2022 Season Previews
West Babylon Hungry to Take Next Step and Reach Postseason
West Babylon ties it up 3-3 and they are fired up!! pic.twitter.com/PSQ0Veu61d — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 9, 2021 by Thomas Cregan West Babylon coach Vic Manzella is looking to his group of returning players to help propel them to the playoffs in 2022. Last year in the 2021 season, which was coach Manzella’s first year with West Babylon, the team went 7-11 missing the playoffs by two wins. However, this did not discourage coach Manzella as he called it a “transition year” as it was his first year with the team. In his first year he brought up several freshman and sophomore players and hopes the experience they gained will benefit them for this upcoming season in 2022. West Babylon had two prominent graduates from the 2021 team. Center Fielder Cole Maucere will be their...
Sayville Looking to Regain Magic of 2019
By Michael Malaszczyk Brock Murtha’s no-hitter sends Sayville to the N.Y. state championship for the first time in program history! pic.twitter.com/HOYA7iindr — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 9, 2019 Coach Joseph Esposito of Sayville is ready to take on 2022. Sayville had a solid season in 2021. Coming off of the 2020 season which never began, Sayville ended their 2021 season in third place in their conference, losing 2-1 to East Islip in the semifinals. There is absolutely no shame in losing a close playoff game to East Islip; who ended up sweeping the Long Island Championship. Sayville’s defense still managed to hold a high-octane offense to two runs. Going back even further than 2021, Sayville won the Long Island Championship in 2019, also under Coach Esposito. But despite Sa...
Rocky Point Looks Poised to Make a Run at County Title
by Mike Anderson Final: Rocky Point 4, Hills West 2 WP: Dominick Carbone S: Cody Miller Carbone: 3-for-4, 2 RBI Rocky Point improves to 12-1 pic.twitter.com/dwyolLkHjx — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2021 It’s hard to improve on a 16-2 record, but that’s what Rocky Point Varsity Baseball will look to do this year. And when you have a team as talented and as deep as Rocky Point, that is very possible. Though they were upset in the playoffs and eliminated by Harborfields, the Eagles had themselves a great year. Rocky Point was the top seed in League IV last year, and their 16 wins tied them for the most in Section XI along with Mt. Sinai, who was the top seed in League V. What made their season all the more impressive was the competition that they faced: six of their nine opp...
Holy Trinity’s Young Core Hopes to Lead Bounceback Season
by Mike Anderson Sometimes, you’ve got to go through some growing pains. That’s exactly what Holy Trinity High School Varsity Baseball head coach Dan Luisi and his club did last year. The team struggled overall in a tough CHSAA conference, which featured dominant teams like Kellenberg and Chaminade. Despite a last place finish, Holy Trinity gained something invaluable towards their future: experience. Luisi said in an interview with Axcess Baseball that Holy Trinity went into the 2021 season with a very young varsity team by design, as they were starting seven sophomores and one freshman in their lineup by season’s end. These players have now experienced the competitive nature of their opponents, as well as the level of varsity baseball in general, something that statistics cannot weigh. B...
North Babylon Returning 5 Starters From Playoff Season
By Michael Malaszczyk While every baseball team on Long Island was affected by the coronavirus pandemic with the full shutdown in 2020 and case surges in 2021, North Babylon was hit particularly hard. A number of North Babylon’s starting players began the season while in quarantine, and one of North Babylon’s coaches was put in a ten day quarantine in the middle of the season. Nevertheless, North Babylon bounced back to have a strong season that saw them finish 9-9 overall and clinch a playoff spot, defying these early hiccups. “After a 0-3 start, the team battled to clinch a playoff berth on the final day of the season with a 1-0 win over Walt Whitman,” said Corrado. “Eventually we lost to Bay Shore in the first round of the playoffs.” Corrado is proud of his team for overcoming the odds ...
Coming Off County Finals Appearance, Sachem East Hungry to Take Next Step
By Michael Malaszczyk Coach Kevin Schnupp is ready for the 2022 season, and while proud of his team’s 2021 season, isn’t going to settle for second best. Sachem East had a great year in 2021, coming off of a season cut short in 2020. They finished with a 16-4 overall record and came just short of glory against Commack in the Suffolk County Championship. “Obviously we were disappointed that we didn’t finish what one of our preseason goals was,” said Schnupp. “But all in all it was a great season and the boys performed really well in a tough league. We faced several top pitching prospects throughout the year. To look back on 2021 positively, Schnupp feels that what led his team to success last year was its blend of upperclassmen and rookies. Evan Fisher with his second HR of the game ...
Under First Year Coach Joe Fusco, St. Dominic is Poised to Put Plenty of Runs on the Board
By Michael Malaszczyk Coach Joe Fusco of St. Dominic’s High School is ready to take the team to new heights this year. St. Dominic’s bounced back in 2021, the first season since baseball was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, to have a strong season in the highly competitive Catholic League. St. Dominic’s finished fourth overall in the league, losing to Kellenberg in the semifinals. While this is Coach Fusco’s first year with St. Dominic’s, Fusco is no stranger to baseball and brings a ton of experience; Fusco previously worked as an assistant coach at Clarke High School under the tutelage of Tom Abruscato. “We made 2 county championship appearances and won a county championship,” Fusco said of his time at Clarke. Fusco also works as a coach for Team Francisco Hitting Academy. “We are...
North Shore Graduated League MVP But Return Several Starters from Playoff Team
by Daniel Lopes Final: North Shore 4, Plainedge 3 WP: Nick Livoti (3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K) Rosen and Maldonado RBI each North Shore improves to 9-5, Plainedge is 12-2 pic.twitter.com/K2MtovNPdr — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 5, 2021 Despite only having one player on the roster who had significant varsity experience in 2021, North Shore and head coach Scott Lineman continued to battle, posting an 11-8 season and losing to Plainedge in the playoffs. While the season may not have ended in a title, it was still essential for their growth. “One good thing [that] came out about it is that we did have a couple of underclassmen play a significant amount of time last year to gain experience going into this year.” Lineman said. While most of their core still remains, they will be without ...
Port Washington Hoping for Bounce Back Season
By Thomas Cregan Port Washington 10, Syosset 5 WP: Michael Andrew. 4IP 2ER 6K Will Chu 3IP, 0ER, 2H, 4K Jake Spiryda 3 for 3, 2B, 2RBI Dylan Trenaman 2 for 5, 2RBI pic.twitter.com/p6DiuJUOf3 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2021 Port Washington assistant coach Phil Spotteck hopes to build off the 2021 season and compete for a playoff spot in 2022. Port Washington lost out on their playoff chances in 2021 in a tiebreaker with Oceanside, however, coach Spotteck saw bright spots throughout the year as his team showed the ability to compete throughout a 5-11 regular season campaign. He believes the experience gained by the returning players will help to further the program along in 2022. He cited last year’s lack of offseason work due to covid restrictions and now retu...
Bellport Returning Huge Group After Missing Postseason by 1 Game
by Thomas Cregan Sophomore Jake Russo’s walk-off double to deliver a 4-3 win for Bellport over Hauppauge pic.twitter.com/rJY31AFnPN — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2021 In his second year as head coach, Joe Murphy of Bellport has faith in his group of mostly returning players to build off the experience gained from the previous year. In his first year of being head coach of Bellport following the passing of legendary longtime coach Bill Batewell the team only missed the playoffs by 1 game. Though many could see this as disappointing, Murphy says the experience the young players on his team gained will benefit them going forward. Many of those young players will be returning this year in 2022 and he hopes to see his players continue to grow through that experience. ...
Eastport-South Manor Returning 15 Players from 2021 Playoff Team
by Daniel Lopes After losing the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, players and coaches on Long Island took on the 2021 season with even more importance. This was no different for Eastport-South Manor and head coach Jim McGowan, who went 10-8 and lost to Newfield in the playoffs. “Having a school season after losing 2020 made the season itself special and we had a special group of kids that gave us everything they had,” said McGowan. “We lost six games by one run or in the last inning, so we had to deal with adversity and injuries, but the group responded every time, which is a credit to them.” Despite returning 15 players from last years team, Eastport-South Manor still lost contributors on each side of the ball to graduation. On the mound, Connor Marcello had a phenomenal year, posti...
Rob Christensen Takes Over For Smithtown East in 2022
By Michael Malaszczyk 2022 could very well be the year that Long Island baseball finally breaks free of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Coach Rob Christensen, the new head coach of Smithtown East’s baseball, seems to agree. “Last season was everyone’s first season at the varsity level due to Covid,” said Christensen. “This experience should definitely benefit us for the season.” Smithtown East has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of how last season went considering the circumstances; they made it to the playoffs before ultimately losing to Northport. Christensen himself has many years of experience in the game of baseball; he was an assistant coach at Smithtown East for eight years and learned the ropes of coaching from former coach Ken Klee. “I learned an incredible amount...
