Archive
What is the Best Tool On the Island?
One of the common phrases thrown around baseball is “five-tool player”. Those are, of course, being able to hit, hit with power, run, field and throw. For purposes of this article we will focus on which players possess the best individual tools. For example, if a base stealer is faced with the obstacle of stealing against an elite catcher, and he can still succeed, he has an elite set of wheels. If a power pitcher matches up against a power hitter, and can still strike him out, he has an elite fastball. We’re going to add a couple more tools for fun. Here are the top tools right now. 1. Vito Friscia’s Power As we’ve alluded to in the past–this kid has some game-changing power. He won the Power Showcase in Miami two years ago. He hit baseballs to parts of...
Old Westbury Looks to Go Back-to-Back
"Our biggest strength is our pitching. I think we are loaded".
Q & A With Baseball Star, Social Media Mogul Cory Fallon
Garden City native and current junior at Susquehanna University (Sellinsgrove, PA) is a very talented player. Even more impressively, he is a social media mogul that runs the Twitter account @baseballquotes1 that currently has over 100,000 followers. Our reporter David Moskowitz caught up with him to discuss his playing career and how he built up some an incredible social media following… You played your high school ball for Garden City and had a very good career, which you capped off with winning the Frank Kieran MVP Award. How would you describe your time playing for Garden City and what did it mean to you to win that award? I have played with the same group of guys ever since little league, and being able to play high school ball at Garden City with them and endure the suc...
Learning from the Pros: Episode 2
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qclYtf-14Y] In this week’s episode of Learning from the Pros we get a lesson from New York Mets prospect Tyler Badamo on how he neutralizes the running game. Tyler was an All-American in 2014 with Dowling College. He pitched for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2015 and compiled a 3.10 ERA. He is a pitcher to keep your eyes on as he progresses through the minor league system.
Ranking the Offenses
It is way too early to make definitive proclamations, but with the season one month away we can form some well-informed opinions based on the rosters to rank the NCAA-affiliated teams on Long Island by their offense. This is not based on pure statistics from last year but which teams have the best chance of success in their respective conference based upon their talent and the overall scope of the conference. 1. St. Joseph’s This is a unit that hit .319 as a team with a .404 OBP last year and will be returning almost all of their impact players. They can expect a similar type of performance. Between Brendan Sullivan (.384 AVG), Nick Girardi (.383), Anthony Bonilla (.351), Joe Lynn (.402), Joseph Calabrese (.368), James Nakashian (.314) and Ryan Walsh (.310) they will pose some seriou...
Ranking the Pitching Staffs
It is still way too early to make definitive proclamations because anything can happen prior to Opening Day, but here is a breakdown of the pitching staffs among the NCAA-affiliated programs here on Long Island. This list is not simply based on who throws the hardest and who has the most Div-I caliber pitchers, but which group has the best chance of success in their conference. 1. LIU Post [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDUdt5uR9qc] Projected Rotation: 1. Jake DeCarli 2. Dan Jagiello 3. Chris Anderson 4. Joey Arena/James Varela Analysis: This is a dynamic rotation. They have the two dominant and experienced aces at the top that will go deep into most games, eliminating the need for bullpen depth. They could really cause problems for the ECC hitters and make some noise if they mad...
Learning From the Pros: Episode 1
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO8C9f_a8Gk] We will be debuting a new series titled “Learning From the Pros”. We will feature a different professional ballplayer on a weekly basis. For our first episode, we chose current pro player Steve Marino. He is with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. He is also a private hitting instructor at Matt Giuliano’s Play Like a Pro.
Catching Up With Charles Galiano
When we last spoke to Milwaukee Brewers catcher Charles Galiano, he had just gotten drafted and was preparing for life as a professional player. Now seven months later and with a season of pro ball under his belt, we were curious to see how he enjoyed his experience. Our reporter David Moskowitz caught up with him and here’s what he had to say: Can you describe what it was like to be a professional baseball player this past summer? How surreal was it? The whole experience was unbelievable. Traveling all around the Northwest, a part of the United States I have never been before, allowed me to see some great things and meet people that are quite different than New Yorkers. Stepping on that ball field everyday with people wanting your autograph, thousands of fans, competing along side a...
Mike Scioscia Speaks at Ward Melville
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia was in attendance at Ward Melville HS today to speak at the baseball symposium titled “Keeping Young Arms Throwing & Dispelling the Myths”. Other keynote speakers at the symposium was Dr. Luga Podesta–former team physican of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1992-2006 and Los Angeles Angels. from 2010-2013, as well as Philip Schrank and Danielle DeGiorgio of St. Charles Orthopedics and Kaan Celebi of St. Charles Sports Medicine. The event ran from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm and was attended by many legends of the Long Island baseball community such as Lou Petrucci, head coach at Ward Melville, and Sal Agostinelli, director of international scouting for the Philadelphia Phillies. Scioscia voiced his opinions on how young pitchers ...
Up Next: 11-Year-Old J.T. Caruso
Most 5th graders are busy playing video games and throwing popcorn in movie theaters but JT Caruso is not like most 11-year-olds.
Players Poised for a Huge Season
Matt Seelinger, Farmingdale: As a freshman in 2014, Seelinger recorded the win–pitching 6.0 innings in the Skyline Conference championship against Old Westbury. He won three games and compiled a 3.86 ERA that season and held the opposition to a program-record .198 AVG. It was a continuation of his terrific high school career in which he was an All-State pitcher and twice won the Nassau County championship for Clarke HS. Last season he continued to limit the base hits but he struggled to find his command–walking 22 batters over 29.0 IP. Looking at his strikeout total of 43, it shows that he simply needs to regain the command of his fastball to be a dominating pitcher. I think he will regain that and become a lights-out pitcher this season for the Rams. To read the rest of the ar...
Announcing the Preview Series
With the dreary days of January and February upon us, there’s clearly not much in terms of breaking news, game stories, college commitments, etc. that people love to read about. As you have probably seen, however, we have plenty of content to fill your time until Opening Weekend for college teams five weeks away. Here’s what we have in store for you: JANUARY: January 1: Biggest Storylines Heading Into 2016 January 5: Pre-Season Power Rankings January 10: Rookies That Will Have the Biggest Impact in 2016 January 15: Top 10 Players Poised for a Huge Year January 16: Recap of Mike Scioscia’s Baseball Symposium January 20: Ranking the Pitching Staffs January 25: Ranking the Offenses January 30: Farmingdale State February: February 2: St. Joseph’s February 4: Old...
