2024 Season Previews
Coming off 17-Win Season, Sayville Tasked With Replacing Impact of Strong ’23 Class
by Aaron Diaz Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Sayville 5, Mount Sinai 4 (9 innings) WP: Cavan Mahler, 4.1 ip 0er Ryan leniec hit the walkoff and had 2 RBIs Ryan Hillery: 2-3 Kyle Messina: 2-4 Sayville advances to face Miller Place on Monday pic.twitter.com/u9hhYURWue — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 19, 2023 Sayville finished the season with a 17-9 record in 2023. That propelled them into the final four of the Suffolk County Class A playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. They will be hoping to continue that level of success in 2024 as Sayville and head coach Joe Esposito prepare a young Golden Flashes team for the same dominance. Sayville finished the 2023 season at the top of their league. Still, the los...
Bay Shore Aims To Make Playoffs In 2024
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’ season preview series. Jordan Drago gets out of the second inning with his third strikeout of the game pic.twitter.com/cxhi7AkLmV — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 21, 2023 The 2023 season didn’t end as expected for Bay Shore as the team finished the season with a 6-14 record. This season, the team is running with a smaller group after graduating 14 seniors last year. Head coach Chris Schiro is looking to get the team back in the playoffs in his third season managing Bay Shore. “Last year we saw some growth from our younger players. We had some unfortunate injuries losing three pitchers early on and two key defensive/offensive pieces for several games later in the season,” Schiro tol...
Port Jefferson Enters 2024 as Two-Time Reigning Class C Long Island Champions
Port Jefferson defeats Pierson 6-3 They are the Suffolk Class C Champs for the second straight year pic.twitter.com/zBwps6t782 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 19, 2023 by Aaron Diaz Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. The 2023 season was another successful one for Port Jefferson with a record of 14-10 record. Their success has placed them at the top of their respective leagues after winning back-to-back Class C Long Island and Suffolk County Championships. In 2024, Port Jefferson will try to put together yet another successful year with a team full of talent and a veteran core behind head coach Jesse Rosen. Coming into the new season, Port Jefferson will be a part of the new Class B league which puts them with...
Coming Off Another Conference Championship, Clarke May Lean on Younger Core
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Clarke 12, Wantagh 6 Clarke captures the Nassau A-IV Crown JJ Palumbo: 3-for-4, 4 RBIs Tom Roche and Dylan Vikara each had 2 hits and 2 RBI AJ Bardi hit a grand slam for Wantagh pic.twitter.com/TyhR3cNUn6 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 11, 2023 In his 25 years as head coach of the Clarke Rams, head coach Tom Abruscato has been league champion 23 times and compiled an .800 winning percentage. And 2023 was no different. But as sweet as last season was, the goal is always to win the county – as they last did in 2019. “We won the conference.” Abruscato said. “We won the conference for the 23rd time in 25 years. So that was good. We’re in a very competitive l...
Harborfields Looking to Improve on Last Season
by Aaron Diaz Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Here at Harborfields HS for “Corey’s Promise” fundraiser game between Harborfields and Cold Spring Harbor which will fulfill Corey Phelan’s wish of supporting families struggling with pediatric cancer. Phelan, who tragically passed away from cancer last year, is a 2020 graduate… pic.twitter.com/DF7rQtGunl — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 22, 2023 Harborfields had a tough 2023 season. With just two wins on the year, head coach Ian Schneider is poised to bring the best out of his young team and try to compete in 2024. “It was a down year for us,” Schneider said. “We only had two wins on the season total. It was a young, new group that gave guys more opportunitie...
Despite Graduating 12 Seniors, Carey Primed for Playoff Season
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Ryan Degnan struck out 14, allowing just one hit and one walk and Carey won on a walk-off infield single in the bottom of the 7th pic.twitter.com/bgpt0MdTQG — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 25, 2022 The Carey Seahawks enter 2024 following a season in which they finished the year in third place in their conference, with an 11-11 overall record. Head coach Doug Robins, who is entering his fifth year as head coach of the Seahawks, praised his team’s performance despite being in a very strong league. “We’re in a very competitive league with Division, Garden City and Calhoun,” said Robins. “Looking forward, we only lost two starters to graduation....
Coming off Final 4 Appearance , Lindenhurst Looking to Revamp on the Fly
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Lindenhurst scores 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th and they defeat Commack 7-6 on a walk-off sac fly by Steve Hernandez pic.twitter.com/gloo0C8L9s — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 9, 2023 The Lindenhurst Bulldogs were a team dominated by seniors in 2023. Led by head coach Rob Moore, who is entering his 10th year in the role, looked back fondly on his team last year, and the senior class that drove the squad’s success to 18 wins. “Last year was an exciting year.” Moore said. “I knew it would be because of the seniors I had. They were with me since ninth grade. We made a pretty good run all the way to the final four. Which was exciting.” The Bulldogs were v...
Smithtown East Plans To Go Back To Their Winning Ways In 2024
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Smithtown East took a step back in 2023, missing the playoffs with a record of 5-14. In 2022, however, Smithtown East was the Suffolk Conference II champions and reached the Suffolk County Class AA Finals. In his third season as head coach, Robert Christensen looks to flip the script this season. “Every season is a fresh start where we have to bring the lessons learned from the previous season to a new group of guys,” Christensen told Axcess Baseball. “Anytime a season ends, you reflect on how the season was, what worked well and [what] didn’t work, what do we need to get better, who graduated, and who can step in to help us the following season.” From the past two ye...
Syosset Primed to Take Leap in 2024
by Aaron Diaz Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. The 2023 season had promise for Syosset Braves as they had a 7-6 record before losing two of their last three. In the Nassau AA playoffs, their season was stopped short by Farmingdale for the second year in a row. Coach Tom Morritt wants to improve in their upcoming 2024 campaign heading into his sixth season. “We didn’t start great,” Morritt explained. “We started 1-6 but then rattled off six in a row to get to 7-6 in league play. We ended up being eliminated in the playoffs by Farmingdale. It was a good season. We had many kids returning and many young kids who became big contributors. But it was good to have our hat in the mix at the end of the season.” For the Br...
Kings Park Returning 8 College Commits to 15-Win Team
by Aaron Diaz Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Final: Kings Park 1, East Islip 0 WP: Hunter Colagrande (CG shutout, 2 hits , 2 Ks) Kings Park improves to 10-3. Game time: 1 hour, 20 mins pic.twitter.com/2thPSGXwVR — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2023 Kings Park took the next step in 2023 after narrowly missing the playoffs in 2022—a 15-win season and three playoff games later the team finds themselves in a prime position with fifth-year head coach Andrew Abreu as they look to take the next step in their quest for a championship in 2024. “Two years ago we were a game short, losing the last two games and missing the playoffs,” Abreu said. “Heading into last year the guys had a chip on their shoulders an...
Eastport-South Manor Returns 16 Players, Headlined by 2-Time All-County Catcher
By Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Eastport-South Manor 4, Westhampton Beach 3 WP: Cole Johnson (CG, 6 H, 6 Ks, 1 BB) Tristan Gatchalian game-tying HR Ayden Deslauriers scored go-ahead run on wild pitch ESM improves to 8-6 overall (6-6 league play) pic.twitter.com/zZ1RkuqL9e — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 28, 2023 After finishing last season with a record of 11-11, Eastport-South Manor is focused on improvement in 2024. Their season came to an end after losing to Sayville and Mount Sinai in the playoffs. Head coach Jim McGowan will look for more in his 10th season as the Eastport-South Manor head coach. McGowan is excited for the return of 16 players from last year’s playoff team. Senior D...
Plainedge Looking to Build on Season Which Featured Road Playoff Win
by Mike Merolle Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Final: Plainedge 11, Clarke 1 WP: Dom Pannitti (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 Ks) Zach Rosenzweig: 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 1 Run Plainedge eliminates Clarke and will face Mepham tomorrow pic.twitter.com/b5ol2TJbt5 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 18, 2023 Plainedge had reason to be proud of 2023 in which they went on the road against a tough Clarke team and won a playoff game. Their season was cut short, however, by Mepham in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Head coach Colin Fratrik looks for another successful season in his 11th season managing Plainedge. This year’s squad is missing a few key players that graduated in 2023. Marcelo Licata played third base for Fratrik pro...
