NEWS
Banquet Date Announced
We will be hosting our second annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, December 29 at the Long Island Hilton in Melville. The 2016 All-Long Island team will be announced along with several individual awards such as MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Steven Matz Award and Courage Award. The night will include a cocktail hour, three-course dinner, dessert and soft beverages. A cash bar will be available for those 21 and older. There will be a raffle that will feature several great prizes as well. The athletes/coaches will not be charged, but there will be a $50 fee at the entrance for guests. We look forward to a night of celebrating a terrific year of Long Island baseball! Please RSVP to vinny@baseballontheisland.com by Dec 1st. Seats are limited.
In 2015, John Galanoudis was the second leading hitter on Molloy. He smacked the baseball to the tune of a .318 AVG/.386/.403 triple slash line, drove in 29 runs, scored 30 runs and belted two HR. He also belted out a bunch of hits on his country album titled “Fire Still Burning“. Since that time, he has been busy furthering his career as a coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, but he was able to release a new single titled “Summer Ball”. I had a chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… Has music taken a back seat to your coaching or have you still found a balance between the two? Music definitely took a backseat once I began coaching. I felt as if I found that balance as a player, but I also believe that it took me a little while to find that bala...
Infiniti Performance Unveils New Training Program for Pitchers
Since opening its doors in November 2004, Infiniti Performance has grown not only in size and volume, but in program development. Like any long-running, quality organization in the athlete-service industry, they have evolved with consideration to factors impacting amateur athletes. When that athlete is a pitcher, the task becomes greater. Factors such as arm health research, performance related data accumulation, technological usage, and the increased prevalence of showcase events are a few of the factors that shape their progressive approach to performance, and injury pre-habilitation. Fueled by the desire to serve their clients individual needs, and not become complacent in terms of program development, ISP elects not to rest on their laurels. Co-founder Ray Babinsky uses the phrase “you...
Long Island Baseball Tops Team Steel 2-1
When the weather dips below 50 degrees and there’s high-end pitchers on the mound pitching to batters with wood bats, you can expect offense to be at a premium. That’s exactly what happened in the first game of the Antonia Agostinelli Memorial tournament tonight at Baseball Heaven, in which Long Island Baseball topped Team Steele 2-1. With Team Steel clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth and runners on second & third with two outs, the third-place batter lofted a fly ball to right field which was dropped and allowed the tying run to score. The next batter smacked a single to right field to score the go-ahead run which proved to be the winning run. Both starting pitchers battled through command issues but allowed zero runs through four innings. Each team stranded...
Dowling Baseball: Where Are They Now?
by Vinny Messana When Dowling closed its doors on June 3rd–two days prior to the Battle of the Border, we were not the only one to get a raw deal. A total of 22 of the 28 players were still in the midst of continuing their education, which means they were forced to transfer to a new school. Here’s their 2016 ECC Championship roster with their new schools they are currently attending: Chris Cepeda-St. Tomas Aquinas Tim Going-Franklin Pierce Rob Costanzo-Farmingdale State Jack Laudani- Chris Tessitore-Molloy Anthony Raucci-St. Joseph’s Chris Russo- Kenneth Fils-Aime-St. Rose Dwayne Page- Dylan Piscitelli- Vinny Orlando-St. Joseph’s Chris Mott- Jonathan Tenaglia- Robert Morse- Dennis Buckstein-Queens Dominic Danetti-Molloy John Parisi-Marist Cody McPartland-Franklin Pi...
Long Islanders React to Jose Fernandez Tragedy
(Photo Credit: Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) by Vinny Messana, Editor Major League baseball has spent the past day mourning the shocking loss of Miami Marlins ace and two-time All Star Jose Fernandez. Fernandez, 24, was killed in a boating accident in Miami early on Sunday morning. As expected, the baseball world is shaken up over the loss of such an effervescent and talented individual. In Monday’s home game against the New York Mets, the team paid tribute to its late star with an emotional ceremony. Bigger than baseball.#JDF16 pic.twitter.com/VAnZXVBh1j — Miami Marlins (@Marlins) September 26, 2016 The Marlins took the field with every player wearing Fernandez’s No. 16. One of his best friends, Dee Gordon, led the game off in the most unbelievable way–his first home...
Nick Fanti Pitches GCL Phillies to Brink of Championship
by Vinny Messana, Editor You won’t get much emotion from him. Not even when he pitches his heart out and delivers his team to the Gulf Coast League championship in his first full pro ball season. It’s exciting,” he said mustering up some faux bravado. “It’s hard to believe last year I was pitching in high school games.” Nick Fanti, just one year removed from graduating from Hauppauge HS and winning the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award, fired 5.1 shutout innings of relief with six punch outs in a 3-2 victory over the GCL Cardinals. With the victory, Fanti–who is just 19-years-old still–improves to 8-0 on the season with a 1.42 ERA. He pitched opposite of Mike O’Reilly, who was selected by St. Louis this year out of Flagler College i...
Recap of Week 6 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana This week concluded the 41st year of the New York Baseball Academy. The annual camp was a tremendous success highlighted by special appearances from former professional players (Pat Lennon, Matt Giuliano, Dave & Matt Lemanczyk, Mike Gaffney, Brian Dorsey, Reid Gorecki, etc.) with Long Island roots. Just as importantly, however, was the experience for the young ballplayers who were able to improve their ballgame while having a great time in the process. This week the morning clinics were run by current LIU Post Head Coach Mike Gaffney, current Hofstra Head Coach John Russo and legendary NYIT Head Coach Bob Hirschfield. As always, a bevy of different awards were handed out. Below are the winners of the coveted “Super Hustler Award”–given to the players that...
Adelphi Reaping the Benefits of Kevin Salmon’s Presence
by Vinny Messana Over the past half a dozen seasons, the Adelphi Panthers have had five different pitching coaches. They appear to have found their answer with the current coach, Kevin Salmon. In his first year in charge of the staff, the Panthers ERA decreased from 4.60 to 3.71. That in itself is a reflection on him, but the real value may be in the intangibles he brings to the table. Salmon, a former professional pitcher that played his high school ball at Brentwood and collegiately for Briarcliffe and Coastal Carolina, has had a calming effect on the staff. All the pitcher’s spoke glowingly of their experiences with him and are excited to work with him once again. I had a chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… What are your fondest memories of growing ...
Recap of Week 5 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana, Editor Long Island baseball has never been better represented across Major League Baseball than it is right now. The bar has been raised high to become a great player and if you don’t want to fall behind you have to put the work in. Over the past five weeks, close to 1,000 players have walked onto Hofstra University’s baseball field and taken part of the famous New York Baseball Academy–which is now in its 41st year. It was another tremendous week of baseball, filled with 210 players–headlined by some of the brightest baseball players on the island, including Matt Pelcher of Calhoun and the younger brother of Marcus Stroman. This week featured morning clinics from Hofstra’s Head Coach John Russo, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Tyler K...
Andrew Misiaszek Primed to Become Next Great Long Island Southpaw
by Vinny Messana, Editor It was only a couple months ago that Anthony Kay set the Long Island baseball community ablaze by getting selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the MLB Draft. The ink has barely dried on the contract, and already there’s buzz regarding another great southpaw from Long Island. It’s time to get familiar with Andrew Misiaszek–Southside ’15 grad and current LHP for Northeastern University. The southpaw played a major role in the Huskies’ 31-win season. He fired 52.0 innings as a freshman, allowing only 45 hits while striking out 53 batters. He won five games and figures to be in the weekend rotation next season. Additionally, there’s a strong chance he will be playing in the prestigious Cape Cod league aga...
Recap of Week 4 of the New York Baseball Academy at Hofstra
by Vinny Messana It was yet another fun-filled week of baseball at the New York Baseball Academy. There were 210 kids eager to learn from a coaching staff that has decades and decades of experience and have taught some of the top players this region has ever seen. The players had the fortune of learning from a couple of special guests. Dave Lemanczyk (1979 A.L. All Star) imparted his wisdom on the young men in an insightful morning clinic and also gave batting instructions at the cages all day on Wednesday. Former Long Island Ducks pitcher and LI native Brian Dorsey was in charge of the pitching specials on Tuesday and also gave a fascinating speech during his clinic. In addition to learning a great deal, many of the players had awards bestowed upon them. More important than the skill-base...
