2022 Season Previews
South Side Ready to Protect their Title in 2022
by Mike Anderson Grand slam by TJ Maher breaks the game open – South Side leads 10-1 in the third pic.twitter.com/Gix5YrXLP3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 17, 2021 After reaching the Long Island Championship last year, South Side High School varsity baseball enters the 2022 season as contenders to defend their league title. They finished 2021 14-8, and had a wild ride all the way to the end, before falling 3-1 to Newfield in the Conference III LIC. This year, they’ll look to do more of the same, and have a lot of guys coming back to help them do so. South Side will be without some of their impact players from a year ago, such as catcher Jack Temple, center fielder Paul Mata, and shortstop Kyle Aromiskis. Temple is now playing Div-III football at USMMA, and Mata is runni...
Smithtown West Looking to Build off Success of Second Half of ’21
By Michael Malaszczyk Smithtown West RHP Tyler Lawrence struck out three in a complete game win over West Babylon. He also went 3-for-4 with four RBI pic.twitter.com/MK68Nbp12R — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 6, 2021 The 2022 varsity baseball season is almost here, and Coach Al Nucci is starting the season confident that his team learned the right lessons in 2021. Smithtown West had a good season in 2021; they finished with an 11-8 overall record and made it into the playoffs before losing to Eastport-South Manor. According to Coach Nucci in an interview with Axcess Baseball, it was a remarkable comeback season. “We had a difficult start to the season, losing six of our first nine games and digging ourselves into a pretty big hole,” said Nucci. “Our offense was struggling, our ...
Coming off Another Playoff Season, Mattituck Eager to Build off Success
By Thomas Cregan Mattituck 2 John Glenn 1 (8 innings) WP-Garrett Grathwohl 2 innings 3 K’s Burke Evers 2-3 rbi Brady Mahon 1-3 2 runs scored Michael Mowdy walks it off in the 8th with bases loaded single pic.twitter.com/zSiZChi9Yq — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 15, 2021 Mattituck coach Dan O’Sullivan will be looking to his core leadership group to propel the team to success in 2022. Last season in 2021 was O’Sullivan’s first full year as varsity coach after a covid shortened 2020 season, though he was no stranger to the team having spent time with the junior varsity program in prior years. In 2021 Mattituck posted an 11-7 record making the playoffs. They defeated John Glenn High School in the first round on a walk-off and eventually lost in the semi finals to Mount Sinai. T...
Center Moriches Reloaded For Next Window of Success
Final: Center Moriches 3, John Glenn 0 WP: Jordan Falco (CG, 2 H, 3 BB, 11 K) Playoff picture still to be determined depending on result of Babylon game pic.twitter.com/12hqVIP4cC — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 11, 2021 When a small-school team has a talented class of players, it’s always important to make the most of it and try to get a league title or, hopefully, a county championship. In the case of Center Moriches, they certainly maximized their window of success, and squeezed a little extra out of it too. The 2018-’19 Red Devils won back-to-back NYS Class B Championships including an undefeated 26-0 record in ’19. From that group, here are where the players wound up: Alec Maag: Adelphi Jordan Falco: Adelphi Matt Alifano: Adelphi (reigning Axcess Player o...
Huntington Coming Off First County Championship Since 1960
By Daniel Lopes In 2021, Huntington made history, making the playoffs for the first time since 2005 and winning the Conference II Suffolk County Championship for the first time in over 60 years. This success was rewarded heavily, as eight players earned All-League honors and head coach Bill Harris won the Conference II Coach of the Year. “Being an alumni of Huntington High School, I couldn’t be more proud of these young men and my assistant coach Rob Cappas for the great achievements we made last season,” said Harris. “We put Huntington baseball back on the map.” They will be without much of the core that helped them get to the championship last year, as nine seniors from last year’s team have since graduated. One of the biggest losses is Kyle Colleluori, who was a workhorse for the ...
Despite Graduating Starting Rotation from 2021, Farmingdale Well Stocked for 2022
By: Daniel Lopes After an 11-5 season that ended in the playoffs against Oceanside, Farmingdale and head coach Frank Tassielli hope to remain near the top of a highly competitive conference in 2022. “You look at a few of our conferences and divisions in Nassau County and there’s not many [teams] where you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a cakewalk for that team,” Tassielli said. “Parity is alive and guys are working hard.” However, if Farmingdale is going to succeed, it’s going to be without most of their pitching rotation from last year, as multiple players graduated. One such player is Drew Alameda (St. Thomas Aquinas). Alameda was a quality player on both sides of the ball, hitting .410 with four home runs and 21 RBIs while pitching to the tune of a 0.81 ERA in 17 ⅓ innings pitched. Another pitche...
Centereach Hopeful to Take Step Next and Reach Postseason
By Thomas Cregan Centereach head coach Pete Cammarata is looking to take the next step and reach the postseason in 2022. In his first two years with the program coach Cammarata and his Centereach team barely missed the playoffs by just one game in both years. However, in 2021 the team took a step back and won four games, but Cammarata is not discouraged and is looking to build off the experience his players have gained and continue to make strides toward success in 2022. He described the 2021 season as a “hiccup” and he further stated, “Having a four-win season hurts and it’s really not something that you want to see, but this team has always been gritty and competitive, and we will be looking to our core group of seniors to perform better in 2022.” Centereach saw two key players depart f...
After Graduating 17 Seniors, Northport Will Rely Heavily on Younger Players
By Michael Malaszczyk Northport 4, Smithtown East 0 WP: Liam Fodor (1-hit shutout, 11 Ks, 1 BB, 92 pitches) pic.twitter.com/hczy782jXN — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2021 Coach Sean Lynch of Northport is looking ahead to 2022 with a team of mostly young players. Northport played a great season in 2021. They finished with a 13-5 overall record, and made it to the playoffs. In the playoffs, they were able to defeat Smithtown East before ultimately losing to the county champs in Huntington. That is in Northport’s rear view mirror now, however; most of last year’s team graduated. “We graduated 17 seniors last year,” said Coach Lynch. “Including our entire pitching staff led by All-County Liam Fodor and All-Leaguer’s Liam Darrigo and Jason Schwartz.” In addition to those th...
Seaford Loaded With Depth, Primed for Another Playoff Run
by Mike Anderson Sophomore Sean Costello comes through with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th for Seaford to beat Clarke 5-4 pic.twitter.com/hEzPO6q0nh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2021 After falling just short in the county finals tournament, Seaford High School will look to have another good year in 2022. Last year, they put together a very strong showing, going 14-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play. They were ultimately eliminated by Island Trees, who went on to win the title. Despite a disappointing end, Seaford has a lot to look forward to in 2022. Despite losing a pair of all-county players to graduation (pitcher Tom Hartmann and shortstop/pitcher Anthony Ippoliti), Seaford has a large core of returning players, as 15 are expected to be back in 2022. Sev...
Miller Place Returns Experienced Team Ready to Contend for League Title
by Mike Anderson A .500 finish may not have been what Miller Place varsity baseball was looking for, but given everything they were going through last year, it was perfectly respectable. The team fought an unprecedented schedule and lacked varsity experience, as they only had three seniors on the team. Not only that, but Miller Place played in one of the most competitive leagues in Suffolk County last year. Conference IV had four 11-win teams and seven of the teams finished at least .500 or better. That number was the highest of any league in Section XI. Mix the lack of experience, the strange schedule, and the tough league together, and it spells a perfect recipe for disaster. However, Miller Place did a great job avoiding disaster and finished at an even 9-9 and made the playoffs, showin...
Babylon Enters 2022 With Valuable Experience
by Mike Anderson League V brought some of the best baseball teams in Suffolk County to light last year, as four teams won at least 11 games, and three of them won at least 15. That top-heaviness hid some of the scrappy, middle-of-the-pack teams, such as Babylon High School. Their varsity team, led by head coach Mike Birnbaum, showed that they were no pushover school in 2021 and will look to take the next step this upcoming season. They finished the year in fifth place, finishing under .500 at 8-10. However, they had several bright spots throughout the season. They notably beat second place Shoreham-Wading River in an exciting 11-inning game, handing them one of only three losses from the regular season. They also snapped Center Moriches’ 32-game winning streak dating back to 2018, and late...
Shoreham-Wading River Looking to Continue Remarkable Postseason Streak
by Mike Anderson Go-ahead 3-R HR by Joey Marchese puts Shoreham-Wading River up 5-3 in the top of the fourth pic.twitter.com/kyV05kSkBA — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 12, 2021 For Shoreham-Wading River varsity baseball, it’s 35 years and counting. That’s 35 consecutive playoff berths. In 2021, they went 15-3, and head coach Kevin Willi credited everyone and everything from top to bottom for the program’s long-sustained success. “It started with Sal Mignano who is basically the founder of SWR baseball. He created a tradition of hard work and dedication that has translated into my tenure as coach. It’s really amazing because the kids are driven and motivated. They work hard, they do extra lessons, they’re always above and beyond,” Willi said. However, it wasn’t just the culture o...
