NEWS
Brian Morrell Puts on Solid Performance For MLB Scouts
Over the last year, Brian Morrell (Shoreham-Wading River ’17) has done just about everything right and for that reason, he has put himself firmly on the radar of every local MLB scout. Today he threw a bullpen and took swings under the watchful eye of some local scouts and he performed very well. He was sitting in the low 90s with his heater, threw it consistently in the bottom third of the strike zone and he displayed his devastating spike-curveball. Most importantly, he didn’t appear to be fazed by the attention one bit. The scouts came away very impressed with what they saw. He also ripped line drives while using a wood bat during his batting practice. That is a positive sign, since the scrutiny will only increase as the bright lights turn on. The past year has been filled w...
Neal’s Knowledge: Should You Be High 3/4, Low 3/4 or Submarine?
No two pitchers are exactly alike. A major reason for this is because everyone has a slightly different release point. For that reason, certain pitches will be more effective for pitchers. I’ll go over the three most common types of release points, as well as which pitches work best for pitcher’s that employ those arm slots and then you can choose which one is best for you… High 3/4 Very rarely is a pitcher directly “over the top”. Clayton Kershaw is probably the closest to that. Most pitchers throw from a high 3/4 delivery. The reason for this is because it enables pitchers to maximize their velocity and their command while also putting less strain on their arm than dropping down. The reason it puts less strain on your arm is because you’re using your l...
Anthony Fontana: Why I Chose Furman University
by Anthony Fontana It all started in Fort Myers, FL for the Perfect Game tournament. Game 3 under the lights at Terry Park. I stepped up to the plate, I got a first pitch fastball and absolutely crushed a line drive over the center fielder for a double. Standing on second base it was just a regular RBI double to me but little did I know that double would change my life. A few days later when the tournament was over, I received an email from coach Taylor Harbin, assistant coach at Furman University . Once I saw Furman University emailed me, I was excited because of how awesome their conference is. So Coach Harbin and I spoke for a little while about the program and I decided to go on a visit to Furman. A little before my visit i went to a few other schools–one of them being Arizona St...
11 High School Players That You Will Know by the End of the Year
Hip-Hop star J. Cole coined the phrase “the come up”. This is a term that describes the period of time before someone gets fame. Some people truly relish this time period, because this is where you set the foundation for your future. You put the hard work in and it will come back to you in droves in the future. Athletes are no different. While there are plenty of famous players that have come from our great region, this list will be comprised of players most people have not heard of. They are on “the come up”. Tyler Marinaccio-Plainview-JFK ’18 The uncommitted junior has one of the most aesthetically-pleasing deliveries you will see. He has a deliberate leg kick–resembling Japanese-born pitchers like Hiroki Kuroda–but it works for him. It gets him ...
Mark Faello: Proof That Patience is a Virtue
Mark Faello was never lacking in ambition. When he was 10-years-old he approached Hofstra Head Coach John Russo and asked if he was good enough to play there. Fast forward six years and Russo was competing with all the other local schools–plus some of his CAA rivals–to get a verbal commitment from the Plainview-JFK ace. Fortunately, Faello had never wavered in his desire to attend Hofstra. “It was my dream school,” said the right-handed pitcher. “I love how big the campus is and when I visited, I said, ‘how can any school top this?” Despite getting interest from several other schools, he committed on Aug. 1, after a dominant season on the mound. He went 3-1 with a 0.24 ERA and 3 no-decisions over 35.1 innings. The Hawks had a successful season, fin...
Who Is Mike Florides?
When you’re a quiet, unassuming kid it can sometimes be hard to stand out from a crowded pack. Except when you’re a talented baseball player and your brother was drafted out of HS, as is the case with St. Dominic sophomore Mike Florides. His brother, Andrew, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Holy Cross HS. The 2019 grad recently transferred from Glen Cove HS and happens to be one of the smoothest infielders on the island. He stated that he emulates his play after Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs and you can see he possesses a similar flair. While Mike always had the athleticism and baseball IQ, he was very small for his size. As recently as last spring, he was under 5’0″ which potentially could limit his ceiling as a ...
How to Develop a Team Attitude
(Photo Credit: Bill Landon) An integral part of any successful team is for its members to have an unselfish, team-first attitude. Teams are sometimes successful in the win-loss column just due to pure talent, but that is not typically going to be a yearly occurrence. In fact, when a team wins just because of the pure talent it has, it is often without the excitement and exhortation of a tight unit. The major responsibility of this development is of the Head Coach. There are some teams, of course, that have some players who might be natural leaders, but ultimately the Head Coach is the one to foster that development through out the year. As a HS coach for 38 years, I had the fortune of coaching a ton of tremendous young men. My most successful and enjoyable seasons were the ones where the p...
ANNOUNCEMENT
The second annual Battle of the Border has been set for Tuesday, May 30 at Hofstra University. The game will begin at 4pm and will be open to the public. Players will be taking infield/outfield and batting practice prior to the game. We have switched up the format this year–it will now be Long Island vs. NYC as to incorporate all the best players from our great region. In the event that a player is from LI and plays at one of the city schools (or vice verse), the player will have the decision which side to represent. As per our good friends at the NCAA, in order for a collegiate player to be eligible they must be a senior UNLESS they are from a Div-I four-year program. The coaching staff and rosters will be announced during the season. Players will be invited based on their success d...
Neal’s Knowledge: What Should a January Throwing Program Consist Of?
A pitcher should be treated like a race horse–carefully groomed and you cannot accelerate that process. When a pitcher picks up the ball for the first time in January, they haven’t pitched off a mound for over two months. I tell my pitchers before I see them on the mound they should have done a bit of long-tossing. You should not be going from inactivity to a mound. I took a lot of precautions to stay healthy in my career, and for that reason I landed on the DL only once–and it was a freak accident during BP while running sprints. Here are some crucial steps young pitchers should be following in order to avoid injury and be at their best by the time the season comes around. You should not be lifting heavy weights at all once you start throwing from a mound. Doesn’t ...
Chris Cruz: A Story of Power-Hitting, Perserverance and High-Intellect
When Chris Cruz failed the first test of his life he was not pleased. Not that anyone is ever pleased to fail a test–but for Chris, he went through his entire youth without ever experiencing much failure and now a freshman at the prestiguous Cornell University, he was now starting his college career in a way he never could’ve imagined. “It definitely made me revamp the way I was going to go about things,” said the 2010 graduate of Bay Shore HS. Things always came easily for Chris–whether it be in the classroom (he graduated in the top 10% of his class with a 91 GPA), or on the diamond or the basketball and volleyball court. Thus is life for Ivy League student-athletes, who are forced to deal with the added pressure of maintaining strong grades while also honor...
What is the Best School to Recruit From?
Today I was down at Shoreham-Wading River‘s practice and watching the varsity and JV team take ground balls and batting practice. It hit me that for a League VII school, they have had a ludicrous amount of high-end players over the years. They have had three Carl Yastrzemski Award winners (Keith Osik, Mike O’Reilly, Brian Morrell), and a handful of other high-end Div-I players (Eric Strovink, Bryan Sabatella, Tyler Osik, Nick Bottari just to name a few) and they also have four current players committed to Div-I schools. Obviously, there are external factors that give certain schools advantages such as the socio-economics of the city, the average income of the parents, demographics, the quality of the school’s head coach/athletic director. Here is my best effort to compile...
Neal’s Knowledge: How to Approach The Recruiting Process
One of the things people always ask me is–“how did you get noticed by the University of Miami?” Well, things are very, very different than they were in 1978. First off, the school only recruited from the list of the top 25 or so players in the country and I was fortunate enough to have had a good enough junior year that I was on their list and they found me. For the average Long Island baseball player, though, that may not be an option. On the bright side, there’s so many more resources available to you in 2017 than I had coming out of Sachem HS in the ’70s. So here is my advice given my years of experience involved in this baseball community on how you can pick which college you want to attend based on your baseball ability and your academic prowess without w...
