2023 Season Previews
Commack Continues to Establish Itself as Premier Program in Suffolk County
Bottom 4: A grand slam by Justin Crispino and Commack opens up a 7-3 lead pic.twitter.com/Rpr7jcYEui — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 25, 2022 Commack took the field in 2022 with heavy hearts following the tragic passing of their beloved coach Bryan Bonin. He was a winner on the field and a truly respected man in the community and a loving father, husband, son and brother. The Commack community rallied behind him and honored him in the best way they knew how – continue to win. The Cougars went 17-1 in the regular season, capturing the League Championship and they continued to win as they went 7-1 during the Suffolk County playoffs, capturing their third County Championship since 2017. They had their season end in the Long Island Championship against their new rival, Massape...
Massapequa Looks to Continue Unprecedented Level of Dominance
Among the most common questions I hear on ballfields is, “how is Massapequa always so good?” It’s a great question. Longtime head coach Tom Sheedy gave a brief window into how they operate when he said, “I learned from the old Ward Melville lacrosse coach who told me about the ‘cycle’. The cycle is when you have grade school kids that come down to your camps, they wind up being the leaders of your varsity team, then they go on to play in college, then they come back to help out at the camps and the cycle goes on. It’s a very positive thing,” he said. It may sound oversimplified, but one thing is certain – Massapequa is at the top of the hierarchy of Long Island baseball programs. They are the five-time reigning Class AA Nassau County Ch...
Chaminade Enters 2023 as 3-Time Defending Champs, Reigning NYS Champs
John Downing fires a complete game and Chaminade captures the first ever CHSAA NYS Championship pic.twitter.com/0zCtFUooL1 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 12, 2022 To say that 2022 was a dream season for Chaminade would be an understatement. Legendary Head Coach Mike Pienkos, who has won 650 games and led the Flyers to an incredible 20 NSCHSAA Championships during his tenure. Pienkos was named Axcess Baseball’s Coach of the Year this past season as he led the Flyers to a 25-2 record and they captured the first ever New York State Catholic League Championship after two hard-fought games at St. John’s University. Chaminade Head Coach Mike Pienkos was named the High School Coach of the Year Powered by the BP Group pic.twitter.com/rSuKWiRTRL — Axcess Baseball LI (@axces...
West Babylon Looks to Take the Next Step in 2023
by Nick Cipolla 2022 was a step in the right direction for the West Babylon Eagles baseball program as they made the playoffs for the first time in 6 years. They finished with a 9-9 league record where they had to face some tough teams that contend for the playoffs every year like West Islip, Smithtown West, and nearby North Babylon. The Eagles are led by head coach Victor Manzella, who took over in 2020 after a stint at Babylon High School. Manzella is certainly responsible for the quick turnaround that saw this team improve drastically since he was hired. “I was extremely proud of my team last year”, said Manzella, “As an ‘A’ school, we qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 6 years in a very competitive league mixed with AA schools. When I took over the program in 2020, I mad...
Following Historic Season, Rocky Point Looks to Continue Success
Rocky Point captures the 2022 Suffolk Class A Championship ! Dominick Carbone fired a complete game with 12 strikeouts to earn the W They advance to the Class A Long Island Championship against the winner of Calhoun-Clarke pic.twitter.com/b10JAjErzR — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 30, 2022 From the time the 2021 season ended against Harborfields. Rocky Point knew that they had the chance to have a special season in 2022. “After the first round exit, we knew we would be returning the same team – minus James Maggio, who is doing great for St. Joseph’s. We knew we had the team that could be the last team standing.” It’s not often a team has the star power that the Rocky Point Eagles had. They didn’t just have “D-I commits”, they had ...
Mepham Looks to Return to Postseason
by Andy Smith Mepham 6 Clarke 5 WP: Leo Asta (CG) Bryce Bowers: 2-3 BB, Go ahead 3 run HR in top 7 Leo Asta: 3-4, 2 runs Trey O’Neill: 2-4, 1 run pic.twitter.com/y9yNymW7a2 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2022 Mepham had another successful regular season, and carried their momentum into the playoffs. The Pirates had a playoff run that was ultimately cut short by Clarke. They finished the regular season with a 10-8 record. Fifth year head coach Eric Passman reflected on the lessons that were learned. “They hit the ball in places that got to us. We just could not make the plays we had to make.” A major part of the team’s success over the past few years have been Tyler O’Neill and Billy Kender. Both O’Neill and Kender are now sophomores at Bucknell University. O’Neill was a dom...
Valley Stream North Looking to Bounce Back After Tough 2022
by Andy Smith 2022 did not go as planned for Valley Stream North. The Spartans had a difficult season, winning only five games in a challenging league and wound up missing the playoffs for only the second time in the past 15 years. Entering his 13th season as the head coach, Phil Sanfilippo reflected on the challenges that were faced and what lessons were learned. “We had victories over most teams in the league, including league champion South Side. However, most weeks we couldn’t get over the hump for the second win to take the series. We lost a junior starting pitcher for the season prior to league play, and we were young at some key spots, with two sophomores in the starting rotation and two more at SS and 3B. The starting pitching was inconsistent, as was the lineup’s ability to pu...
Sayville Looks to Follow Up On Fantastic 2022 Season
Sayville RHP Ryan Karman fired a no-hitter with 8 Ks over Harborfields in a 9-0 win pic.twitter.com/8LQUcYRZQY — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 18, 2022 It was a tremendous season for the Sayville Golden Flashes who captured the League VI Championship and made a deep playoff run before losing to Mount Sinai in the Conference IV Championship. Head Coach Joe Esposito had the following to say: “We had a fantastic season going 19-1 and taking the league title. In playoffs, we ran into a tough pitching staff against Mount Sinai and lost two close games. Ball needs to bounce your way in playoffs and it didn’t for us last year. Hoping to capitalize on last season with many returning players. Two guys at the top of our staff have some experience now with Karman really stepp...
Bayport-Blue Point Looks Towards 2023 With Hopes of a Deep Playoff Run
by Nick Cipolla Final: Bayport-Blue Point 9, Center Moriches 1 WP: Ryan Costa pic.twitter.com/PPIIEIDcnV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 19, 2022 2022 was just another normal year of Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms baseball. A second place finish in their league with a 14-6 overall record while making it to the playoffs is per the status quo for the Phantoms as they have made it to the Suffolk County playoffs for 24 consecutive seasons. The one blemish on this season was that they would see their season end against the team from the next town over, Sayville. The Phantoms are led by head coach Jim Moccio. The Phantoms will have some big shoes to fill in 2023 as they unfortunately lost a trio of studs to graduation following the 2022 season. All-County infielder Trey McGowan (‘22) w...
Ward Melville Ready to Continue Winning Tradition
by Andy Smith The captain delivers! Tom Ribaudo crushes a 3-R HR to give Ward Melville a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth pic.twitter.com/llOyO2d6th — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2022 Ward Melville is coming off another successful season. The Patriots finished with a record of 16-9 and qualified for the playoffs once again. The Patriots season came to an end after losing to Longwood in the Long Island Class AA Semifinals. Head Coach Lou Petrucci reflected on what lessons were learned during the season. “We learned how to battle through adversity and the importance of concentrating on every pitch.” Petrucci is entering his 17th season as the head coach of the Patriots. Petrucci, a native of Connecticut, played college baseball before taking on the responsibilities of ...
Garden City Eyes Playoff Run in 2023
by Andy Smith After finishing in second place in Conference A-1 with a 14-4 record, Garden City’s season was abruptly cut short. The Trojans had a surprising and unfortunate “2 and out” postseason run following losses to Seaford and Island Trees. Entering his 7th season as head coach and 25th season with Garden City, David Izzo discussed what the highlight of the season was. “The highlight of the season was a 3 game sweep of previously unbeaten MacArthur in the final series of the year.” Izzo played college baseball at the College of Saint Rose and his assistant coach Ray Chaputian played Division-I baseball at Towson. The Trojans will be without many graduates who have played major roles during their playing time. Leading this group is Pat Heber. Now pitching at Bentley, Heber struck o...
Wantagh Looking to Bounce Back After Down Season
by Andy Smith Wantagh had a down year by their standards The consistently successful program missed the playoffs for the first time since 1994. Head Coach Keith Sachs, who has been the head coach of the baseball team for over 28 years reflected on the 2022 campaign. “It was the perfect storm. A very tough league, a lot of tough losses. We learned a lot.” Sachs, a former collegiate athlete at Hofstra elaborated, “We do not have to be a championship caliber team to have a good experience. The kids still grew and enjoyed themselves. They still cried during the last game.” Wantagh finished the season on a high note defeating Clarke during the final game of the year. Wantagh will be without Andrew Bonanno, who played a major role throughout his time on the team. The recent graduate starte...
