NEWS
Cody McPartland Stymies Adelphi, Leads Franklin Pierce to 7-3 Win
Long Island native Cody McPartland picked up right where he left off in 2016 with Dowling. The senior RHP came on in relief for Franklin Pierce in the fifth inning of a 3-1 game and fired four shutout innings with six strikeouts in the Ravens’ 7-3 victory over Adelphi. “Coming out of the ‘pen isn’t much different,” he said in regards to pitching in relief verse starting the game. “You still have to come in and throw strikes regardless of if you start the game, come in the fifth or close the game out, you still need the same outcome…outs!” The Ravens took advantage of some miscues by the Panthers’ defense early in the game. Panthers’ starter Ed Baram had really good stuff, but attempted to throw a runner out at third on a bunt and ...
Q & A With Tucker Hahn
Long Island’s HR leader in 2015 was Island Trees senior Tucker Hahn. After sitting out a year, he is now at Nassau Community College, where he could be a real difference maker. He spoke with our reporter David Moskowitz and here’s what he had to say… You graduated from high school in 2015. You did not play anywhere in 2016. Now in 2017 you are playing at Nassau Community College. What happened in 2016? And why Nassau Community College? I graduated from Island Trees in 2015. I decided to go to Nassau Community College and after one semester I wasn’t 100% sure it School was for me. So I started working with my brother doing construction work. I made a decent amount of money and I enjoyed the work, but I missed baseball horribly so I decided to go back to Nassau Commun...
St. John’s Continues Red-Hot Start
by Troy Mauriello If the St. John’s Red Storm weren’t on the national radar after a 7-0 start to their season, they certainly are now. The No. 16 ranked Johnnies came from behind yesterday to knock off No. 7 North Carolina on the road, giving them their best start since 1981, the days of John Franco and Frank Viola. Yesterday’s victory was anything but easy for St. John’s. After outscoring their opponents 63-16 through their first seven wins this season, the Red Storm actually trailed 4-2 heading into the seventh inning in Chapel Hill. It appeared as though the perfect start and upset bid were falling apart before the Johnnies got a jolt of offense thanks to the long ball. In that seventh, after John Valente walked to lead off the inning, Jesse Berardi smashed a two-run, game-tying home ru...
Dr. Luga Podesta Joins aXcess
Dr. Luga Podesta will be lending his expertise to aXcess Baseball as the Injury Prevention Expert. He has worked in the highest levels of sports; notably as the Head Team Physician with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-’06) and Los Angeles Angels (2010-’13). Simply put, Dr. Luga Podesta is one of the pioneers of Regenerative Medicine–a way to fully heal damaged tissue without surgery. He specializes in sports-related injuries to the shoulders, elbows, knees and spine. He takes great pride in returning his patients to returning quickly to their way of life. We are thrilled to have him aboard to write articles and contribute videos on injury prevention for baseball players.
Who Is Brock Murtha?
One of the bright spots of Sayville’s 2016 season was the emergence of eighth grader Brock Murtha not only playing on varsity, but also smacking two home runs and winning two games on the mound. The 5’11” 170 lb freshman will be a key piece of their 2017 season. He has put himself on the map already with his athleticism at shortstop and his smooth swing at the plate. He is a two-sport star, also playing QB on the varsity football team. I had a chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… Was baseball always your first love? I have always been a sports kid. Baseball is my favorite, but football is a close second, followed by basketball. Do you come from an athletic family? Yes my father was a former 3 sport athlete that played college football and ru...
Insider Notes: February 28
Through out the season, I will be posting my observations from the games I attend from a scout’s perspective. It will not always feature positive reviews, but they will be what I gather from my years of watching the game. Here’s a rundown of a few of the top players in yesterday’s game: TJ Santiago: It was the first time I’ve watched him in-person. He was every bit of the hype. He has a 3/4 delivery but is no gimmick. Velocity was 87-89, his splitter is a true weapon at 82 MPH and his slider was 77 MPH. He sustained his velocity through 7 innings–which is even more impressive that it’s his first outing of the season and it was February 28. Santiago also showed a lot of fire. There was a lot of intensity after his big strike outs. The one downside was tha...
Maritime Loaded With Arms, Ready to Shock the Skyline Conference
After watching their practice tonight, it was stunning how far along the Maritime program has come. Coach Charlie Barbieri has a team ready to compete for a championship this season. “In terms of pitching this is the best group we have ever had,” said the third-year Head Coach. “And it’s not even close,” he added. Having graduated only one player from last year’s team that compiled an 11-5 Skyline Conference record, the Privateers would’ve been in good shape regardless of how strong their incoming class of freshmen and transfers. Then they received a huge boost with the transfers of Travis Bruinsma and Matt Buckshaw as well as incoming freshmen such as Hunter Kaucky, Matt Paghidas and Luciano Besh. They join an already-talented staff of Alex Poliwo...
T.J. Santiago Dominates in Adelphi’s 5-2 Win on Opening Day
More than one player referred to Opening Day as a holiday during pregame warmups. Adelphi’s starting pitcher, TJ Santiago, had the energy of a kid on Christmas morning but his splitter acted more like the Grinch. The senior RHP was lights out (7 IP, 9 K, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB) in Adelphi’s 5-2 win over perennial powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas. It was a tremendous match up between a member of our 2016 All-Long Island team and Frankie Moscatiello (Rocky Point ’14), who hit 92-MPH with his first pitch of the game. Both pitchers have a chance to get drafted this year. “I was able to use all my pitches in various counts,” said the Panthers’ ace. “First game of the year is always a little more special,” he added. The offense got off to a slow start, but in...
Frank Catalanotto: Which Hitting Drills Work Best?
The truth is that everyone is different, so when it comes to baseball and hitting drills, you need to find out which ones work for you and which ones don’t. The repetition of the drills is so important. Part of getting better is teaching muscle memory–especially for younger kids. Here are some that worked for me. One arm drills might be my favorite because each arm gets strengthened individually. I would get a small, lightweight bat and have someone flip balls to me. With just my front arm, I would take 10-15 swings and then switch to the back arm. I always wanted to make sure each arm and hand were working correctly, focusing on staying inside the ball making sure I was leading with the knob of the bat. Also, I would reach out toward the pitcher with the bat after contact to ensure ...
February 26 Recap
Div-I: St. Johns wins seventh straight, remain perfect: The Red Storm squared up with the UMBC Retrievers on Sunday and turned to starting pitcher Ryan McAuliffe who delivered 6.1 innings of scoreless work, striking out five while scattering only six hits. However, McAuliffe’s efforts were matched by UMBC’s starting pitcher Matt Chanin as both starters traded zeros on the scoreboard through the first four innings of play. The Johnnies were finally able to break the scoreless tie in the fifth thanks to three consecutive defensive miscues, the latter being a wild pitch that allowed Robbie Knightes to score from third base. After a walk of Mike Antico who finished 1-for-2 on the day with two runs scored, redshirt junior John Valente collected his second hit of the day via RBI single to left ...
Episode 2 of aXcess Baseball Weekly
Check out our second episode of aXcess Baseball Weekly featuring special guest Elias Martinez and analysts Tyler Marko and Jon Cruz
What’s On Tap for This Week
Almost all of the local teams have began to play with the exception of Farmingdale, St. Joseph’s, Nassau CC, Suffolk CC and Maritime. Everyone except Nassau will kick off this week and then we’ll really be in the swing of things. Here’s a breakdown of what the schedule looks like this week: Div-I: St. John’s will play at North Carolina on Wednesday at 3pm. They will then play in the LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C. this weekend. They’ll open up against Appalachian State on Friday at 12pm, East Carolina University on Saturday at 4pm and Western Carolina on Sunday at 11am. Fordham will be in Wilson, N.C. all weekend playing a four-game set against Canisius beginning on Friday at 3pm, a double header on Saturday at noon and on Sunday at 10:30am. Stony Brook wi...
