing on all cylinders. Tier 2: Trending Up 2. Adelphi (Record: 13-7, Stock UP) Terrific weekend for the Panthers, who won three of four conference games. They are getting contributions up and down the lineup–they averaged 7.9 runs per game this weekend. They now have seven regulars hitting .299 or better highlighted by Brandon Morse’s .382 AVG. Another dominant outing from T.J. Santiago on Saturday. Very important relief outing this afternoon from Chris Lemorocco to bridge the gap to the bullpen. The back end of the bullpen of Michael Tarpey an...
New Episode of aXcess Baseball Weekly
Check out the latest episode of aXcess Baseball Weekly in which host Vinny Messana and analyst Mike Guido discuss the latest storylines from this week in college baseball on Long Island.
Maritime Sweeps Old Westbury In Thrilling Conference DH
What a thrilling match up it was at the Jackie Robinson Sports Complex at SUNY Old Westbury. Maritime was able to manifest two victories in the DH against Skyline Conference foe Old Westbury on Sunday improving their conference record to 4-0. With both clubs sitting atop the Skyline Conference, it was sure to be a well-played couple of games. Both teams continued to show positive signs, but Maritime emerged as the victors this go round. Old Westbury displayed some solid offense on the day, but the defense is what plagued them–posting eight errors in total between the two games ultimately leading to their defeat. The first game was an offensive showcase especially for the visiting Privateers in their 10-4 win. They posted ten runs on 15 hits–but the game was a pitcher’s duel ear...
Who Is Joe Wozny?
It’s easy to get overlooked playing in League 9 of Suffolk County. The overall level of competition is not on par with Class AA or A, so college coaches will have a hard time seeing the value in sitting through games in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. Except sometimes there is that diamond out here. Enter Joe Wozny. The 15-year-old freshman at Stony Brook HS is turning heads with his 88-MPH fastball and 74 MPH curve. I watched him pitch in the Dominican Republic and he fired three shutout innings with 4 strikeouts against some of the most talented amateur baseball players in the world. His performance bypassed the “he’s good for his age” and went right into the category of “this is the real deal.” In his first start of the season yesterday, he ...
