Bobby DiCapua
Can West Islip Continue Their ‘Even-Year’ Trend?
Over the course of his tenure, Shawn Rush has established West Islip as the model of consistency in terms of Suffolk County baseball programs. Since 2008, they have captured four Suffolk County Championships and two Long Island Championships. Last season, they once again captured their league title and made a deep postseason run but ran into a terrific Ward Melville team led by the Carl Yastrzemski Award winner, Max Nielsen. “I’m pretty proud of the group – the seniors did a nice job,” said Rush. “The ultimate goal is to win a county championship every year but that’s not always attainable. We reached the semifinals, it was a disappointing ending but we just got beat. We faced the Yastrzemski Award winner and he showed why,” he said, referencing th...
Who Were the Top Performers at Today’s BCP Long Island Showcase?
Each year, Blue Chip Prospects hosts a bevy of showcases on Long Island which features some of the top uncommitted players across this great region. They play in front of dozens of college coaches, hoping to garner interest from them and continue their baseball careers after high school. Today, 63 players showed up at Mitchel Field with 20 colleges represented. Some of these schools were St. John’s, Fordham, University at Albany, Monmouth, LIU, Stony Brook, Hofstra, Sacred Heart, Farleigh-Dickinson, Manhattan, Iona, NJIT, Farfield, Adelphi, NYIT, Molloy, Pace, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn and Stevenson. From my perspective, these events are great because I have the opportunity to see such a high volume of elite players all in one location. Sometimes there’s h...
Mike LaDonna Delivers Walk-Off Sac Fly In West Islip’s 13 Inning 5-4 Win
Final: West Islip 5, North Babylon 4 (13 Innings) WP: Brad Battaglini (5 IP, 1 R) Mike LaDonna: Wall-off sac fly pic.twitter.com/ogXGg6gd4Q — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 24, 2019 With their backs firmly against the wall in the seventh and 13th innings, West Islip did what only they are comfortable doing and that’s battling back from behind. They came back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3 to win 5-4 in 13 innings against League 4 rival North Babylon. “We grinded today,” said winning pitcher Brad Battaglini. “We had a lot of opportunities and couldn’t really push a run across but we got the “W” today,’ he added. The reigning Suffolk AA Champs are comfortable with the uncomfortable and unflappable even in the stickiest of situations. ...
West Islip Has Become the Gold Standard for Suffolk County Programs
When it comes to the Mount Rushmore of Long Island baseball, there is no doubt that West Islip is firmly entrenched with their recent run of success. Head Coach Shawn Rush has been at the helm for nine years and has won Suffolk County Class AA Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Additionally, they have 14 graduates currently on college rosters and one active player in the Major Leagues (Nick Tropeano). It’s been a run that only Massapequa can trump. Speaking of them, it was those Chiefs of Massapequa that finally ended West Islip’s 21-game win streak that culminated with winning the Class AA title over Eastport-South Manor. It was a battle of two red-hot teams but it was Massapequa that came out on top, avenging the 2014 Long Island Championship in which West Islip was victor...
Cinquemani’s Double Delivers West Islip’s Third Suffolk AA Title in 5 Years
For the third time since 2014 West Islip captures the Suffolk County Class AA title ! pic.twitter.com/yc8SLZY0Dh — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 28, 2018 Two years ago, Shawn Rush was playing Kan Jam with his sophomore outfielder Jake Guercio following their victory over East Meadow in the Long Island Championship at a team barbecue. “We were just crushing everyone and he said to me ‘this is fun let’s do it again in two years’!’ Coach Rush said recounting the memory. They moved one step closer to being able to play another game of Kan Jam and by playing in another Long Island Championship with their thrilling 3-1 victory over an exciting and dangerous Eastport-South Manor team. Undefeated Ryan Foran had a no-hitter through four innings, but ran into...
West Islip Runs Win Streak to 20; On Verge of Third AA Title in 5 Seasons
That’s 20 consecutive wins for West Islip! Sophomore Bobby DiCapua has 8 of those. He’s our @DigmiNation Player of the Game after recording a CG win allowing just 2 R in the Lions 7-2 victory over Eastport-South Manor pic.twitter.com/vrEFbZaiFi — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2018 West Islip continued their other-worldly play as they used a four-run third inning to cruise past Eastport-South Manor, 7-2, for their 20th consecutive win. Sophomore ace, Bobby DiCapua, fired a complete game, allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts to win his eighth consecutive decision of year to put the Lions on the precipice of their third Class AA title since 2014. DiCapua did just enough to earn the third spot of the rotation entering the season, according to Head Co...
West Islip Runs Win Streak to 19; Advances to 3rd AA Final Since 2014
No. 2 West Islip brought their bats against No. 3 Commack as they defeated the Cougars and are moving on to the Suffolk Class AA Finals. They will be looking to claim their third AA title since 2014. They will enter the series with a 19-game win streak. The Lions beat Commack 10-2 on Friday thanks to 12 hits and a stellar pitching performance from starter Anthony Cinquemani who allowed just two runs en route to a complete game. These two schools met last year in the AA Finals but with a different outcome as last year Commack moved on to the Long Island Championship and this year it was West Islip’s turn to advance. West Islip got the scoring started right out of the gate as they scored two runs in the first inning off of Commack starter James Cardinale. The Hofstra-commit hit West Islip le...
