2025 Season Previews
James Demsky Excited to Lead Mepham in His First Year at the Helm
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series. by Joe Bello James Demsky is heading into his first year as head coach at Wellington C. Mepham High School. He has been a part of the coaching staff for 7 seasons as an assistant coach to Eric Passman, but this year Demsky will be running the show. “The 2024 season was a strong season for the Pirates.” Demsky said. “We had a large senior class who all had strong performances. Great group of players who had a ton of fun playing together, and were a pleasure to coach.” Mepham finished with a record of 11-8 in the 2024 season. They made the playoffs and were knocked off in the first round by a strong Carey team. The Pirates will be without Kieran Kehoe in the 2025 season, as he graduated last year. The 6...
Southampton Mariners Set Sights on Strong Season
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Adrianna Armani With a new season on the horizon, the Southampton High School baseball team is locking in, ready to turn months of hard work into results on the field. After an intense offseason focused on strength training, skill development, and team chemistry, the Mariners are stepping into the upcoming campaign with confidence and a hunger to compete at the highest level. Coach Zach Epley has been at the heart of the team’s preparation, ensuring that every player is ready for the challenges ahead. In a candid interview, Epley shared his thoughts on the team’s mindset heading into the season, the breakout players to watch, and why this year’s squad has the potential to be one of the strongest So...
Led by 12 Seniors, Smithtown East Ready to Make Another Postseason Run
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Joe Bello Final: Smithtown East 5, Hills East 0 WP: James Lanflisi (6.2 innings relief, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks) Ciminiello: 1-3, 3B, 3 RBIs Smithtown East clinches postseason berth pic.twitter.com/3g30UNRryz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 7, 2024 Rob Christensen is entering his 4th season as varsity head coach for Smithtown East. After a strong 2024 season, Christensen and his team are looking forward to the upcoming season. “2024 was a great season,” Christensen said. “We felt like we finally hit our stride in the final two weeks of the season, leading into playoffs. The team played extremely well down the stretch, taking the momentum into the playoffs. The losses were heartbreakers, but ...
LIU Sharks Looks to Defend Their NEC Title
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Tucker Terranova NEC Preseason favorites 
#SharkBall pic.twitter.com/u8emUVBIKU — LIU Baseball (@LIU_Baseball) February 4, 2025 The LIU Sharks enter the 2025 season with high expectations, looking to build on their 2024 success, which included a statement 4-2 win over Miami and a dramatic NEC Tournament run. After falling to Sacred Heart 8-6 in the quarterfinals, LIU faced an uphill battle, needing to win out to secure its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2022. In the semifinals against No. 3 seed Merrimack, the Sharks trailed 6-2 in the seventh before erupting for nine runs over the next two innings, rallying for an 11-9 victory and setting up a championship rematch with Sacred Heart. With S...
Coming Off .500 Season, Hills East Poised to Make Postseason
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman In his 18th season in charge of the Hills East Thunderbirds, head coach Tim Belz’s team got off to a scorching start to the year. However, they were unable to continue their 7-2 success, as they ended up finishing 9-9. However, with many of his players returning this season, Belz believes that his team will only continue to improve. “We started off the season 7-2 and finished 2-7.” Belz said. “Things didn’t go right for us towards the end of the season. We lost the last four. But we were a very young team last year.” While most of the team from 2024 is returning, there were four graduating seniors on the team last year. Of those four, three are currently playing college baseball. Three t...
Rocky Point Looks to Return to Playoffs After Down Year in 2024
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas Coming into 2024, the Rocky Point Eagles had made the playoffs for a decade straight. Unfortunately for them, that streak came to an end as the Eagles went 9-11 in head coach Anthony Anzalone’s sixth at the helm. Despite losing some key pieces, Anzalone believes that his team is prepared to make sure that Rocky Point does not start a playoff drought. “We have experienced seniors who went through a rough time last year and don’t want to feel that way again,” Anzalone said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “They’ve also been on some pretty good teams so they’ve seen all ends of the spectrum. They’ve come in this offseason with a great mindset and a great work ethic and are ready to...
Syosset Returns Strong Core From Last Year’s Playoff Team
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman A sacrifice fly for Eliane extends Syosset lead, 7-5 over Oceanside. Game now heads into the bottom of the sixth. pic.twitter.com/qRPyckycPH — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2024 In his sixth season as head coach of the Syosset Braves, Tom Morritt was happy with the season his young team put together in 2024, and looks to build upon it in 2025. Although the season didn’t end in a championship, Syosset was able to reach the third round before ultimately losing to Port Washington. “We had a young team with only a few graduating seniors last year.” Morritt said. “We only had a few seniors on the team. The season started out with some atypical performances, but we found a rhy...
Plainview-JFK Looks to Continue Sustained Success in 2025
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas Final: Plainview JFK 4, Oceanside 1 WP: Mike D’Ambrosio (5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 6 Ks) S: Anthony Powers D’Ambrosio also had an RBI double Alex Reifer had 2 hits and 2 RBIs pic.twitter.com/Rspj1QsotX — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 1, 2024 Under head coach John Givargidze, the Plainview Old Bethpage JFK Hawks have established themselves as a power house in Nassau County. The Hawks have gone 70-26 since 2021, claiming three conference titles and made it as far as the semis every year since 2022 — including a pair of finals appearances. Nonetheless, Givargidze’s crew has not gotten over the hump and hoisted the trophy in recent years. Last year, the Hawks were knocked out in the ...
Roslyn Looks to Rebound After Missing Playoffs in 2024
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by George Caratzas Roslyn answers back with a sacrifice fly from Lucas Weisser. 2-1 Carey after one. pic.twitter.com/e5Dz0RnLtI — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024 Following an 8-8-1 season in 2023, the Roslyn Bulldogs took a step backwards in 2024 as they finished with a 6-12 record en route to missing the playoffs. To add insult to injury, head coach Dan Freeman lost three major contributors to graduation and will have to rebuild the roster in 2025. “We happen to play, in my mind, in the toughest conference in Nassau County,” Freeman said in an interview with Axess Baseball. “We had made the playoffs in the previous three years and had a really good team. We competed in every game but...
Coming Off First League Title in 14 Years, Centereach Confident They Can Surprise The League
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman For the first time since 2010, Centereach has captured the League 3 Title. They clinched a share, pending the results of Smithtown East-Hills East game pic.twitter.com/hEjY5eNbBz — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2024 Eight years into his tenure as the head coach of the Centereach Cougars, head coach Pete Cammarata is prepared to lead his team into a year in which he believes his squad will shock people. This comes after a year in which Cammarata took a number of positives from. “Last year was one of the better years we’ve had in the last few seasons.” Cammarata said. “We were co-league champions with Smithtown East, and it was nice to finish on top. In the playoffs, I had to...
South Side Leans on Young, Talented Core
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Max Edelman In a season that started red hot, the South Side Cyclones were unable to complete their goal of winning a championship. However, head coach Tom Smith, who is entering his 12th year in charge in 2025, believes that some of that blame falls on him. “Last season was up and down.” Smith said. “We came out of the gate in league play pretty hot but then we hit a road bump. I blame myself on that one, I needed to have a procedure done and I felt disconnected. We lost some really tight games down the stretch, finished second in the conference. We managed to get ourselves in as the number four seed. But we didn’t execute in some key moments and ultimately fell short of our goal.” While last seaso...
St. Joseph’s Begins Quest for 4-Peat
Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series by Tucker Terranova The St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles enter the 2025 season with high expectations and a target on their backs. After dominating the Skyline Conference in 2024 with an 18-2 regular-season record, they capped off their campaign by sweeping Farmingdale State in the championship, securing their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Despite their conference dominance, the Golden Eagles seek to advance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time—a challenge that remains a focal point in 2025. While many programs would be satisfied with three straight conference titles, St. Joseph’s is determined to take the next step. Head Coach Tom Caputo, who has quickly built an impressive resume with ...
