Antonio Ducatelli
Island Trees Preparing for Title Defense in 2022
Here’s the final out of the game for Island Trees – a strikeout by Vinny Giambona – to send them into the Long Island Championship pic.twitter.com/tlcB1bPIsj — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 18, 2021 Joe D’Auria knew from the time they were in 5th grade that they would be a special group. “I said this is the group I want to go out with,” said D’Auria, who guided Island Trees to the Nassau County Conference 5 Title in 2021 and will be retiring after this season. It was an outstanding season, and for those inside the building – it was not the least bit surprising. “I told you last year, these guys are real baseball players. They dedicate themselves – they play extensive travel ball. I thought this would be the year they&#...
Q & A With Island Trees RHP/SS Vinny Giambona
Island Trees captured the 2021 Nassau Conference V Championship with an exciting 3-2 victory over Clarke. They also had to defeat them the day before, which was an 8-3 victory. It was the third County Championship in their program’s history. A major reason behind their incredible season was their impressive group of juniors Prior to the season when I was writing their season preview, their head coach Joseph D’Auria told me he was optimistic about their chances because of how committed his players are. He stated his players were all the type that “eat, sleep and breathe baseball.” For me as a reporter and scout, that’s a phrase that is very specific to teams that are going to be successful. Coaches won’t say that if they don’t truly believe it. And ...
Mount Sinai Bests Island Trees in an Action-Packed Game to Claim the Conference V Long Island Championship
By Nicholas Cipolla Chris Batuyios strikes out 3 batters to end the game. Mount Sinai wins the Conference V Long Island Championship pic.twitter.com/ZmZmwIGRbW — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 20, 2021 In a game that will be talked about for years to come, Mount Sinai achieved the goal every team on Long Island tries to do at the beginning of the year. And that goal was to win the Long Island Championship In a game full of clutch hitting, spectacular defensive plays, and a little bit of controversy, Mount Sinai outlasted Island Trees winning by a score of 8-6. The game started off like most games do. Max Reichenbach worked around a hit batter to keep Island Trees off the board in the top half of the inning. Robby Stephens did his part by retiring the first three batters he faced...
Island Trees Bulldogs Edge Clarke Rams, 3-1, in Battle of Nassau’s Undefeateds
by Andrew Connors Here’s the final out and post-game celebration! pic.twitter.com/MPDxEPpRNM — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 20, 2021 Two Nassau powerhouses met at Island Trees’ High School on Thursday afternoon, both looking to continue their undefeated seasons. The Island Trees Bulldogs came into this game knowing that the Clarke Rams had a similar goal in mind, but Coach Joe D’Auria was confident in his squad, saying “we knew coming into the game that we’ve been getting away with sloppy play, but we’ve been gearing our guys up for this game and this series…we’ve had a lot of battles over the years and I’m looking forward to this one as well.” The Bulldogs and Rams are usually a matchup to watch, as both coaches admitted that whenever they see each other on ...
Vinny Giambona Fires CG Gem in 10-1 Victory Over Wheatley
Sometimes it just takes a little tough love. Island Trees Head Coach Joseph D’Auria gave his team a stern talking to next to the dugout after they stranded the bases loaded with no out in the second inning and failed to score. Whatever he said paid immediate dividends as Island Trees woke up in the top of the third inning, taking a 2-1 lead on an E5 and an RBI ground out by Connor Waiting. Starting pitcher Vinny Giambona allowed just a run inthe second on a sac fly off the bat of Andrew Thaler. From that point on, he was untouchable. He finished with a CG, allowing just the one run, yielding five hits and striking out six batters. Vinny Giambona fired a complete game allowing just 1 run in a 10-1 victory for Island Trees pic.twitter.com/CA0ozwcjuD — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbasebal...
Island Trees Leaning On Strong Junior Class
2021 Robert Stephens (Island Trees); lean 6-foot-3 175 pounds with some arm side life at 80-82, T 83 MPH. Showed a slider like CB at 64-65 MPH with some fade to the CH at 72-73 MPH. @DanCevette pic.twitter.com/aGRefmGbMf — PBR New York (@PBRNewYork) February 20, 2020 If you’re going to choose one position to have your most experienced player, you might as well have it be your ace pitcher. That’s the case for Island Trees entering 2021 after graduating eight seniors last year. Robby Stephens, who is committed to D’Youville College, can run it up to 86 MPH and put together a great sophomore season in 2019. He compiled a record of 2-1, with a superb 1.73 ERA. He allowed 26 hits over 33 IP with close to a strikeout per inning. “We are counting on him,” said Head C...
